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Internal Structure of Cities

Did you know towns and cities loosely follow patterns that determine where people live and work? Is there a logic to it? Yes! Since the 1900s, geographers have tried to make sense of where and why things are placed in cities. Cities were built differently all over the world, subject to changing times, politics, economies, or invasions! Still, a few models have attempted to describe and possibly predict how cities will grow, where people will live, and where businesses will locate.  Let's dive into the internal structure of cities, the theories that form these internal structures, called bid-rent theory, and the different models that best explain them. 

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Internal Structure of Cities

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Did you know towns and cities loosely follow patterns that determine where people live and work? Is there a logic to it? Yes! Since the 1900s, geographers have tried to make sense of where and why things are placed in cities. Cities were built differently all over the world, subject to changing times, politics, economies, or invasions! Still, a few models have attempted to describe and possibly predict how cities will grow, where people will live, and where businesses will locate. Let's dive into the internal structure of cities, the theories that form these internal structures, called bid-rent theory, and the different models that best explain them.

Internal Structure of Cities: Definition

The internal structure of cities is the way people, activities, and what links them are distributed. Their distribution can be explained by theories, models, and patterns. Generally, every urban land model has a central business district (CBD) at the center. The CBD is the area for the main business and commercial activity in a city. In other words, it's a city's "downtown" or "city center." The CBD can also serve as a central point for other major city functions such as transportation, and cultural and social functions.

Aside from the CBD, cities also have residential, manufacturing, and retail areas. Residential areas are where people live and reside. Manufacturing and industrial areas are involved in creating, processing, packaging, or distributing products to be sold on the market. Retail areas are usually interchangeable with the CBD and provide goods and services.

Internal structure of cities: Bid-Rent Theory

The Bid-Rent Theory explains where retail, manufacturing, and residential areas will spread according to the CBD. It explains how the demand, and as a result price, is highest at the CBD. The CBD can provide the highest concentration of access to markets and labor, and retailers are willing to pay the highest rent for that. Although locations farther away from the CBD are cheaper, transportation costs for both retailers and customers often reduce profits.

Internal Structure of Cities, Bid Rent Curve Theory of Internal Structure of Cities, StudySmarterFig. 1 - Bid Rent Curve

Although manufacturers also need access to markets and labor, it's still less of a concern than for retailers. The greater access to space also means wider land is needed, leading them to the outer cores of cities.

Finally, residents will move farther out of the city where land is the cheapest to buy or rent for housing. There are few retailers and manufacturing areas outside of the CBD and outer core, decreasing demand, and prices. People will then take up residence in those areas.

See our explanation on Bid-Rent Theory and Urban Structure to learn more!

Internal Structure of US Cities

The internal structure of towns and cities can be generalized by theories and models, but each city has its own unique internal structure. Many cities have changed dramatically with the introduction of new technology, focus on services, and private car use.

In the US alone, cities are distinctly different depending on the time they were founded and urbanized. For instance, cities in the northeast were founded by Europeans before advancements in transportation were made. Therefore, similar to other European cities, grid-like streets with greater density were desired.

However, southern cities founded during the private car boom are built around car dependency as the main transportation method. This means cities are sprawling, with lower density and fewer walking options.

What kind of internal city structure does your city or town have?

Models of Internal Structure of Cities

From the bid-rent theory, several city models can be observed. US cities are unique in that many were built during the growth of automobile ownership. As a result, there are some models that can only be applied in the US. Let's take a look at some different models and what they seek to explain.

Internal Structure of Towns and Cities

There are several models that explain the internal structure of cities. Cities and towns continue to change due to globalization and transportation changes, and some of these models are quite outdated now. However, it's still important to understand how cities began to form and how early geographers documented the changes.

Concentric Zone Model

Ernest Burgess developed his Concentric Zone Model in 1925. It was modeled after what he was witnessing in Chicago and is one of the first theoretical models to explain the distribution of urban land use. It's also the main model behind the bid-rent curve theory.

Internal Structure of Cities, The Concentric Zone Model Internal Structure of Towns and Cities, StudySmarterFig. 2 - The Concentric Zone Model

Similarly to the bid-rent curve, the CBD is at the center with manufacturing in the outer core, and residential areas distributed throughout the rest of the area. A key difference is that the working class area is closer to manufacturing than wealthier residential areas. This is to explain where social and economic groups were more likely to move or cluster.

