Chapter 12: Suburbanization and urbanization
of Prague – the theory of zonal models and reality
lucie kupková
1. Introduction
Due to the development, spread and change in the function of a city and its parts and
related activities one can see both in the metropolitan area and the suburban zone
changes in the land use/land cover pattern. The “competition” of individual categories
for their major influence, which means the resulting land use pattern is subjected to
a number of factors. This relies heavily on the time, technologies, economic situation,
and organization of society. The influences differ in developing countries from those
in advanced market economies or in the countries which, after the Communist era,
are coming back to the market economy. Moreover, as a part of geographical space,
every city undergoes an individual development, which is determined by such factors
as physical-geographical conditions like the influence of the form of relief, soil quality,
micro climate, etc. A major role is also played by the instruments of local self-government and the civil service, the place in the system of settlement and land-use planning. Naturally, these factors have a significant impact on the formation of land use
pattern within the bounds of a city and in their spread to the surrounding landscape,
which is the subject of our interest.
In spite of this broad variety of preliminary conditions shaping land use/land cover
dynamics there are many attempts to establish universal models of the final land use/
land cover pattern and to predict future development. Zonal models (theories) are the
results of the effort to find some general rules, trends and regularities in the urban
land use/land cover pattern during the city development and growth. A wide range of
zonal theories has been recorded in literature.
2. Theoretical framework of zonal models
At a very elementary level land use and land cover change means (quantitative)
changes in the areal extent (increase or decrease) of a given type of land use or land
cover, respectively (Briassoulis, 2000). The analysis of land use/land cover change
revolves around two central and interrelated questions: “what drives/causes land use
change?” and “what are the (environmental and socio-economic) impacts of land use
change?”.
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A considerable variety of theories concerned with land use change where land
use is the direct object of theoretical inquiry can be found in literature. According to
Briassoulis (2000), it is possible to divide the existing theories of land use change into
three main categories based on the theorization tradition criterion:
a) the economic theorization tradition
b) the sociological (and political economy) theorization tradition, and
c) the nature-society (or, human-nature) theorization tradition.
Classical zonal concepts can be found in the group of economic (urban and regional) theories. These are mostly based on quite a simplified description of reality,
determined by the rules of market with a corresponding final arrangement of zones
in these models. More complex forms of zonal models, which are based on a broader
variety of initial assumptions, take into account economic, social and societal aspects
and are thus closer to reality, can be found in the sociological (and political economy)
group of land use theories.
2.1 The urban and regional economic theorization tradition
In the urban and regional theories of land use change, reality is represented using
concepts and procedures of an economic nature – among them, prices as the factors of production, services, and transport costs. Real world phenomena are analyzed
either from a micro-economic or from a macro-economic perspective (Briassoulis,
2000).
2.1.1 Agricultural land rent theory
The analysis of land use patterns and their changes in the micro and also macro-economic levels has been influenced in fundamental ways by the agricultural land theory
developed in 1826 by Germane estate owner J.H. von Thünen (Sinclair, 1967). In his
effort at finding regularities in the distribution of individual categories of land use, his
work was based on the conditions (the development of technologies and organization
human society) and experiences reflecting the time when the theory was formed.
According to von Thünen, this land use pattern depends upon competition between various types of agriculture for the use of a particular piece of land. The controlling factor in the competition is economic rent, defined as return from investment
in the land. The form of the land use providing the highest economic rent would make
the highest bid for the land and displace all others. As von Thünen suggested for his
time and conditions transport cost (distance from the market) was a primary factor
determining economic rent. As a result, economic rent from any land use and final
land use pattern can be expressed as a function of distance from the market. It should
be stressed that the produce whose production (crop) per unit of area is transported
at a smaller cost (such as grain) can be grown at a bigger distance than the produce
with a high production and therefore higher transport costs per a unit of area (such
as tomatoes). With the increasing proximity of a market a very intensive land use is
very desirable, while with increasing distance it is no longer profitable to have a high
production per unit of land because the advantage of a high yield gets lost through
suburbanization and urbanization of prague
increasing transport costs. As a result,
with increasing distance from the market it is desirable to have less intensive
production – within land use. Moreover,
at von Thünen’s time it was desirable to
produce perishable goods near a market
because their economic rent sharply fell
again depending on the distance from a
market.
It is possible to find two exceptions in
these general rules. If extensive land use
leads to the high production per unit of
area, this can exist near a market, such as
the production of timber (wood). On the
other hand, if relatively intensive land
use brings about low production per unit
of land, it can exist far from a market
(such as production of cheese) (Sinclair,
1967). Based on the described pattern of
lowering intensity depending on increasing distance from a market, it is possible
to outline the well-known von Thünen’s
concentric distribution of individual
categories of land use in the vicinity of a
city – see Fig. 1.
