1. What are the major challenges that modern cities face, and how do new development concepts address them?

1. What is smart growth and what are its major goals for urban development?

2. What are greenbelts and how do they limit urban sprawl while benefiting residents?

3. How do slow-growth cities differ from smart-growth cities in their approach to urban development?

1. What are the key strategies of new urbanism and how do they create more livable communities?

2. What obstacles have new urbanism faced, and how has stakeholder involvement helped address them?

1. What is urban infill and why is it considered smart growth?

2. How do Central Park, Colorado and Civita, California demonstrate both urban infill and new urbanism?

1. What is transit-oriented development and how does it reduce automobile dependence?

2. What is the last mile problem and how do micro-transport options help solve it?

1. What principles define livable communities and how do they support sustainable urban development?

1. What urban design changes such as pedestrian zones and bike lanes improve city livability and sustainability?

2. How do farmers' markets and local food systems benefit both urban and rural communities?

1. What are the main economic and social criticisms of smart growth policies?

2. What specific criticisms do opponents raise about mass transit systems?

1. What is quantitative data and what types of information does the U.S. census collect?

2. How does population composition data help governments determine where to locate public services?

1. What are census tracts, block groups, and blocks, and why is choosing the correct scale of data important?

2. How do geographers use local data compared to national-scale data to analyze urban patterns?

1. What is qualitative data and what methods are used to gather it in urban research?

2. How do geographers use qualitative data to verify quantitative data and understand diverse urban perspectives?

3. What factors can influence the quality and accuracy of urban data?

1. How has the role of cities changed differently in core versus less-developed countries?

1. What three main problems characterize housing for inner-city poor residents in developed countries?

2. Why do women and their children concentrate in areas with the least expensive housing?

1. What is redlining and how did it reinforce the decline of minority neighborhoods?

2. How did discriminatory housing practices prevent minorities from building wealth through homeownership?

3. What is blockbusting and how did it contribute to racial segregation in housing?

1. What approaches have governments used to address the shortage of affordable housing?

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of public housing projects and scattered-site approaches?

1. What was urban renewal and how did it use eminent domain to reshape inner cities?

1. What is gentrification and what types of people typically move into gentrifying neighborhoods?

2. What are the positive and negative effects of gentrification on urban neighborhoods?

1. What are informal settlements and what challenges do residents face living in them?

2. What are zones of abandonment and brownfields, and how do they affect urban areas?

1. What is environmental injustice and how does it disproportionately affect poor and minority communities?

1. What are gated communities and how do they reflect urban inequality and segregation?

1. What is homelessness and how has the composition of the unhoused population changed?

1. Why do shops and services struggle to survive in poor urban neighborhoods?

1. What are food deserts and how do they contribute to health problems in poor urban areas?

2. What programs and systems are cities developing to bring food into urban food deserts?

1. Why do metropolitan areas require regional governance approaches to solve urban challenges?

2. What are the benefits and challenges of regional planning and collaboration among multiple governments?

1. What are urban canyons and how do they affect wind patterns and sunlight?

2. How do impermeable surfaces in cities affect water runoff and flooding?

3. What is an urban heat island and how does it form?

1. How do cities affect water resources and what happens when water is diverted from agricultural use?

1. How do cities destroy animal habitats and disrupt ecosystems?

2. What types of wildlife conflicts occur when cities expand into natural territories?

1. How does industrial and human waste in cities affect water resources?

2. What causes smog in large cities and how do geographic factors intensify it?

3. What are the health impacts of air pollution in urban areas?

1. What is suburban sprawl and what factors contribute to its development?

2. How does urban sprawl increase ecological footprint compared to compact city design?

1. Why do responses to urban challenges often require regional planning approaches?

1. What are brownfields and why are they expensive to remediate?

2. How are brownfields being redeveloped and what new uses do they serve?

1. What is urban redevelopment and how do governments use eminent domain in the process?

2. What are the potential negative consequences of urban redevelopment projects?