Comparative Models of Urban Systems

How are cities organized?

What type of city is London?• There were a hundred thousand shapes and

substances of incompleteness, wildly mingled out of their places, upside down, burrowing in the earth, aspiring in the earth, moldering in the water, and unintelligible as in any dream. - Charles Dickens on London in 1848

• London today: Canary Wharf, Croydon• Miami/Fort Lauderdale :Kendall• Boca Raton, Wilton Manors,• Deerfield Beach, Pembroke Pines• Hallandale Beach

Who came up with each model ? Dates?

Purpose of Urban Models

• To understand why cities are spatially organized in various ways, geographers have developed models that explain and predict the internal structures of cities.

• Most focus on patterns of internal growth in U.S. cities.

The Growth of Dublin• Like all cities throughout the

world, Dublin has grown over a long period of time. We will now examine some different stages in Dublin’s growth.

The Growth of DublinViking Dublin

Dublin began as a Viking settlement. Like many other Viking settlements,Dublin was an ideal place at the mouth of a river. From here the Vikings

couldtrade.

The Anglo-Normans

The Normans occupied Dublin in 1169. They built stone walls around the city.

Dublin became a Medieval city with narrow streets. Poor sanitation causedmany deaths.

The 16th-18th Centuries

Dublin was extended and many new streets were added in a grid-iron pattern.

Parks like St. Stephen’s Green were made and Georgian Houses were built.

Georgian Houses

The Growth of DublinThe 19th CenturyAfter 1800 many of the wealthy people who lived in

the Georgian houses leftDublin. Landlords bought these tenements and rented

rooms to families. Therewas huge overcrowding in these tenement buildings

and poverty and diseasewere widespread. The Dublin docklands became an

important source of work.Dublin became a distribution centre. Goods were

distributed throughout Irelandalong the canal and railway lines.

The 20th Century

Dublin grew rapidly in the 20th century. The inner city slums were cleared and

people moved out to new suburbs like Ballyfermot, Crumlin, and Finglas.

Newer suburbs were then developed around the villages of Clondalkin, Lucan

and Tallaght.

MIAMI

Employer No. of Employees• MIAMI-DADE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS 48,571

<3• MIAMI-DADE COUNTY 29,000• UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT 19,500• FLORIDA GOVERNMENT 17,100• UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI 16,100• BAPTIST HEALTH SOUTH FLORA13,376• JACKSON HEALTH 12,576• PUBLIX 10,800• AMERICAN AIRLINES 9,000• FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY8,000• MIAMI DADE COLLEGE 6,200• PRECISION RESPONSE CORPORATION 5,000CITY OF

MIAMI4,309• FLORIDA POWER AND LIGHT COMPANY 3,840

• CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES 3,500

Functional Zones in Cities• Each model of the city, regardless of the region, is a

study in

• functional zonation—the division of the city into certain regions (zones) for certain purposes (functions).

• Zones of the city exist and play certain roles in the city's life, whether to house residents, produce goods, educate students, or accommodate government. Each zone or region is part of the larger city.

The following zones can be seen in most cities:

• 1. A Central Business District (CBD)

• 2. Some smaller shopping areas

• 3. A number of shopping centres

• 4. Industrial areas• 5. Open space for

recreation / leisure

What city is this ?

Central Business District

• Land use models possess a CBD.

• Central Business District: Original core of the economy, like the nucleus of a cell.– The degree of influence and

geographic location of the CBD varies model to model.

– Developed by Ernest Burgess

– Developed in the 1920s the concentric zone model was the first model to explain and predict urban growth.

– Based on growth in Chicago

• Zones:– 1. CBD– 2. Light manufacturing– 3. Blue Collar Workers– 4. Middle Class– 5. Suburban Ring

• Dynamic: city grows; inner rings affect outer ones

Invasion and Succession

• Burgess’ Concentric Zone model assumes a process called invasion and succession (succession migration)– A series of migration waves, with one

group moving in and establishing itself.• New arrivals to cities tend to move first into

the inner rings, near the CBD. • Eventually people and economic activities in

the center are pushed out into farther rings

• Homer Hoyt (1939); criticized Burgess Model as too simple & inaccurate

• Urban land use and growth are based on transportation routes and linear features like roads, canals, railroads, and major boulevards.

• Not just concentric zones around the CBD.

• Still has strong CBD

• According to this model-• Many factories and industrial

activities follow rail lines.• Lower socioeconomic housing

follows lines of public transportation.

• Sectors that service visitors are located along major highways.

• ITS ALL ABOUT TRANSPORTATION

Land gets less valuable as you move out from the CBD.Buildings get smaller as you move out from the CBD.

• Multiple Nuclei Model

• Chauncy Harris & Edward Ullman (1945); neither of previous two models are accurate

• CBD not as significant• Suggest growth occurred

independently around several major focal points.

• Separate nuclei become specialized and differentiated, not located in relation to any distance attribute

– Developed to explain suburban regions that were functionally tied to mixed-use suburban downtowns with relative independence from the CBD.

– Suburban downtowns have become independent functioning “urban realms”– All the amenities needed

for living are now located in the suburban downtown.

Urban Realms (and Edge Cities) of Los Angeles

Primate cities in developing countries are called megacities when the city has a large population, a vast territorial extent, rapid in‐migration, and a strained, inadequate infrastructure. For example, Mumbai, India, has more people than the country of Australia. São Paulo, Brazil, covers more land than the country of Belgium. Kinshasa, The Congo, is the fastest growing city in Africa. Jakarta, Indonesia, is the largest city in the world without a subway or metro system.