2.1.2 Urban expansion theory
Sinclair (1967) names three other factors, which according to his view influence land use much more in modern
industrial areas. These are (1) modern
organization
preferring
large-scale
production and mass transportation of
agricultural products; (2) nationwide or
worldwide market; and (3) competition
between various agricultural land uses,
complicated by increasing competition
from nonagricultural uses. The sprawling urban region influences rural land
use far in advance of the built-up area.
Urban land according to him is much
more valuable (expensive) than rural
land. And this is the reason why in the
direct competition between urban and
Fig. 1 Agricultural land rent theory.
Fig. 2 Urban expansion theory.
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rural land uses, urban uses generally take over and displace the other land uses. It is
because they provide the highest rent. Sinclair’s theory – urban expansion theory – is
based on “the degree of anticipation of urban encroachment” that has direct influence
upon the intensity of agriculture. In his opinion, the greater are the chances of urban
land uses taking over, the less practical it becomes for the owners to invest highly in
capital and labor for agricultural purposes.
Because the degree of anticipation declines with distance from the encroached city,
the distance from the city again becomes the factor that determines the agricultural
pattern. But according to Sinclair’s theory, the result of this process is the reverse
of that found by von Thünen. It means that with increasing distance from the city a
value of agriculture also increases until it levels off at a point where there is no more
anticipation of urban land prices. At the same time as the likelihood of urbanization
increases, the value of intensive agricultural investments declines rapidly and, on the
other hand, more intensive agricultural land use types pay off in greater returns at a
distance from the city. As Fig. 2 shows, land use 1 will prevail in zone OW, more intensive land use type 2 in zone WX and so on. Land use 5 extends to an undetermined
distance N from the city, because this land use is outside the area where urban land
use prices can be anticipated. It is a regional type of agriculture, governed by factors
other than the direct influence of the urbanized area (Sinclair, 1967).
2.1.3 Concept of rural-urban fringe
An interesting study concerned with the concept of rural-urban fringe as a complex
transition zone on the periphery of growing urban area in Western countries and
the consequences of its definition was published by Pryor (1968). Using a simple
diagram – “the process-response model” (see Fig. 3), he discusses the possibility of
differentiating the urban fringe (zone) from the rural fringe (zone). According to
this model, the process of urbanization
(growth of city size and population) results in the response of land use conversion, transition and invasion. In agreement with Sinclair, Pryor notes that land
value increases with the anticipation of
urbanization. The rural-urban fringe is
the zone of transition in land use, social
and demographic characteristics, lying
between (a) the continuously built-up
urban and suburban areas, and (b) the
rural hinterland, characterized by the
almost complete absence of non-farm
dwellings, occupations and land use.
Within the rural-urban fringe it may be
possible to identify two subzones: (1)
the urban fringe that is in contact and
continuous with the central city (high
Fig. 3 Rural-urban fringe theory.
suburbanization and urbanization of prague
proportion of residential, commercial and industrial area, a higher rate of increase in
population density), and (2) the rural fringe (a high proportion of farming, agricultural land use, a lower rate of increase in population density, land use conversion and
commuting). To define the special zone of rural-urban fringe, to distinguish it from
the city and rural space many hypotheses based on a large number of case studies
have been constructed. According to Pryor (1968), it is possible to summarize them in
three sectors. These are hypotheses concerned with (1) the residents of the fringe, (2)
the factor of accessibility of the fringe, and (3) land and dwellings in the fringe.
2.1.4 Urban Land Market Theory
Among others who applied and improved von Thünen’s original theory we can also
mention W. Alonso and his urban and land market theory (Alonso, 1964). According
to Briassoulis (2000), this theory aims to describe and explain the residential location
behavior of individual households and the resulting spatial structure of an urban area.
The focus is on residential location; the behavior of firms is treated more briefly and
in an abstract manner. The central concept of this theory is the bid-rent function for
each household and/or firm. The bid rent of a household is defined as the maximum
rent that can be paid for a unit of land (e.g. per acre) at some distance from the city
center if the household is to maintain a given level of utility (Hoover and Giarratani,
1984). The bid rent curve of the actual land rents in the city reflects the outcome
of a bidding process by which land is allocated to competing uses (a residential one
demanded by households and commercial/industrial demanded by firms).
2.2 The sociological (and political economy) theorization tradition
The sociological theorization tradition draws from the way of thinking in sociology
and in the broader realm of social sciences (anthropology, psychology, political science and related disciplines) which, compared to economics, is more diverse and
variable. In general, theorization in this tradition emphasizes the importance of
human agency, social relationships, social networks, and socio-cultural change in
bringing about spatial, political, economic, and other changes (Briassoulis, 2000). The
group of sociological theories is very broad (for the detailed classification of the broad
definition see Briassoulis, 2000). Zonal models are present especially in the groups of
human ecological theories.
