URBAN MORPHOLOGY

some (very general) geometrical regularities

[graphics from The Human Mosaic by Terry Jordan-Bychkov and Mona Domosh]

Why model urban morphology?

To explain urban processes To permit comparison between cities To help predict urban changes Not a good strategy for predicting smallscale variations and peculiarities in the urban fabric

Zone Model

Zone Model

Ernest Burgess 1920s Sociologist at the University of Chicago Invasion and succession drove formation of concentric rings An ecological model, with ethnic groups as the species

His model included Little Sicily, Chinatown, Deutschland, underworld roomers, single-family dwellings, and bungalow section Pertained to early 20th c. Chicago in time of European immigration

Zone Model (additional factors)

Burgess model is obsolete now, partly because of changes in theoretical approach and partly because of changes in the city Still, zones appear because accessibility drives land rent and land in the CBD remains more valuable than in the periphery As we will see there are now multiple nuclei

different land uses benefit different amounts from accessibility Different distancedecay slopes
retail

(steepest slope) factories warehouses housing (most shallow slope)

The logic behind the model

Actual Land Values in San Francisco 1926-27

Note prominent shopping corridors complicating the zonal pattern and driving the formation of sectors

Types of housing reflect land rent

Montreal, Canada

the CBD

The Transition Zone

Core Frame

Zone of assimilation (residential gentrification and landuse transformation) Zone of discard

Suburban strip-mall (middle income

residential)

The ethnic theme (Vietnamese) does not disrupt the essential features of this place.

New neighborhoods (commuter residential)

Sector Model

Old industrial development axis

Canal de Lachine, Montreal
Old linear feature dating from 19th c. Enduring area of working-class housing

Sector Model

Homer Hoyt 1930s wedges form along transportation corridors

railroads

& canals lined by industrial districts main roads & some waterfronts lined by houses of the wealthy

Households of different income and ethnic groups filter towards outer edge in the pre-established direction
Vacancy

chain

Freeways do not follow this pattern

why

not?

Sectors and zones in a real city (Chicago)

What accounts for the high-income sector north of the CBD?

Multi-nucleated metropolis
(Harris & Ullman)

Why are some industrial regions located in the transition zone and others are at the outskirts of the city? (hint: think of economic utility in conjunction with urban growth)

Low-rent residential (DC)

Decentralized city

What might be happening near to the pedestrian mall?

Festival marketplace (Quincy Market,

Boston)

Decentralized city

Why is the newest housing separated from the rest of the city?

Leapfrog development

Office park locations in Atlanta, GA

Office park

Gated Community

What are 3 factors that determine where the richest families will live?

Factors affecting where the richest families will live

1.
2. 3. 4.

5.
6.

lower cost of land newer infrastructure access to desired facilities and geographical locations (what are these?) negative perception of certain social groups (racism and classism) status-seeking behavior willingness and ability to commute

Factors affecting where the poorest families will live

1.
2.

3.
4. 5.

scarcity of affordable housing inability to avoid inadequate or decaying infrastructure inability to maximize access to desired facilities spatial avoidance by those in more favored groups ability/inability to commute (creates two zones of low-income housing)