Residential area in the context of Rezoning

A slum is a derogatory term for a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily inhabited by impoverished people.

Although slums are usually located in urban areas, they can be located in suburban areas where housing quality is low and living conditions are poor. Slum residences vary from shanty houses to professionally built dwellings which, because of poor-quality construction or lack of basic maintenance, have deteriorated. While slums differ in size and other characteristics, most lack reliable sanitation services, supply of clean water, reliable electricity, law enforcement, and other basic services. The United Nations defines slums as ".... informal settlements lacking one or more of the following conditions: access to improved water, access to improved sanitation, sufficient living area, housing durability, and security of tenure."

The term inner city (also called the hood) has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists sometimes turn the euphemism into a formal designation by applying the term inner city to such residential areas, rather than to more geographically central commercial districts, often referred to by terms such as downtown, city centre, or central business district.

Light industry are industries that usually are less capital-intensive than heavy industries and are more consumer-oriented than business-oriented, as they typically produce smaller consumer goods. Most light industry products are produced for end users rather than as intermediates for use by other industries. Light industry facilities typically have a smaller environmental impact than those associated with heavy industry. For that reason, zoning laws are more likely to permit light industry near residential areas.

One definition states that light industry is a "manufacturing activity that uses moderate amounts of partially processed materials to produce items of relatively high value per unit weight".

A single-family detached home – also called a single-detached dwelling, single-family residence (SFR), separate house, or other similar terms – is a free-standing residential building. It is defined in opposition to a multi-family residential dwelling.

In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use and building "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a single use (e.g. residential, industrial), they may combine several compatible activities by use, or in the case of form-based zoning, the differing regulations may govern the density, size and shape of allowed buildings whatever their use. The planning rules for each zone determine whether planning permission for a given development may be granted. Zoning may specify a variety of outright and conditional uses of land. It may indicate the size and dimensions of lots that land may be subdivided into, or the form and scale of buildings. These guidelines are set in order to guide urban growth and development.

Zoning is the most common regulatory urban planning method used by local governments in developed countries. Exceptions include the United Kingdom and the city of Houston, Texas.

On a residential area, a front yard (United States, Canada, Australia) or front garden (United Kingdom, Europe) is the portion of land between the street and the front of the house. If it is covered in grass, it may be referred to as a front lawn. The area behind the house, usually more private, is the back yard or back garden. Yard and garden share an etymology and have overlapping meanings.

In North America, front yards, which normally include considerable driveway and parking space, tend to be mostly lawn even when large, but in Europe they are often treated as a flower garden and may be heavily planted. In North American suburbia, there may be no physical barriers marking the front and sides of the plot, which would be very unusual in Europe, where there are generally walls, fences or hedges on three sides of the garden.

Residential segregation is a concept in urban sociology which refers to the voluntary or forced spatial separation of different socio-cultural, ethnic, or racial groups within residential areas. It is often associated with immigration, wealth inequality, or prejudice. The term is most often used in relation to residential segregation in the United States.

A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (/ˈkʌldəsæk, ˈkʊl-/; French: [kydsak], lit. 'bag bottom'), a no outlet road, a no-through road or a no-exit road, is a street with only one combined inlet and outlet.

Dead ends are added to roads in urban planning designs to limit traffic in residential areas. Some dead ends prohibit all-through traffic, while others allow cyclists, pedestrians, or other non-automotive traffic to pass through connecting easements or paths. The latter case is an example of filtered permeability.

The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 M_w earthquake that struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department, approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital.

By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater had been recorded. An estimated three million people were affected by the quake. Death toll estimates range from 100,000 to about 160,000; the Haitian government estimated the death toll to range from 220,000 to 316,000, although these figures are a matter of some dispute. The earthquake is the deadliest natural disaster of the 21st century for a single country. The government of Haiti estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged. Haiti's history of national debt, prejudicial trade policies by other countries, and foreign intervention into national affairs contributed to the existing poverty and poor housing conditions that increased the death toll from the disaster.

Carrefour (French pronunciation: [kaʁfuʁ] ; Haitian Creole: Kafou, pronounced [kafu], meaning Crossroads in English) is a largely residential commune in the Port-au-Prince Arrondissement, in the Ouest department of Haiti. Port-au-Prince has a population of 1,234,742 while the commune has a population of 501,768.

Before the exile of Jean-Claude Duvalier, Carrefour was viewed as a Haitian tourist destination.

Laukontori (or the Laukko Square, also known as Alaranta) is a market square in the southern part of the city center of Tampere, Finland, on the shores of Lake Pyhäjärvi. It is located just a few hundred meters from Tampere Central Square. Square's beach serves as a harbor for cruise ships to the Viikinsaari island and the city of Hämeenlinna in the summer.

Laukontori got its name from the first steamboat sailing on Lake Pyhäjärvi, the Laukko paddle steamer, which was built in 1859 but scrapped as early as 1864. As such, the ship was so significant that the people of Tampere began to use the name Laukontori, or the square on which Laukko landed. The same berth was later used by another steamboat named Laukko. Alaranta and Alasatama have been used as parallel names for Laukontori, although on the other hand the port of the Mustalahti bay on the shores of Lake Näsijärvi has never been called Yläranta or Yläsatama. Laukontori has officially belonged to the Tampere street system in 1868–1886 and again since 1897. In the intervening years, the market was called Kalatori ("fish market square"). Residential apartment buildings were built on the outskirts of Laukontori in the early 20th century, and the area was a favorite residential area for wealthy city dwellers. In 1905, almost half of the residents of the entire Nalkala district were considered to belong to the highest social group. Until the 1950s, Laukontori was a lively trading place where rural residents who came to Tampere from the Lake Pyhäjärvi area sold their products on inland waterway vessels.

Commercial property, also called commercial real estate, investment property or income property, is real estate (buildings or land) intended to generate a profit, either from capital gains or rental income. Commercial property includes office buildings, medical centers, hotels, malls, retail stores, multifamily housing buildings, farm land, warehouses, and garages. In many U.S. states, residential property containing more than a certain number of units qualifies as commercial property for borrowing and tax purposes.

Commercial buildings are buildings that are used for commercial purposes, and include office buildings, warehouses, and retail buildings (e.g. convenience stores, 'big box' stores, and shopping malls). In urban locations, a commercial building may combine functions, such as offices on levels 2–10, with retail on floor 1. When space allocated to multiple functions is significant, these buildings can be called multi-use. Local authorities commonly maintain strict regulations on commercial zoning, and have the authority to designate any zoned area as such; a business must be located in a commercial area or area zoned at least partially for commerce.

In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of urban development that maximizes the amount of residential, business and leisure space within walking distance of public transport. It promotes a symbiotic relationship between dense, compact urban form and public transport use. In doing so, TOD aims to increase public transport ridership by reducing the use of private cars and by promoting sustainable urban growth.

TOD typically includes a central transit stop (such as a train station, or light rail or bus stop) surrounded by a high-density mixed-use area, with lower-density areas spreading out from this center, serving as part of an integrated transport network. TOD is also typically designed to be more walkable than other built-up areas, by using smaller block sizes and reducing the land area dedicated to automobiles. In some areas, it may include ferries. Areas that center a transit station as a hub while building residential-focused TOD development in the immediate area are known as transit villages.

A collector road or distributor road is a low-to-moderate-capacity road which serves to move traffic from local streets to arterial roads. Unlike arterials, collector roads are designed to provide access to residential properties. Rarely, jurisdictions differentiate major and minor collector roads, the former being generally wider and busier.