There are major critiques of this model now, however, as it can't be applied well to cities outside of the US. Changes in transportation and communication technology have also changed the distribution of land use, as people can freely commute with cars now.

Hoyt Sector Model

The Hoyt Sector Model was proposed in 1939 and builds on the Concentric Zone Model. Although it can be applied in British cities, it doesn't take into account the newest advancements in private car use. However, it's more applicable to older cities.

Internal Structure of Cities, The Hoyt Sector Model Internal Structure of Cities, StudySmarterFig. 3 - TheHoyt Sector Model

Hoyt's Sector Model focuses on wedges instead of rings. Residential and manufacturing areas are mixed with one another but still revolve around the CBD. With transportation and infrastructure changes in later years, suburbs change the applicability of this model.

Harris and Ullman Multiple-Nuclei Model

Harris and Ullman's Multiple Nuclei Model was created in 1945, based on new technology changes in Chicago. A difference in this model is that multiple CBDs arise with their own purposes and unique economic opportunities. For instance, workers in manufacturing will live closer to those areas, while wealthier people will move away from polluted manufacturing zones. The model is largely based on economic segregation patterns that can be seen in many US cities.

Internal Structure of Cities, Harris and Ullman's Multiple Nuclei Model Internal Structure of Cities, StudySmarterFig. 4 - Harris and Ullman's Multiple Nuclei Model

Though there are many other models, these three are at the core of urban geography in the US.

For the APHG Exam, try to remember these models in order! They build onto each other with time and changes in US cities.

Internal Structure of Other Cities

Although there are models that best fit US cities and their changes, there are other cities in the world that don't fit that mold. That's due to the growth of cities during periods of Western colonialization and development. This applied to cities in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Latin American City Structure

Latin American city structures are a mix of the concentric model with colonial influences. The Griffin-Ford Model, created in the 1980s, encompasses the general patterns Latin American cities are built in.

Internal Structure of Cities, Models of Internal Structures of Cities, Latin American City Structure, Griffin-Ford Model, StudySmarterFig. 5 - The Griffin-Ford Model is an attempt to describe the layout of Latin American cities

The model begins with a CBD at the center, with a spine reaching out towards a mall. The spine also acts as its own CBD, with many major businesses located there. There are divisions based on socioeconomic classes, with the elite residential sector surrounding most commercial areas. The CBD, the spine towards the mall, and the elite residential sectors usually have the strongest infrastructure, as they are invested in the most.

While these are the main components of the model, there are also concentric zones surrounding these areas with decreasing living qualities farther from the center. The areas farthest from the CBD lack basic infrastructure, with informal Squatter Settlements surrounding the outside of the model. This is due to rapid urbanization, with many from rural areas moving into cities for increased access to opportunities and services.

African City Structure

African cities are also primarily influenced by European colonialization. The difference between African and Latin American city structures is that African cities are known for having three CBDs: a traditional open market, a European colonial center with grid-like streets, and a developing CBD. These CBDs are placed around the center of the model, with residential locations surrounding them.

These residential locations differ depending on the proximity to the CBD. There's more of a mix of socio-economic residents closer to the CBD. Manufacturing zones tend to surround these residential zones, where lower land costs allow for bigger industrial projects to build. After the manufacturing zones are Squatter Settlements along the outskirts of the cities. This is due to fast-growing populations and rapid urbanization. However, with rapid urbanization and development, much of this model is outdated.

Southeast Asian City Structure

Southeast Asian cities are also influenced by Western colonialism. Many countries sought to trade with these countries for raw materials and resources. As a result, many Southeast Asian cities are built around port zones. Where there's no traditional CBD, the port zone operates as a similar focal point.

There are other special zones as well, including government, western, and alien commercial zones. These areas are distributed across the city. Models of Southeast Asian cities also take into account the distribution of middle-income residents in the periphery or suburbs.

Internal Structure of Cities - Key takeaways

  • The internal structure of cities is the way people, activities, and what links them are distributed. Their distribution can be explained by theories, models, and patterns.
  • The main theory behind the internal structure of a city comes from the Bid-Rent theory. This theory explains where retail, manufacturing, and residential areas locate based on distance from the CBD.
  • The main models that explain this are the Concentric Zone Model, the Hoyt Sector Model, and the Harris and Ullman Multiple Nuclei Model.
  • Other internal structures include models of Latin American, African, and Southeast Asian city structure.

