• What do you see in the images in Figure 3.1?

• What might connect these images

• What might make them different from one another?

• What might it be like to live in these places? What would be good?

• What would the challenges be? Share your answers with the rest of the class.

In this chapter, we will explore the rapid growth of cities, and consider to what extent urban development can be achieved sustainably.

A settlement is a place where people set up home to live.

Settlements develop over time, and their use can change during this time.

According to the website https://ourworldindata.org/urbanization, in 1600, the world population living in urban areas was just less than 5 per cent. However, as of today, more people now live in urban areas, including cities and megacities, than in rural areas.

According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in 2050, 6.5 billion people will live in cities, that is 3 billion more than live in cities today. Issues with urban living are taken seriously by the UN, to the extent that Sustainable Development Goal 11 is Sustainable cities and communities.

Question:

• Why has this increase in urban growth occurred and why do so many people think that urban living is better than rural life?

• Why are urban areas tend to be perceived more positively than rural areas and, resulting to a net migration into them?

Answer the following questions in your notebook.

1. What is going on? Describe what you see in the three maps. Compare and contrast the maps. Which countries have always had more people living in urban areas since the 1950s? Which countries only have a majority of people living in rural areas in the projected map of 2046?

   
   

2. What makes you say that? What do you know about this topic? What ideas do you have as to why there has been an increase in the number of people living in urban areas? Can you explain the reasons for an increase in people living in urban areas?

   
   

Conurbation – A large urban area formed when several towns or cities grow and merge together. (Oxford English Dictionary)

Agglomeration – The clustering of people and activities in one area for economic or practical benefits. (Cambridge Dictionary)

Settlement – A place where people live, from small villages to large cities. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Sphere of Influence – The area served by a town or city, from which people come to use its goods and services. (Oxford Reference)

Hamlet – A very small rural settlement, smaller than a village, with few or no services. (Collins English Dictionary)

Isolated Dwelling – A single house or small group of houses far from other settlements. (Collins English Dictionary)

Urban land use simply means how the land in a town or city is used or what fills up its space.

The main urban land uses are:

• Residential

• Industrial

• Commercial and administrative

• Infrastructure (including transport)

• Open space (including planned open space like parks, and derelict space).

• Monocentric: there is a single central point of the city

• Polycentric: there are multiple ‘centres’ of the city

The Burgess Model was developed by Ernest Burgess in 1925.

He identified a series of concentric rings coming out from the centre of the city which correspond to different types of land use.

The model is useful because it shows a heavily simplified version of reality that could be applied to many cities.

• The CBD is in the middle because it is the central location, and therefore easiest to get to. This encourages businesses to be located there because they can access the most customers.

• Low class residential (the ‘zone of working-men’s homes’) is near the factory/transition zone because it is an undesirable location (polluted and congested), and because these people must walk or use public transport to get to work in the factories

• People on low incomes cannot afford large houses, so these areas become densely populated; the population density on the outskirts is lower as the house size is larger

• High class residential is around the outside because these people can afford the private transport to get to the city centre quickly and conveniently

NOTE: The Burgess Model is outdated, based on North American cities, and makes assumptions that do not fit the growth and organization of many modern or historic cities.

In 1939, Homer Hoyt published “The Structure and Growth of Residential Neighborhoods in American Cities” in which he developed Burgess’s ideas further.

Hoyt studied 142 cities in the United States. He recognized that they were more complex than simple rings of land use, and suggested that industrial land use is linked to transport routes.

He also suggested that the location of transport and industry within the city affects the location of residential districts. This results in ‘sectors’ of the city with different land uses.

• Hoyt’s model follows on from Burgess’s model in that the CBD remains in the centre of the city because it is the easiest place to access and therefore there are more potential customers for commercial businesses, and the sectors are clearly visible in rings radiating out from the centre.

  
  

• However, there are important differences. The manufacturing zone is found along transport routes – especially railways, but also highways and rivers or canals – that link the city centre to other cities.

  
  

• The low class residential land is found nearby, with the high class residential the furthest away.

  
  

• The high class residential may also follow transport routes, especially highways, as wealthier people have private cars which they use to get to their jobs in the CBD.

Unlike Burgess’s model, which assumes a radial expansion pattern, Harris and Ullman argue that urban growth occurs more organically, with different nuclei forming and evolving independently over time.

Key Characteristics:

• CBD: Similar to Burgess’s model, the central business district remains a focal point of commercial activity.

• Industrial Center: Areas dedicated to manufacturing and industrial activities, often located near transportation hubs such as ports or rail yards.

• Residential Suburbs: Suburban neighborhoods catering to middle and upper-class residents seeking a quieter lifestyle away from the urban core.

• Ethnic Neighborhoods: Enclaves formed by immigrant communities, characterized by cultural institutions, ethnic businesses, and social networks.

• Educational and Health Centers: Zones housing universities, hospitals, and research institutions, which serve as hubs for knowledge dissemination and healthcare services.

Venn Diagram Activity

• Instruction:
  Make a Venn diagram to compare the Burgess Model and the Hoyt Model of land use.

• Write the differences of each model on the separate sides, and write their similarities in the middle where the circles overlap.

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Instruction:
Write your answers in not less than 10 sentences.

This means that rather than having a main CBD, there will be many centres, and instead of having a similar mix of land use in those centres, they might have different functions.

The school generally argues that the core of the city is in decline, while the periphery of the city is expanding, an idea that relates closely to the issue of urban sprawl.

Therefore these cities are prevented from expanding in all directions by the coastline, so are not represented by rings around the centre, but by a wedge or semi-circular shape instead.

A. Identifying Land Use
For the city you have chosen, identify the following types of land use: Central Business District, Transportation and Industry, Low-Class Residential, Middle-Class Residential, High-Class Residential, and Educational and Health Centers. Sketch a map of the city and label these areas on your sketch. Below your sketch, provide a short description of your chosen city.

B. Comparing with Models (Essay)
Compare and contrast your map with the different land use models studied in class. What similarities can you observe? What differences can you identify?

C. Creating Your Own Model
Based on the information from the city you have researched, suggest and design your own land use model. Your model should be suited to the geographic characteristics of the city and should accurately reflect the city’s layout and features. Present this in the form of a clear diagram. Make sure to use shapes and colors, or include a legend to clearly represent the different land use areas.