Models of Urban structure

Over time people have tried to understand how cities grow into the way they are and
why certain areas are richer than others and a way of doing this is through models.
Each of the following models has taken data from at least one city although probably
more and through looking at the trends between different cities spatially they have
formed models to illustrate what they have found

1) Burgess model (1924)
based on Chicago, attempted to identify the outward expansion of the city in terms of
socio-economic groupings of it's inhabitants. There are five concentric rings and as we
move out from the center we find that the land use changes as distance from the center
increases.

Assumptions for the model:
- land was flat and therefore transport was equally cheap in all directions
- all transport were as efficient as each other
- Land near the center was of higher value than land at the outskirts
- buildings aged as we move out from the center.
- well-defined separations either ethnically or economically.
- those who could afford transport lived further out.
- no concentration of heavy industry

Resultant model:
1) CBD
Central business district contains all the major shops, offices thereby making it the
center for commerce and entertainment.
all roads lead to it

2) Wholesale light manufacturing
either invaded by light industry or degrading old housing, mostly recent immigrants.

3) Low class housing:
This is where people who are slightly better off live, these may also be second
generation immigrants working in industry
reduced traveling cost

4) Medium class housing
higher quality housing, in England would include Inter-war "semi detached houses
and council estates.

5) High class housing
Occupied by people who have both the money to afford housing here and who can
afford to commute every day.

Problems with the model:
As it assumes that land is flat it does not show the importance that good roads may
have in encouraging settlement. It is also a model from the 1920's and since then
things have changed, in a city such as Sao Paolo we may find that there are favellas on
the outskirts of cities where the poorest people live, who have moved from rural
settlements. Another limiting factor is that the city is near Lake Michigan thereby
making it semi-circular so that the model is only right to a certain extent. Since it is
based on only one city it only shows that city at one point in time, therefore it would
be better to develop a more complex model.
Hoyt, 1939


This model created in 1939 was based on 142 American cities using eight housing variables for
mapping.

Variables:
- Wealthy people chose to live where they could afford to, eg. services etc.
- Wealthy residents used their cars as transport from home to work and vice versa thereby living
further from industry but close to main roads.
- Similar types of land use clustered together to create "sector" development.
About the model: The model works on a system of wedges or sectors concentrating on the effect
of communication lines on the growth pattern and that if an area had a certain land use then this
sector would continue having that sector through time.

Problems with the model:
Due to it's age this model is also incorrect as it does not take into account commuter villages
which developed with the popularization of the car. Other problems may be found by looking at
the Burgess' model criticisms.