References

  1. Fig. 1 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bid_rent1.svg), by SyntaxError55 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:SyntaxError55), licensed by CC-BY-SA-3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en)

Frequently Asked Questions about Internal Structure of Cities

The internal structure of cities is the way people, activities, and what links them are distributed. Their distribution can be explained by theories, models, and patterns. 

The models of a city structure are the Concentric Zone Model, the Hoyt Sector Model, the Harris and Ullman Multiple-Nuclei Model, the Galactic City Model, the Latin American City Structure, the African City Structure, and the  Southeast City Structure. 

The internal structure of an urban area is the way people, activities, and what links them is distributed in a space in a general pattern.

The morphological structure of a city follows a similar pattern. There's a focal point, usually a central business district where manufacturing and residential areas then arrange themselves. 

The Bid-Rent Theory explains where retail, manufacturing, and residential areas will spread according to the CBD, where demand and prices are highest.

Final Internal Structure of Cities Quiz

Internal Structure of Cities Quiz - Teste dein Wissen

Question

What city provided the basis for the sector model?

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Answer

Chicago

Show question

Question

(True or False) The sector model has accurately predicted the growth of US cities.

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Answer

False. The sector model failed to predict multiple downtowns and automobile transport networks.

Show question

Question

Which of the following is NOT a sector of the sector model?

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Answer

Suburbia

Show question

Question

Why does the CBD touch all sectors?

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Answer

Because the CBD in the model is the hub of economic activity.

Show question

Question

What are the characteristics of the High Class Residential sector?

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Answer

A single corridor from the CBD outward; expensive land; along a transport route such as a streetcar line; allows residents to travel to CBD and country without going through other sectors; physical geographic advantages; far away from pollution.

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Question

The _____ sector pulls in recent immigrants, who when they acquire the financial means, move to the ____ sector.

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Answer

Low Class Residential; Middle Class Residential

Show question

Question

What was a main impetus for the development of the sector model?

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Answer

The FDR administration's focus on alleviating poverty and providing government aid during the Great Depression.

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Question

What are the primary economic considerations in the Hoyt sector model?

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Answer

How much housing costs; how much transportation to work costs.

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Question

Why is the factories/industrial sector located along a transport corridor?

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Answer

So raw materials can be shipped in easily and quickly, and finished products can be shipped out.

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Question

What are the main problems in the Low Class Residential Sector?

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Answer

Racial and other discrimination, environmental contamination, poverty, health, crime, and other social problems.

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Question

What two urban geographers devised the multiple-nuclei model?

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Answer

Chauncy Harris and Edward Ullman

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Question

In what year was the multiple-nuclei model published?

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Answer

1945

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Question

The following is NOT a premise upon which the multiple-nuclei model is based:

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Answer

Economic activities are arranged in sectors that can expand outward as the city grows

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Question

Arrange these three models in chronological order from oldest to most recent: multiple-nuclei, concentric zone, sector

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Answer

Concentric zone; Sector; Multiple-Nuclei

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Question

What two main factors distinguish the multiple-nuclei model from models proposed by Hoyt and Burgess?

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Answer

The influence of private automobiles on road networks and city growth; the existence of multiple outlying business districts in addition to the CBD

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Question

What is the principal reason that the wholesale and light manufacturing district is located next to but not in the CBD?

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Answer

Wholesale and light manufacturing needs convenient access to transportation corridors, the CBD, and working-class neighborhoods, but cannot and does not need to pay the high cost of real estate in the CBD.

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Question

What is Gary, Indiana's relationship to Chicago, according to the multiple-nuclei model?

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Answer

Gary is an industrial suburb of Chicago (in the Calumet district)

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Question

(True or False) The multiple-nuclei model explains many similarities of US cities.

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Answer

True. This model describes and explains the similar patterns found in many US urban areas that are due to similar processes.

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Question

Why is Los Angeles such as good example of the multiple-nuclei model?

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Answer

Because its expansion beyond the original core of downtown LA was largely due to the automobile and the mobility that led to the LA freeway network and the means for people to live in suburbs clustered around other downtowns.

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Question

Why is heavy manufacturing located spatially distant from all but the lowest-cost housing areas and transportation?

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Answer

Heavy manufacturing activities drive down the cost of surrounding real estate because it creates environmental contamination and other issues that make living near it undesirable.

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Question

______ was the creator of the "galactic city" model:

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Answer

Lewis

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Question

The following would NOT be an essential part of the galactic city:

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Answer

A cornfield in Iowa

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Question

An essential component of the galactic city comprising much of the Eastern United States from Maine to Virginia is called _________

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Answer

Megalopolis

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Tysons Corner is an example of an ________, one of the components of the galactic city

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Answer

Edge city

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Question

Why do you think the metaphor of "galaxy" is used to describe the US as a city?