Human ecology is a term coined to denote a sociological approach which borrows
concepts and ideas from the field of ecology and applies them on the analysis of the
relationships of humans with their physical and social environment mostly in urban
areas (Briassoulis, 2000). It was developed in the 1920s by sociologists of the Chicago
School – Robert Park, Ernest Burgess, Roderick McKenzie and others. Later, it was
systematized by other scholars – Amos Hawley, James Quinn, Brian Berry, J. Kasarda,
among others (Johnston et al. 1994, Romanos 1976). Human ecology advances the
idea that cities are the outward manifestation of processes of spatial competition and
adaptation by social groups which correspond to the ecological struggle for environmental adaptation found in nature (Cooke 1983, 133).
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2.2.1 Concentric zone theory
The concentric zone theory was proposed by Burgess (1925) to describe city patterns
resulting from the ecological processes presented above. A monocentric city consists
of five concentric rings containing particular urban functions; the center (the “loop”)
is occupied by commercial, administrative, financial, and recreational facilities (see
Fig. 4). It is surrounded by a “zone of transition” which is occupied by poor and old
residential property and run-down areas that have been invaded by business and light
manufacturing. The third zone contains
the homes of the working class, while the
fourth is an upper class residential area.
The fifth zone is devoted to suburban
and satellite development. As the city
grows, each zone extends to the next,
outer zone in the process of “invasionsuccession”; this is the suggested mechanism of change of the concentric zone
theory which, however, does not explain
the “why” of city growth. As Briassoulis
(2000) mentions it, it is evident that this
concept of urban land use structure and
its change bear close similarities to those
suggested by von Thünen and Alonso on
the basis of other (although not dissimilar) arguments.
Fig. 4 Concentric zones theory.
2.2.2 Radial sector theory
The radial sector theory was proposed by
Hoyt (1939) – Fig. 5. According to him,
similar types of (residential) land uses
occupy wedge-shaped sectors extending
from the city center along transportation
routes. High-rent residential areas occupy certain sectors and rents decrease
in all directions away from those areas.
Neighboring residential areas are occupied by intermediate income classes
while low-rent areas occupy other sectors
extending similarly from the city center
to the periphery (Chapin and Kaiser
1979, Romanos 1976). In this theory, the
needs of high income groups dictate the
patterns of urban expansion and residential relocation. The mechanism of change
thus rests with the changing wealth and
Fig. 5 Radial sectors theory.
suburbanization and urbanization of prague
(spatial preferences) of those groups and thus cripples the theory of accommodating
other forces of change – e.g. the influx of a large number of workers drawn by new
manufacturing who create a demand for low and medium income housing (Romanos
1976).
2.2.3 Multiple nuclei theory
The multiple nuclei theory of urban land
use structure was suggested originally by
McKenzie (1933) and it was expanded
later by Harris and Ullman (1945) in an
effort to overcome some of the restrictive
assumptions of the previous two theoretical schemes (especially, the monocentric city assumption) – Briassoulis
(2000). Drawing on the observation that
urban land uses are organized frequently
around particular nuclei (pre-existing
agglomerations or new centers of activity) rather than around a single center,
they proposed a city structure that is
schematically represented in Fig. 6. The
number and functions of the nuclei Fig. 6 Multiple nuclei theory.
differ from city to city. The mechanism
of change of this structure – the emergence of new nuclei – is attributed to: (a) the
need for specialized facilities by certain activities, (b) agglomeration economies, (c)
agglomeration diseconomies, and (d) the effect of the city rent rate structure on attracting or repelling certain activities (Romanos 1976, Chapin and Kaiser 1979). High
income groups occupy the most desirable locations while low income residents are
clustered in noxious environments. The multiple nuclei theory asserts that, as industrial societies become more complex and wide-ranging in their organizational scale,
the social composition of city districts changes as a function of this increasing (social)
differentiation (Briassoulis, 2000).
3. An analysis of the dynamics of urbanization and suburbanization
of Prague
3.1 Particularities of the process of urbanization and suburbanization
in the Czech Republic
If we search for regularities shaping the dynamics of urbanization and suburbanization in Prague, we have to think of which conditions within the Czech Republic have
been created and which specific mechanisms could have influenced these processes.
