Models of urban land use

Geographers have built models to explain how land is used inside cities. Many rest on bid-rent theory: land is most expensive near the center, where access is best, so the most intensive uses cluster there. The concentric zone model, based on Chicago in the 1920s, shows rings around the central business district (CBD): a zone in transition, then working-class housing, middle-class housing, and an outer commuter zone. The sector model (1939) shows wedge-shaped zones extending outward along transportation routes, with a high-income sector along the most desirable corridor. The multiple nuclei model (1945) shows a city with several centers of activity, such as a port, a university, or an industrial district, not just one CBD. Later models describe edge cities, clusters of offices and shopping at highway interchanges in the suburbs. Models of cities elsewhere look different: the Latin American city model shows a CBD with a commercial spine and elite housing sector, surrounded by poorer areas and informal settlements on the edge. All these models are simplifications based on particular places, so they fit some cities far better than others.

This explanation is AI-generated and can occasionally be wrong. 🚩 Report