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Answer

In simplified form: a galaxy is held together by gravity and comprised of solar systems (metropolitan areas) which are comprised of stars and planets. Stars are like the CBDs, solar systems are like each metropolitan area, and planets are like edge cities. (Note that this is only an image helping us understand the US a city, and is not meant to be interpreted scientifically.)

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Question

What was the MOST IMPORTANT factor in the birth of the galactic city?

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Answer

The Model-T Ford

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Question

The galactic city can be understood as "______ people want to live in _______ areas but still have an ______ lifestyle."

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Answer

Urban...rural...urban

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Which of the following is NOT an essential component of the galactic city?

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Answer

Wilderness

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(True or False) The Internet should help the galactic city expand and fill the empty spaces.

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Answer

True. The Internet allows more people to work remotely, essentially living anywhere.

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Question

Who was the originator of the Concentric Zone Model?

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Answer

Burgess

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On what city was the Concentric Zone Model based?

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Answer

Chicago

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Question

(True or False) the person who devised the Concentric Zone Model did not recognize that cities inevitably varied from the form of the model.

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Answer

False. Burgess explicitly said that cities varied from his model.

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Question

What is NOT an urban zone, according to the Concentric Zone Model?

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Answer

Zone of mobility

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Question

Why were US cities growing so rapidly in the 1920s? (2 reasons)

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Answer

1) immigrants flooding in from overseas

2) internal migrants from rural areas

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Question

What socioeconomic class lives in the zone of transition, and why?

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Answer

The most impoverished people live in this zone because the rents are the lowest; they are lowest because they are closest to the unhealthy conditions of the factories

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What does "mobility" mean, according to Burgess?

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Answer

"Mobility" is a measure of how many people pass a given location during an average day.

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Question

Why are factories located next to the CBD in the Concentric Zone Model?

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Answer

Because the CBD is where transport routes converge, and industries need convenient access to transport.

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Question

What are the forces making each ring expand outward and displace people in the next ring?

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Answer

Economic expansion; population growth; economic growth of people's incomes allowing them to move to better residential areas.

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Question

What is NOT a weakness of the Concentric Zone Model?

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Answer

 Not applicable except 1900-1950

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Question

What is the internal structure of cities?

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Answer

The way people, activities, and what links them are distributed

Show question

Question

What are usual components in a structure of a city?

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Answer

Central Business District

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Question

What is the main economic theory behind the internal structure of cities?

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Answer

Bid-Rent Theory.

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Question

The internal structure of cities is the same across the US. 

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Answer

True.

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Question

All the models on the internal structure of cities are applicable all over the world. 

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Answer

True.

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Question

Why are the internal structure of city models outdated?

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Answer

Globalization.

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Question

What is a commonality between all the models that explain the internal structure of cities?

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Answer

Residential areas.

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Question

What is a commonality between the Latin American, African, and Southeast Asian city structure models?

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Answer

Influences from colonialization. 

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Question

What does the Hoyt Sector Model have that the Concentric Zone Model doesn't?

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Answer

Wedges instead of circles.

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Question

What does the Harris and Ullman Multiple-Nuclei Model have that the Hoyt Sector Model doesn't?

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Answer

Multiple CBDs.

Show question

Question

Africa's population today is around _______% urban.

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Answer

40.

Show question

Test your knowledge with multiple choice flashcards

Which of the following is NOT a sector of the sector model?

The following is NOT a premise upon which the multiple-nuclei model is based:

______ was the creator of the "galactic city" model:

Next

Flashcards in Internal Structure of Cities69

Start learning

What city provided the basis for the sector model?

Chicago

(True or False) The sector model has accurately predicted the growth of US cities.

False. The sector model failed to predict multiple downtowns and automobile transport networks.

Which of the following is NOT a sector of the sector model?

Suburbia

Why does the CBD touch all sectors?

Because the CBD in the model is the hub of economic activity.

What are the characteristics of the High Class Residential sector?

A single corridor from the CBD outward; expensive land; along a transport route such as a streetcar line; allows residents to travel to CBD and country without going through other sectors; physical geographic advantages; far away from pollution.

The _____ sector pulls in recent immigrants, who when they acquire the financial means, move to the ____ sector.

Low Class Residential; Middle Class Residential

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