URBAN MODELS o Dilapidated housing and infrastructure
o Large percentage rent lines.
CONCENTRIC ZONE MODEL (1920s) a.k.a Burgess Model
 Developed by Edward W. Burgess (geographer) and his students at
the University of Chicago in the early 1900s.
 Model was based on Chicago’s city layout.
 Examples: Cleveland, Ohio; Chicago
 Argues that urban land use is best represented by a series of
concentric circles. (With each ring devoted to a different land use.)
 Assumptions:
 Older buildings in city centre
 Newer buildings at edge of city
 Land values highest in city centre
 Strong economic and ethnic segregation
 Low income groups lack transport and live close to city centre.
 Cities develop on a flat land with equal access to transport
 The concentric pattern arises as land uses compete and are sorted
according to ability to pay for land. As one move toward the central
city, land becomes scarcer but accessibility improves, the rent
therefore increases, and land uses that cannot exact sufficient rent
are sorted out. Similar activities are likely to be found at similar
distances from the central business district (CBD).
Recognizes five distinct zones:
 Zone 1 - Central Business District (CBD) - Center of transportation
to allow commuting. High cost of land leads to skyscrapers. Most
government institutions, businesses, stadiums, and restaurants
chose this area to build on due to its accessibility.
o Central Business District (CBD)
o The CBD is the focal point of a city and serves as its
commercial, office, retail, and cultural center. It’s also
usually is the center point for transportation networks.
o Nonresidential center for business.
o Downtown area
o Commuted to by residents from other zones.
 Zone 2 – (Zone of Transition) - Contains industrial eras and
poorer-quality housing. Large percentage of people rent as they
most often are immigrants or single individuals.
o Least desirable place to live in the city
central business district (CBD) and centered on major transportation
o Highest crime rate
o High rate of people moving in or out
 Zone 3 – (Zone of Independent Workers Homes) - Primarily
occupied by members of the working class. Contains modest
older houses rented by stable, working class families.
o Modest older homes
o Stable, working class families
o Second generation immigrants
 Zone 4 – (Zone of Better Residence) - Newer and more spacious
houses occupied mostly by families in the middle-class. There
are a lot of condominiums in this area and residents are less
likely to rent.
o Newer, more spacious homes
o Less likely to be rented
o Well educated
 Zone 5 – (Commuter’s Zone) - Located beyond the build-up area
of the city. Mostly upper class residents live in this area.
o Mostly upper class
o Can afford to commute into city for work or
entertainment
Problems with Burgess Model
 Old and too simple
 Doesn't consider car ownership (assumes reliance on public
transit)
 Does not work with more modern cities or cities outside United
States (Developed only for American cities)
 Assumes an unchanging landscape (Landscape not considered)
 Assumes flat land, without geographic features inhibiting growth
 Decentralization of business areas.
 Impact that industry and transport could have on land use not
considered.
 Zones are never as clear-cut.
SECTOR MODEL (1939) a.k.a Hoyt Model
Significance of Hoyt Model
 Developed by land economist Homer Hoyt in 1939.
 A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are
arranged around a series of sectors, or wedges radiating out from the
 Example: Calgary, Indianapolis
 This model assumes the land use is conditioned by transportation
routes radiating outward from a city center. Industrial, retailing, and
residential districts extend out from the CBD like wedges.
Five Sectors
 CBD - central business district, the area of a city where retail and
office activities are clustered. It is also called the central activities
district.
 Industry - are represented in form of a sector radiating out from
the center. These forms sector because of the presence of a
transport linkage along which the activities grew. Presence of
railway line, river or road would attract similar activity and thus a
continuous corridor or “sector” will develop.
o Industry follows rivers, canals, railroads, or roads
o Lower class workers work here. Paid little, bad working
conditions.
o Produces goods or other domestic products for city
 Low Class Residential
o Low income housing
o Near railroads that feed factories or
o Inhabitants tend to work in factories
o Live near industry to reduce transportation costs
o Pollution or poor environmental conditions due to
industry (traffic, noise and pollution make it cheap)
 Middle Class Residential
o More desirable area because it is further from industry
and pollution
o Access to transportation lines for working people who
work in the CBD, making transport easier
o Largest residential area
 High Class Residential
o Housing on outermost edge
o Furthest away from industry
o Quiet, clean, less traffic
o Corridor or spine extending from CBD to edge has best
housing.
