3  Models  

Three  extremely  influential  models  of  urban  land  use  were  created  to  demonstrate  patterns  of  urban  settlement  in  20th  century  North  America.    All  three  models  were  based  on  Chicago,  and  clearly  build  on  one  another’s  theories.    However,  avoid  the  assumption  that  just  because  a  model  is  newer  that  it  is  necessarily  better.      As  you  read  about  each  model,  consider  how  it  might  apply  to  the  Twin  Cities.  

Burgess:  Concentric  Zone  Model  

This  model  was  created  in  1923  and  is  based  on  the  theory  that  a  city  develops  out  from  its  core  in  a  

series  of  concentric  circles,  or  rings.    Burgess  further  stated  that  the  size  and  width  of  each  zone  could  vary  somewhat  from  city  to  city,  but  that  essentially  the  same  pattern  remained  intact.      

1) Central  Business  District  (CBD):  Burgess  identified  the  innermost  circle  to  be  comprised  of  a  central  area,  whose  primary  use  was  commercial  not  residential.  

2) Zone  in  Transition:  This  zone  contained  a  combination  of  industrial  sites  and  poor-­‐quality  housing.    Often  home  to  new  immigrants  and  old-­‐subdivided  housing  stock.  

3) Zone  of  Independent  Worker’s  Homes:    home  to  working  class  families  residing  in  older  single-­‐family  homes.  

4) Zone  of  Better  Residences:  larger  homes  for  middle  class  families.  5) Commuter’s  Zone:    home  to  individuals  who  live  outside  the  metropolitan  area  but  continue  to  

commute  to  the  city  from  outlying  villages.  

Hoyt:  Sector  Model  

 

Rather  than  using  concentric  circles  to  define  urban  patterns,  in  1939  Homer  Hoyt  created  a  model  that  divided  the  city  into  series  of  individual  sectors  or  wedges  that  radiate  out  from  the  CBD.    This  model  is  based  on  the  idea  that  the  best  housing  would  likely  located  near  other  fine  housing  and  eventually  form  a  corridor  away  from  the  city.    This  could  be  based  on  any  number  of  factors  from  history,  to  culture,  to  environment  (Hoyt  cited  the  incidence  of  high-­‐class  residential  stretching  north  of  Chicago  

along  Lake  Michigan).    Similarly,  industrial  and  manufacturing  areas  also  develop  in  corridors  near  routes  of  interstate  travel,  and  low  class  residential  is  left  to  cluster  near  these  relatively  unsightly  industrial  centers.      

1) Central  Business  District  2) Transportation  and  Industry  3) Low-­‐Class  Residential  4) Middle  Class  Residential  5) High-­‐Class  Residential  

Harris  &  Ullman:  Multiple  Nuclei  Model  

This  1945  model  was  created  to  account  for  a  more  complex  urban  area  no  longer  solely  driven  by  commerce  from  the  CBD.    This  model  began  to  take  into  account  the  push  or  pull  that  a  university,  airport,  industrial  park,  port,  or  other  exceptionality  may  possess.    Harris  and  Ullman  theorized  that  the  incidence  of  a  university  may  attract  well-­‐educated  individuals  and  professionals,  while  an  outlying  industrial  park  would  likely  drive  them  away.    Therefore,  their  depiction  of  an  urban  area  creates  a  more  complex  arrangement  of  nodes  based  not  only  on  their  distance  or  direction  from  the  CBD,  but  also  the  features  found  in  adjacent  areas.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1) Central  Business  District  2) Wholesale,  Light  Manufacturing  3) Low-­‐Class  Residential  4) Medium-­‐Class  Residential  5) High-­‐Class  Residential  6) Heavy  Manufacturing  7) Outlying  Business  District  8) Residential  Suburb  9) Industrial  Suburb  

 

For  the  purposes  of  Comparison:  

Take  a  look  at  an  example  of  using  the  same  categories  to  examine  each  model.