Module 4

9. Urban Structure: - Internal spatial structure of the city: Concentric Zone

theory; Sector theory; Multiple Nuclei Theory; Characteristics of Central business
district, Urban nodes (Origin and/or destination of trips, location of major
transport nodes, interfaces of local/regional transport), Suburbs, Peri-urban areas.
10. Land use and Zoning: - Land use categories and representation; Relationship
between Land use and Zoning; Zoning Types: Euclidian Zoning, Performance Zoning,
Form based Codes, Incentive Zoning, Height Zoning (Activity 5), Open Space Zoning
(Activity 6).

Prof. Satyajeet
 Urban Structure
Concentric Zone model
Ernest Burgess, an urban sociologist, introduced one of the earliest models of urban land use in
1925. Known as the concentric zone model, Burgess’s theory suggests that cities grow outward from
a central core in a series of concentric rings, with each ring representing a different type of
land use. It also depicts the concentration of various social classes in an urban area.
• Zone 1 (Central Business District)
- Innermost with highest land value
- Tertiary activities, maximum returns
- Greater accessibility
- High Density
- Negligible residential activity
• Zone 2 (factory zone)
- Relevant during industrial revolution.
- Concentration of factories and manufacturing
units.
• Zone 3 (Transition Zone)
- Mixed land-use
- Continuously changing and often socioeconomic
challenges
- car parking, cafes, light manufacturing, low
income housing etc
- Considered to “decay” because of old buildings
- Had high density when industrial activities were
at peak
Concentric Zone Theory Prof. Satyajeet
 Urban Structure
Concentric Zone model
• Zone 4 (Inner City / Working Class Zone)
- built to accommodate factory workers
- mix of old and new development
- requires orderly development
- reduced commuting cost

• Zone 5 (Residential zone/Outer Suburbs / White

Collar Homes)
- bigger houses and new development
- middle class population
- better facilities : parks, open spaces etc
- increased commuting cost

• Zone 6 (Commuter Zone)

- peripheral area and farthest from CBD
- highest commuting cost – thus the name
- high income groups who could afford large houses
- low rise development, large gardens, less
population density

Concentric Zone Theory Prof. Satyajeet

 Urban Structure
Concentric Zone model
Limitation and Criticism

• Not applicable outside US, as the pattern of growth is different due to different circumstances
in different region.

• Relevance decreases over time. With the advancement in the mode of transportation, mass transit
vehicles, motor vehicles, cars changed the way people commute. Accordingly, their preference
for living in a particular zone changed.

• It does not take into account the effect of political forces and the restrictions imposed by
the government for the improvement of living conditions.

• In reality, no distinct zones and boundaries exist as overlapping of areas is possible in every
town. The preference of people changes over time depending on the importance.

• This model is not applicable to polycentric cities as many CBD exists in such towns.

• Moreover, every city is different, and the factors influencing the growth of a city are
diverse.

Concentric Zone Theory Prof. Satyajeet

 Urban Structure
Hoyt’s Sector Model
The sector model, also known as the Hoyt model, is a model of urban land use proposed in 1939 by
land economist Homer Hoyt. It is a modification of the concentric zone model of city development.

Benefit is that it allows for outward progression of growth.

• Hoyt argued that cities do not develop in the form of rings, but as sectors.
• Activities in a sector are the same throughout because of the purpose / function it serves.
• Applies to several British cities

Components of Hoyt’s Sector:

• CBD (Central Business District)

- Known as downtown
- Has high rise buildings
- Partial rings of land

• Industry
- Form of sector radiating
Out from centre
- Presence of transport
linkage: railway line, river
or road

Sector Theory Prof. Satyajeet

 Urban Structure
Hoyt’s Sector Model Significance of Hoyt’s model:

• Ecological factors + economic rent concept to

• Low-Class Residential explain the land use pattern.
- Low income reside here • Stress on the role of transport routes in
- Narrow roads, high population density. affecting the spatial arrangement of the city.
- Small houses with poor ventilation. • Both the distance and direction of growth from
- Closeness to industry attracts workers. the city center are considered.
• Brings location of industrial and
• Middle-Class Residential environmental amenity values as determinants
in a residential place.
- Middle income groups who can afford travel
cost and want better living conditions.
- People involved in different activities, not Limitations:
just industrial.
- More linkages to CBD and less to industrial • Only Railway lines are considered for the
areas. growth of sectors and do not make allowances
for private cars.
• High-Class Residential • It is a monocentric representation of cities;
multiple business centers are not accounted
- Outermost and farthest area from downtown. for in this model.
- Wealthy and affluent people live here. • Physical features – physical features may
- Clean, less traffic and has large houses. restrict or direct growth along specific
- Corridor connecting CBD has the best houses. wedges.
• No reference to out of town development
Sector Theory Prof. Satyajeet
Hoyt’s Sector Model Urban Structure

Sector Theory Prof. Satyajeet

 Urban Structure
Ullman and Harris’s Multiple Nuclei Model
Economic model created by Chauncy Harris and
Edward Ullman.

• Describes layout of city based on Chicago.

• Even though city may have begun from CBD,

other smaller CBD’s develop on the
outskirts near the more valuable housing
areas.

• This creates nodes or nuclei in other

parts of the city besides the CBD – thus
the name.

• It is applicable for large and expanding

cities.

• Main goals are: Assumptions:

- move away from concentric zone model • Land is not flat in all areas.
- to better reflect the complex nature of • Even distribution of resources.
urban areas, especially larger size • Even distribution of people in Residential Areas.
• Even transportation costs.

Multiple Nuclei Theory Prof. Satyajeet

 Urban Structure
Criticism:
• This model could not be applied to many
cities and did not explain the entire
structure of urban areas.

• Limited activities that were considered

along very rigid and specific boundaries for
the activities.

• No consideration or influence of physical

relief and government policy.

• The concepts may not be totally applicable

to oriental cities with different cultural,
economic and political backgrounds.

• Negligence of the heights of the buildings.

Multiple Nuclei Theory Prof. Satyajeet

Urban Structure

Prof. Satyajeet
 Urban Structure
Central Business District
• A central business district (CBD) is
the commercial and business center of a
city. It contains commercial space and
offices, and in larger cities will often
be described as a financial district.

• Geographically, it often coincides with

the "city center" or "downtown".
However, these concepts are not
necessarily synonymous: many cities have
a central business district located away
from its traditional city center, and
there may be multiple CBDs within a
single urban area.

• The CBD will often be highly accessible

and have a large variety and
concentration of specialized goods and
services compared to other parts of the
city.

Central Business District Prof. Satyajeet

 Urban Structure

Central Business District Prof. Satyajeet

 Urban Structure
Characteristics

• The shape and type of a CBD almost always

closely reflect the city's history.

• Cities with strong preservation laws and

maximum building height restrictions to retain
the character of the historic and cultural
core will have a CBD quite a distance from the
center of the city, examples - Paris or Vienna

• In cities in the New World that grew quickly

after the invention of mechanized modes such
as road or rail transport, a single central
area or downtown will often contain most of
the region's tallest buildings and act both as
the CBD and the commercial and cultural city
center.

• No two CBDs look alike in terms of their

spatial shape, however certain geometric
patterns in these areas are recurring
throughout many cities due to the nature of
centralized commercial and industrial
activities.
Central Business District Prof. Satyajeet
Urban Land value in CBD Urban Structure
Bid Rent Theory
• The bid rent theory is a geographical economic
theory that refers to how the price and demand
for real estate change as the distance from
the central business district(CBD) increases.

• It states that different land users will

compete with one another for land close to
the city centre.

• This is based upon the idea

that retail establishments wish to maximize
their profitability, so they are much more
willing to pay more for land close to the CBD
and less for land further away from this area.

• This theory is based upon the reasoning that

the more accessible an area (i.e., the greater
the concentration of customers), the more
profitable.

• Land users all compete for the most accessible

land within the CBD. The rent they are willing
to pay is called the “bid rent”.
Central Business District Prof. Satyajeet