 Ecological factors + economic rent concept to explain the land use
pattern
 Stress on the role of transport routes in affecting the spatial
arrangement of the city
 Both the distance and direction of growth from the city center are
considered
 Brings location of industrial and environmental amenity values as
determinants in residential location
  Example: Sectors of high class residential areas tend to grow towards
higher grounds, sites with better view, more open space, the homes
of influential leaders within the community and existing outlying,
smaller settlements.
Features of Sector Model
 Presence of low income groups near industries supports Hoyt Model
 The Hoyt model realized that transportation (in particular) and access
to resources caused a disruption of the Burgess model.
 Activities and their locations are highly influenced by transport
linkages. Low transportation cost and proximity to roads/railway
reduces the cost of production.
 This model applies well to Chicago
 Account for major transportation routes and its affect on activities
Limitations of Sector Model
 Only Railway lines are considered for growth of sectors and do not
make allowances for private cars.
 It is a monocentric representation of cities, multiple business centers
are not accounted in this model.
 Physical features – physical features may restrict or direct growth
along certain wedges
 No reference to out of town development
MULTIPLE NUCLEI MODEL (1945)
 Developed by C. D. Harris and E. L. Ullman.
 This model assumes that urban areas have more than one focal point
influencing land use.
 Land-use patterns are formed around several discrete nuclei that
attract certain uses and repel others. These nuclei most often develop
in response to the evolving transportation network. They form, for
example, around major highway intersections and surrounding  No consideration of influence of physical relief and government
airports. policy.
 Example: Tokyo, Japan  The concepts may not be totally applicable to oriental cities with
 These multiple nuclei may have arisen in one of two ways: different cultural, economic and political backgrounds.
» They were once separate settlements but were absorbed by growth
of the urban area. URBAN REALMS MODEL (1964)
» They appeared as urban growth stimulated specialization and History
specialized centers outside the CBD, around which complementary  As a means of improving upon the multiple nuclei model, the
uses then located. geographer James E. Vance, Jr. proposed the Urban-Realms Model in
 Residential land use develops in response to the influence of the 1964.
various nuclei.  Using this model, Vance was able to look at San Francisco's urban
 Theorized in 1949 to account for growing importance of car and ecology and summarize economic processes into a sturdy model
sprawl of urban areas About the Model
 Creation of different nuclei that support each other  This model proposes that each realm is a separate economic, social,
o Business districts to support suburbs and political entity that is linked together to form the larger
 Other districts develop to be further away from each other metropolitan framework.
o Airports develop further away from cities  The model shows that the central business district is losing its
dominance
Assumptions for Multiple Nuclei Model What is a Realm?
 Land is not flat – This provides a more practical application of the  A realm is a self-sufficient urban area with an independent focal point
multiple nuclei model and is improvement over Burgess model. It is  It is also referred to as an edge city
difficult to find a flat land for big cities and the terrain features effects  Each realm of the model is separate and used for a different purpose,
the activities, development and direction of growth of urban area. but are linked together to make one large, fluid city.
 Even distribution of resources – Resources are evenly distributed
within the city, no one enjoys privileges or have exclusive access to
resources.
 Even distribution of people in Residential areas – People are
distributed homogeneously and not concentrated in a particular area
or pocket. This is essential as unevenly distributed population has
direct impact on markets.
 Even transportation cost – Transportation costs are even in the city
and not influenced by location.
 Profit maximization – A particular activity will locate itself where
maximum profit can be earned. For this a different combination of
rent, transportation costs, labor cost, proximity to market may be
tried and the combination which yields best result gives the final
location for the activity. This location also takes into account the
restrictions over the activity and the need to be separated from other
non compatible activities such as locating residential areas away from
industrial, locating large industries with more accessibility to reduce
transportation cost and to ease the movement of goods.
Limitations and criticism of the Harris & Ullman’s Multiple Nuclei Model
Multiple nuclei model was considered much better than the previous
simple models which attempted to explain the structure of urban areas.
