Name: _________________________
AP Human Geography
Cities and Urban Land Use
Comparing and Contrasting Urban Models
In this activity you will Compare and Contrast the Concentric, Sector and Multiple nuclei models.
Implicit assumptions of Burgess, Hoyt, and Harris and Ullman’s models of
urban structure in common:
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 order 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.
