Urban Morphology and the Concentric Zone Model

Urban Morphology

What is Urbanization?

  • Urbanization is the process by which an increasing proportion of the total population lives in towns and cities.

Central Business District (CBD)

  • Generally the central, most frequently used, and most expensive area of a city.
  • Serves as a business hub where people work and shop.
  • Especially prominent in large metropolitan cities.

History

  • Evolved from ancient market squares and trade areas.
  • Historically, the primary place for merchants and consumers to conduct business.

Characteristics

  • High Land Prices & Property Values: Due to prime real estate and commercial value.
  • Large Footfall: Due to accessibility and services offered.
  • Multiple Business Districts: Large cities may have several, each serving a different function.
  • Location: Not always centrally located; influenced by transport routes and other factors.
  • Lack of Open Spaces: Attributed to high land prices.
  • High Rents & Density: Leads to high density of offices, workers, and skyscrapers.
  • High-End Shops & Services: Due to ability to afford high rents.

Pros and Cons of the CBD

Pros

  • Job Opportunities & Business Activities: Regular business and employment hub.
  • Startup-Friendly: Provides office and retail spaces.
  • Accessibility: Most people have visited the CBD at least once.
  • Convenience: Shops, apartments, and residential facilities for young adults, backpackers, and hostels.
  • Positive space for working class people and professionals.

Cons

  • Not Suitable for Retirees, Poor People, or Older Population.
  • Not Family Friendly: Despite many working-class parents working in the area.
  • Concentration of Business Activities: Limited business activity outside the CBD.
  • Inconvenient for Housing: Densely built with small apartments.
  • High Vehicular Traffic.

Summary of CBD Features

  • Tall/multi-story buildings
  • Expensive land values
  • High density of roads and buildings
  • Lack of open space
  • Shops, e.g., department stores
  • Modern shopping malls and pedestrian precincts
  • Cultural/historical buildings, e.g., museums, castles
  • Offices, e.g., business sector

The Concentric Zone Model (Burgess Model)

  • Model to explain how a settlement/city grows
  • Explains where certain groups of people live within the city

Strengths

  • Lower class lives close to manufacturing and the CBD, easing commute.
  • The wealthier class lives further away

Weaknesses

  • Abrupt divisions between zones do not really exist.
  • Lack of homogeneity within zones.

Zones

  • Zone 1: Central Business District
    • Center (innermost zone).
    • Highest land value.
    • Tertiary activities, maximum economic returns.
    • Tall buildings, low-quality housing, high density.
    • Negligible residential activity.
  • Zone 2: Transition Zone
    • Mixed residential and commercial use.
    • Adjacent to the CBD, continuously changing.
    • Mixed land use, car parking, cafes, old buildings.
    • Considered to be "decaying" due to old structures.
    • High population density during peak manufacturing/industrial activities.
    • Poorest residents, lowest housing conditions.
  • Zone 3: Inner City/Working Class Zone
    • Residential purposes; "inner city" or "inner suburbs".
    • Houses for factory workers, better conditions than the transition zone.
    • Mix of new and old development.
    • Second-generation immigrants moving from the transition zone.
    • Nearest to working area, modest living conditions, reduced commuting cost.
    • Large rental housing occupied by single workers.
  • Zone 4:
    • Medium class housing of higher quality. Inter-war private semi-detached houses and council estates
  • Zone 5:
    • High class housing occupied by people who can afford the expensive properties and the high cost of commuting

Urban Growth

  • Expansion and reconversion of land uses, inner zones expand towards outer zones.
  • Zone II (factory zone) expands towards Zone IV (working class zone), creating a transition zone.

Limitation Summary

  • Spatial differences in ethnic, social, and occupational status.
  • Low occurrence of functional differences in land use patterns.
  • Assumed spatial separation of workplace and residence, not generalized until later in the 20th century.
  • Useful as a concept for explaining concentric urban development.
  • Explains urban growth in American cities in the early-mid 20th century.