 Negligence of height of buildings.
 Non-existence of abrupt divisions between zones.
 Each zone displays a significant degree of internal heterogeneity and The Nature of Each Realm is based on 5 Criteria...
not homogeneity. 1. The physical terrain of the area, including water barriers and
 Unawareness of inertia forces. mountains.
2. The size of the metropolis as a whole.
 3. The amount and strength of the economic activity taking place within
each of the realms.
4. The accessibility internally of each realm in regards to its major
economic function.
5. The inter-accessibility across the individual suburban realms.
This model includes…
 A central city, which is the “new downtown” and the central business
district
 A suburban downtown
 Edge Cities/Outer Realms
 An airport
Why was it Invented?
 The purpose of this model was to explain and predict changing urban
growth patterns as the automobile became increasingly prevalent and
large suburban “realms” emerged.
 This model does a good job at explaining suburban growth and how
certain functions that are normally found in the central business
district can be moved to the suburbs
What is it used for?
 The Urban Realms Model constitutes the latest step in identifying and
modeling the modern American urban structure.
 It shows that the outer cities are not "satellites" of the central city,
but are in fact becoming cities themselves and shaping the
metropolis.
COMPARING AND CONTRASTING URBAN MODELS
All Three Models
 Developed during the first half of the twentieth century, a period of
rapid urbanization in North America
 Based on studies in Chicago (Burgess and Hoyt)
 Focus of the models is different types of land use
Limitations/criticisms of 3 Urban Models 1. Concentric model with circular pattern of land use zones; while sector
Burgess Hoyt Ullman-Harris model with sectoral pattern of land use zones
Zones, in reality, are never as clear cut as shown on each model 2. Land use zones in sector model developed along transport routes
Each zone usually contains more than one type of land use/housing radiating out from CBD; while concentric model never mention the
No consideration of characteristics of cities outside USA transport development
Redevelopment schemes and modern edge-of-city developments are not 3. Sector model emphasizes the repelling forces of land uses; but
included (most of the models pre-date these developments) concentric model concerns the invasion, succession forces on the
Based mainly on housing: other types of land pattern of the land use
use neglected
Cities not always built upon flat plains D. Difference among Concentric, Sector and Multiple nuclei models
Tended to ignore 1. Monocentric – concentric, sector model; polycentric – multiple nuclei
transport 2. Multiple nuclei more complex in term of land use zones, e.g.
industrial suburbs
3. Multiple nuclei allows the suburbanization, transport development,
Implicit assumptions of Burgess, Hoyt, and Harris and Ullman’s models of
outward growth of city
urban structure in common:
4. Multiple nuclei model gives the idea of land use pattern of a city only
A. Their implicit assumptions are:
1. Great variation in characteristics e.g. heterogeneity of the population
in culture and society.
2. Competition for centrality because of limited space leading to highest
land value. The opposite is true of peripheral areas.
3. City center being center of employment.
4. Commercial and industrial base to the economy of the city.
5. Private ownership of property and capitalist mode of competition for
space.
6. Expanding area and population of the city by invasion and succession.
7. No historic survival in any district to influence the land-use pattern.
8. No districts being more attractive because of differences in terrain.
9. Hierarchical order of land use.
B. The Concentric, Sector models and multiple nuclei models have many
features in common:
1. Both models focus on importance of accessibility. The centrally
located C.B.D. is the most accessible and its land value or rent-bid is
the highest.
2. Distance decay theory is applicable in both models. Land value and
population density decline with distance from the central places.
3. There are clear-cut and abrupt boundaries between the land-use
zones.
4. Both concern the study of ground-floor functions instead of the
three-dimensional study as height of buildings is neglected
5. Residential segregation
Social-economic status segregates residential areas. The lower-
income groups live in the inner city which is suffering from urban decay or
in areas near the factory zone. Nearness to working places reduces time
and cost of transport, but gives better working opportunities and easiness
of obtaining various orders of goods and services. In contrast, the higher-
income groups occupy the urban periphery with better living environment
far away from the factory zone and the lower-income groups.
C. Difference among Concentric and Sector models