Urban Model & Theory Cards AP HuG

Concentric Circle Model

• Developed by E.W. Burgess, it illustrates urban land use in concentric rings centered around the Central Business District (CBD).
• Comprises five zones:
  • Central Business District
  • Wholesale and Light Manufacturing (Zone of Transition)
  • Low-Class Residential (Zone of Independent Workers' Homes)
  • Medium-Class Residential (Zone of Better Residences)
  • High-Class Residential (Commuters Zone).
• Represents an urban version of Von Thunen's land use model, contrasting with the Hoyt sector model and the multiple nuclei model.

Hoyt Sector Model

• Proposed by economist Homer Hoyt in 1939 as a modification of the concentric zone model.
• Suggests cities develop in sectors rather than rings, allowing for outward growth.
• Activities expand in a wedge shape from the center, accommodating various land uses.

Multiple Nuclei Model

• Created by C.D. Harris and E.L. Ullman in 1945, indicating that cities evolve with multiple centers of activity.
• Each nucleus attracts similar industries and services based on shared land-use and financial requirements.
• Neighborhoods develop around these clusters, leading to a diverse urban structure.
• Common examples of nuclei include ports, universities, airports, and parks.

Latin American Model

• Developed by Larry Ford and Ernest Griffin, reflecting Latin American culture and its colonial history.
• Features a prominent plaza and heavy development around the CBD.
• Residential quality declines with distance from the CBD, encompassing:
  • A zone of maturity with services and wealthier population.
  • A zone of squatter settlements with makeshift housing.
  • A transitional zone (in situ accretion) showing signs of development.
• High-class residents often live along the urban spine, while poorer populations are typically found in the suburbs.

Central Place Theory

• Formulated by German geographer Walter Christaller in the 1930s to explain the distribution and organization of human settlements.
• Settlements function as central places that provide services to surrounding areas, arranged in a hexagonal pattern of varying sizes and centrality.
• Key concepts include:
  • Threshold: Minimum population needed to support a service.
  • Range: Maximum distance people are willing to travel for goods or services.

Bid-Rent Theory

• Introduced by William Alonso, illustrating the relationship between land use and distance from the CBD regarding rent prices.
• Different land uses (commercial, industrial, agricultural, housing) exhibit distinct bid-rent curves.
• Typically, rents decrease as distance from the market increases due to rising transportation costs.

Gravity Model

• Visualizes interaction between places as proportional to the product of their populations, divided by the distance between them (distance decay).
• Large populations generate more potential customers for services, while greater distance reduces the likelihood of interaction.

Rank-Size Rule

• Describes a settlement pattern where the nth largest city is 1/n the population size of the largest city.
• Contrast to the primate city model, where the largest city is disproportionately larger than the second-largest city, often by more than twice its size.

Weber’s Least Cost Theory

• Alfred Weber's model for industrial location emphasizes minimizing three costs: transportation, labor, and agglomeration.
• Assumes geographic uniformity, single product manufacturing, known raw material sources, immobile labor, and flexible transportation routes.

Borchert's Epochs of Transportation

• John Borchert identified four epochs in American metropolitan development based on transportation impact:
  • Sail-Wagon Epoch (1790-1830): Low technology and simple transport.
  • Iron Horse Epoch (1830-70): Introduction of steam-powered locomotives and rail proliferation.
  • Steel-Rail Epoch (1870-1920): Influenced by the Industrial Revolution and expanded hinterlands.
  • Auto-Air-Amenity Epoch (1920-70): Emergence of gas-powered vehicles.
• A subsequent High Technology Epoch (1970-present) involves service and information industry growth, not included in Borchert's original model.