Hoyt Sector Model: AP Human Geography Crash Course
Are you a city person? Whether you like it or not, you are probably like more than half of the population
of the United States and live either in a city or close enough to quickly travel to one. Cities are growing
much faster than rural areas, and it is important for you to learn about the dynamics of urban
geography. There are several classic models used to understand and explain the internal structures of
cities and urban areas, and we are going to learn about the Hoyt Sector Model in this AP Human
Geography study guide.
Nature of the City
Cities are at the center of every advanced society and act as the hub of economic, social and political
activities in that area. They have a variety shapes and functions, and their geography impacts the daily
lives of those who live in the city and surrounding areas. All cities provide their residents a variety of
services and functions: shopping, manufacturing, transportation, education, medical, and protective
services.
Cities evolved over time, and if a city had favorable factors (agriculture, access to water, trade, defense),
its population increased. This led to urbanization (rapid growth, and migration to large cities).
This increase in urban population resulted in rapid expansion of the city and greater urbanization of the
society. After the conclusion of World War II, North America experienced rapid urbanization. There was
a need for housing outside of the core urban areas due to growing population and demand. The result
was the suburbanization of our society. Suburbanization is the movement of people from core urban
areas to the outskirts.
Model of Urban Land Use
In the early 1900’s, researchers wanted to find out how cities worked. They developed a variety of urban
land use models to help describe and explain different types of cities and the neighborhoods that made
up the city. All of the models used to explain urban land use have at their center the central business
district (CBD).
The CDB is found at the heart of every older city and is the area of skyscrapers, business headquarters,
and banks. Spreading out from this intensive economic land use area is a fringe of wholesale and retail
businesses, warehouses, transportation terminals and light industry. The residential area extends
outward beyond this ring of activity. Several of these models try to depict the use of this urban area
spatially.
It makes sense that students at the University of Chicago developed many of these land use models
because Chicago was a city that saw rapid growth in the 18th century. One of these Chicagoan scholars
was economist Homer Hoyt, who in 1939 developed the Hoyt Sector Model.
What is the Hoyt Sector Model?
Homer Hoyt wanted to provide an alternative to the concentric zone model as a way of explaining urban
land use. Ernest Burgess developed the concentric zone model in the 1920s based on his studies of
