Agglomeration Ap Human Geography Definition

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When we talk about a large city, there are various aspects to consider. For example, there is a city center, and there is the region that borders the city. The suburbs and the urban areas coexist, and that's where the term agglomeration comes from. Located as part of the city center as well as right outside the city center, an agglomeration is a built-up area of a city region. In this AP® Human geography review, we will discuss about what agglomeration is and its importance.

What is Agglomeration?

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We can say that, agglomeration is a complex word that means a group of different things that are partially connected. So it's the main city center but also outer areas included at the same time. It's actually a French word that means 'continuous urbanized area' (which fits). So basically we can consider how it really fits for different cities and different countries too.

Basically, agglomeration occurs when things are close together. You can't have a widespread region and still have an agglomeration. It can be a business that helps other businesses located close together, for example. That's because this is only helping one small region of the city and not the entire city.

What's confusing, however, is that just because an agglomeration is a smaller area doesn't mean that it can only be small areas. It can actually be part of a city, part of a state or even part of a country. The basic idea is that it refers to a smaller area than the whole.

Why Study Agglomeration?

When we look at the study of cities and their makeup, we are looking at how the main structure of the city influences the rest of the area. An agglomeration takes skills and influence from the main part of the city and feeds it into the urban and suburban areas around it and understanding how and why this happens is an integral way of looking at how societies develop and understand their interdependence on other cities or even countries as well. This is how agglomeration begins to form and continues to advance over time, and we can understand how it will affect other people.

What is an Agglomeration Economy?

When we talk about these methods of development on a smaller scale, we talk about things like specific business groupings. A business that is located near another may benefit from just the placement. For example; a large office building may have a high number of employees. The nearby family-owned restaurants business may escalate during lunch simply because they are located near the building. They reap the benefits of the larger building without actually being part of it but simply by being located nearby.

When people or businesses are established near each other, they realize mutual benefits from each other as a result. When larger businesses move into town, everyone sees the benefits of the increased cash flow, even if they are not directly impacted by it. When a railroad or airport is put in, likewise everyone in the area will start to benefit from it simply because they are located nearby, even if they are not directly impacted by the new business. This is what agglomeration means for those who are a part of it. It means getting benefits from different forces located nearby as well as from direct aspects.

Does Agglomeration Really Work?

There has been a lot of research about agglomeration that you might want to look at too. Researchers want to make sure that agglomeration is real and what they have found is that it really does seem to. That's because they found that there're higher wages in areas that have higher population density. Where we live most frequently is also where most people are making more money. Researchers think it's related to more productivity and evidence of agglomeration.

Something else you should think about is the way that housing and real estate cost people living in an area. A researcher looks at higher housing costs as evidence that there is higher population. They also think about how larger areas can have an influence on higher prices and that those prices can attract more people.

The Difficulty with Agglomeration

It is important to note, however, that an agglomeration is a type of cluster or joining of forces that is not necessarily direct and that also has nothing to do with a merger between companies or cities. Instead, it's aspects of that city or aspects of different companies, working together that may not necessarily be intentional, but tends to work. When considering the AP® Human Geography exam, you do not want to mention mergers or any agreements between different cities or companies because this is not the same as an agglomeration.

How Agglomeration Helps

It's important to understand the purpose of agglomeration and what it can do within a region, and that is definitely to help cities and regions to grow and develop fully. For example, it can provide a link between different regions of a city or state even that allow for a larger pool of educated labor force from further outside the main area. It can lead to new businesses because of the success and potential of current businesses, and it can improve the ability of businesses to share a labor pool and an infrastructure that is uniquely built for their success. All of this can lead to improvement for the city in question.

Agglomeration on the AP® Human Geography Exam

When it comes to the exam, you will have to know what agglomeration is and a better definition to relate in case you are asked to define it yourself. Remember to use terms like 'cooperation' or 'joining' but to avoid 'merger' and other terms like it. An agglomeration is not an official agreement in this sense but rather a cluster of similar groups or organisations that can use similar aspects of a city together. You have to be able to clarify the difference between a contractual agreement between companies or cities to assist one another and an agglomeration that occurs on its own.

You will also have to be able to explain why an agglomeration is going to be beneficial to different groups of people as well as different organisations and businesses. Things like improving the labor pool, increasing the cash flow in the area and improving urbanization can all be benefits, but there are many more as well that you should consider. You have to make sure that your definition is going to focus primarily on a couple of examples, however, rather than giving a large number of examples that are not thoroughly explained. These types of exams primarily focus on the quality that you provide in your answers rather than simply quantity of answers.

Conclusion

In all, agglomeration can be a difficult concept for many to understand. It requires you to look at different aspects of a region or community and understand how they work together without necessarily being part of the same city or responsible for the same things. An agglomeration can occur on a small scale, such as with businesses within a city, or it can occur on a large scale, such as countries that interact together for business and create more jobs or better infrastructure for their regions. There are many ways that agglomerations occur, but the primary factor to remember is that they are not created with contracts and mergers, but generally through a natural process. It is important to look at this type of society and understand how it can help the growth and development of society as a whole.

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Agglomeration Ap Human Geography Definition

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