Urban Land Use and City Structure Models

Urban land use is the way land in a city is divided between functions such as business, housing, industry and open space, and city structure models are simplified diagrams that explain the typical arrangement, such as the Burgess concentric zone model, the Hoyt sector model and the Harris and Ullman multiple nuclei model. In brief: in most cities, land values are highest in the central business district (CBD) and fall with distance, so shops and offices occupy the center and housing is arranged outward. Burgess (1925) described rings, Hoyt (1939) described wedges along transport routes and Harris and Ullman (1945) described several separate centers.

The models help to understand why land is used in particular ways and to compare cities. This guide explains the land use zones and the idea of bid-rent, describes the three classic models and later versions, compares the models in a table, works through a bid-rent calculation, outlines the history and corrects common mistakes.

What are the main urban land use zones?

• Central business district (CBD): the center of commerce, with department stores, offices, banks, and high rise buildings, the best public transport links and the highest land values and pedestrian flows.
• Inner city: older housing, small workshops and former industrial land. It often has problems such as poverty and dereliction but has also been regenerated in many cities.
• Suburbs: mainly residential districts of larger houses and gardens, with lower density and more open space.
• Rural-urban fringe: the edge of the city where it meets the countryside, with new housing estates, retail parks, golf courses, airports and farmland.
• Industrial zones and open space: factories and warehouses often lie along railways, rivers and ring roads, and parks and green belts add open space.

What is bid-rent theory?

The bid-rent theory explains land use through competition for sites. The CBD is the most accessible point, so businesses that need many customers, such as shops and offices, are willing to pay the highest rent for it. The rent that each user is willing to pay falls as the distance from the center rises, but it falls at different speeds. Retail drops steeply, offices less steeply, housing more gently and farming the least. The land use at any distance is the one that bids the highest. This produces concentric rings of land use. The point in the CBD with the highest rent is the peak land value intersection.

What are the classic city structure models?

Burgess concentric zone model

Ernest Burgess, studying Chicago in 1925, proposed five rings: the CBD at the center; a transition zone of factories and poor housing; a ring of working-class homes; a ring of better housing; and an outer commuter zone. Housing quality improves with distance as people who can afford it move outward.

Hoyt sector model

Homer Hoyt, in 1939, argued that land use spreads out in wedges or sectors along main transport routes, such as railways and roads, and that high-income housing, industry and low-income housing form distinct sectors that extend from the center to the edge. Industry follows railways and rivers, and high-quality housing tends to be on higher, pleasant land.

Harris and Ullman multiple nuclei model

Chauncy Harris and Edward Ullman, in 1945, noted that cities have several centers (nuclei) as well as the CBD, such as an airport, a university, a port, an industrial estate or a suburban shopping center. Similar land uses cluster near each other, and incompatible uses, such as heavy industry and high-class housing, stay apart. This fits large modern cities better.

How do other cities differ from the models?

The classic models are based on North American cities in the early 20th century. In many European cities, the historic center is dense and people of different incomes live near it. In Latin American cities, wealthier people often live in a commercial spine extending from the center, with poorer informal settlements on the edge, the opposite of the Burgess model. In many cities of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, there is a mix of formal and informal areas and no single pattern. Modern cities also have edge cities, business parks and mixed-use developments that do not fit the models neatly.

City models compared

Worked example: bid-rent and zones

The values are hypothetical, to show how land use is decided in a simple bid-rent model.

1. Bid-rent lines: a shop bids 100 − 20d (in rent units per unit of area), where d is the distance from the center in km. An office bids 80 − 10d, and housing bids 40 − 4d.
2. At the center (d = 0): shop 100, office 80, housing 40. The shop wins.
3. Shop against office: they bid equally where 100 − 20d = 80 − 10d, so 20 = 10d and d = 2 km. Within 2 km, shops win, and beyond that offices outbid them.
4. Office against housing: 80 − 10d = 40 − 4d gives 40 = 6d, so d = 6.67 km. Offices win up to about 6.7 km, and housing takes over beyond.
5. Rings and area: the area of a ring is π(R² − r²). The CBD ring (radius 0 to 2 km) is π × 4 = 12.6 km², and the office zone (2 to 6.67 km) is π × (44.4 − 4) = 127 km², so the zones get much larger away from the center.

How did the models develop?

Burgess’s model came from the Chicago School of sociology in the 1920s. Hoyt based his model on rent patterns in 142 American cities. Harris and Ullman’s model of 1945 reflected the effect of cars and the growth of suburban centers. In the second half of the 20th century, geographers criticized the models for being too simple and tied to one place and period. Later models, such as the Griffin-Ford model of Latin American cities (1980) and models of European and Asian cities, adapted the ideas. Today, geographers use GIS and data on land values, transport and population to analyze city structure in more detail.

Which mistakes are common?

Mistake 1: Treating the models as exact descriptions of every city

They are simplifications based on particular cities and periods. Real cities combine features of all models and are shaped by geography and planning.

Mistake 2: Mixing up the three models

Burgess is rings, Hoyt is wedges along routes and Harris and Ullman is multiple centers.

Mistake 3: Assuming that the CBD is always the largest employment center

In many cities, edge cities and business parks have grown, and the CBD is only one of several centers.

Mistake 4: Thinking that land values depend only on the distance from the center

Transport links, views, planning rules, schools and neighborhood reputation also affect land values.