Internal Structure of Cities

You’ll be able to

Compare the Burgess, Hoyt, and Harris–Ullman urban models
Explain bid-rent theory and the location of the CBD
Apply the Latin American, African, and Southeast Asian city models

Three classic North American models

Geographers built models of how land uses arrange inside cities. The Burgess concentric-zone model (1920s Chicago) rings the city outward from a central business district (CBD): a transition zone of factories and poor housing, then working-class, middle-class, and commuter zones — the city grows by expanding rings. The Hoyt sector model argues growth follows wedges along transport routes: high-rent housing spreads outward along a corridor, industry along rail lines. The Harris–Ullman multiple-nuclei model rejects a single center: a modern city has several specialized nodes (a university, an airport, an industrial park), each anchoring its own district.

Bid-rent and the CBD

Bid-rent theory explains why the central business district (CBD) — the commercial heart with the highest land values and accessibility — sits where it does. Because the center is the most accessible point, many users compete for it, driving land prices to a peak that only high-revenue commercial uses (offices, retail) can afford, so they cluster there and build upward. Land value falls with distance from the CBD, so lower-value uses (residential, then agriculture) occupy cheaper outer land — the same logic Von Thünen applied to farmland, now applied within the city.

Models for cities of the Global South

Cities outside the U.S. follow different templates. The Latin American (Griffin–Ford) model keeps a strong CBD from which a prestigious commercial spine and elite housing extend, surrounded by rings of poorer housing and a disamenity zone of informal settlements. The Sub-Saharan African model often shows three CBDs (colonial, traditional, market) and ethnic neighborhoods. The Southeast Asian (McGee) model centers not on a CBD but on a former colonial port zone. These highlight how colonialism and rapid, unplanned growth shape non-Western urban form.

Worked example

A geographer maps a U.S. city and finds high-income housing extending outward in a continuous wedge along a scenic parkway, while industry lines a separate wedge along the railroad. Which classic urban model best fits, and what drives the wedge pattern?

1.Land uses are arranged not in rings but in wedges radiating from the center.
2.A model built on wedges (sectors) following transport routes is the Hoyt sector model.
3.High-rent housing extends along the attractive parkway corridor, drawn to accessibility and amenities.
4.Industry follows the railroad wedge, because manufacturing seeks rail transport — transportation corridors channel each land use into its sector.

Answer: This fits the Hoyt sector model, in which land uses grow outward in wedges along transportation routes. High-income housing follows the desirable parkway corridor while industry follows the rail line, because access to transport and amenities channels each use into its own sector.

Checkpoint

Which urban model depicts a city as a series of rings expanding outward from a single central business district, with a zone of transition just outside the core?

On the exam

Keep the three North American models distinct by their shape: Burgess = rings (concentric zones), Hoyt = wedges (sectors along transport lines), Harris–Ullman = multiple nodes (no single center). One word each — rings, wedges, nodes — anchors the answer.

Checkpoint

According to bid-rent theory, why does the central business district contain tall office buildings and the highest land values?

Answer the 2 checkpoints as you read.