Certainly, the development in the Czech Republic has its historical particularities
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which do not occur anywhere else in the world. Unlike the tendencies observed in the
market environment of Western Europe and the USA, in the Communist era urban
development in the direction of suburban landscape and urbanization in general was
strongly constrained. The causes are: absence of a land market and market mechanisms in general, non-existence of private ownership, an effort to narrow inter-regional differences, a strict agricultural land protection law, and a centrally controlled
distribution of means according to the classification into the categories of central
settlement structure (see, e.g., Sýkora, 1996). These conditions were linked with other
singularities which characterized the development of settlements such as the construction of large blocks of panel houses on the fringes of a city, a rather limited construction of family homes, mostly constructed with one own’s means, and a frequent
occurrence of “second homes”. After the 1989 overthrow of the Communist regime it
is possible to see, especially due to the change in ownership and market conditions as
well as on account of a certain easing of the protection of agricultural land resources
in a new law) development of not only residential activities (Ptáček, 1996; Horáková,
2000), but also, first and foremost, an increase in the area of commercial, industrial
and trade expanses (Lapka et al., 2001). There has also been a continuous change
in the transformation of suburban cottage settlements into permanently inhabited
neighborhoods (Fialová, 2000).
According to Hampl et al. (1996), since the development of Prague was hampered
during the Communist era, it was much slower than in comparable cities of Western
Europe. As a result, there is still at present underway in Prague an extensive process
of metropolization, which had been in the past period strongly suppressed (there
was even a population decrease in the hinterland of the city). However, there is also
a simultaneous intensification process, while qualitative differences are calling for
changes in the hierarchy of national and multi-national systems of settlement. The
biggest cities in Europe are competing, thus creating a new distribution of activities
and links. The intensification process in Prague is mainly occurring due to its effort
to be specialized and increase cooperation with other comparable cities within the
Central and Eastern European region. In the Czech Republic a serious polarization
of regional development takes place in which Prague plays the role of a single pole,
differing with its development from other major Czech cities.
The impact of these specific conditions on the process of Prague’s spatial development, a possible emergence of zones of a specific exploitation of space, the development, transfers, and demise of certain types of land use can be to some extent
described and analyzed thanks to the accessibility of suitable resources and by means
of GIS instruments.
3.2 Data and methods
The output presented in this study is based on an analysis of the data from MURBANDY project (http://murbandy.sai.jrc.it/). With the consent of the owner of the
data MURBANDY (SAI JRC in Ispra) the analysis took advantage of thematic layers of
the classification of land use/land cover processed on the basis of aerial photographs
suburbanization and urbanization of prague
and satellite data for the years 1953, 1968, 1989 and 1998 (for more see Charvát and
Holý, 2000). The data use a joint European legend, which is based on the CORINE
project legend. The legend has been modified for our purposes (some categories were
merged). The information potential of the data is very significant and the presented results only use a part of it. The data do not cover the entire suburban area which can be,
in a simplified way, seen as the region delineated by the border of the districts PragueEast and Prague-West. However, in order to describe the process of suburbanization,
the emergence of zones and dynamism of land use/land cover, the area is sufficient.
When analyzing the data MURBANDY, after the legend was modified, methods of
spatial analysis (spatial overlay) were used in the GIS environment. The assessment
related to the changes in the distribution, structure and area of some categories of
land use/land cover was made. Concentric zones – concentric rings drawn for every
2 kilometers – were then delineated from the center of the town, which was situated
approximately in the middle of Charles Bridge. Within these sectors, an assessment
was made for the presence of individual categories of land use/land cover. Changes
in the proportions in individual years, which means transfers of individual categories
between the zones, were observed. Although von Thünen’s and other theories of
concentric zones are very simplistic, they inspired us to study the dynamism of land
use/land cover just by means of the concentric zones.
3.3 Results
3.3.1 Dynamics of land use/land cover pattern in Prague and its suburban area
in 1953–1998
When it comes to the changes in land use/land cover, the process of urbanization and
suburbanization should be mainly characterized by an expansion of built-up areas of
all types, and changes in the localization of individual types of built-up areas (such as
by the concentration of commercial areas and services in the city center, the transfer
of industrial areas to the city periphery, the emergence of satellite residential areas,
etc). The expansion of built-up areas is the cause of the second type of changes – a
decrease in arable land and other categories of agricultural land in the direction from
the city borders to the city center. An overview of the development of land use/land
cover categories in the area and years defined by the data from MURBANDY is given
in Table 1.
It is obvious from the table that all categories of built-up areas are constantly increasing their size. The same tendency could be discerned in construction sites and
transport areas, too. The urban spread of built-up areas into space is depicted by Fig. 7.
Moreover, there is also the process of “densification” of the built-up area, which led to
the bigger proportion of the category residential continuous urban fabric. Based on
available data and the defined area, it is not possible to observe any major construction of satellite residential housing in the hinterland of the city. This may be partly
caused by the fact that the data do not cover the whole suburban area and also by
the degree of spatial resolution of the data. More details, including the places where
satellite housing develops, can be found on aerial photographs.
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Table 1 The development of use/land cover categories in Prague and its hinterland.
Share of the category in total area
Category / year
1953
1968
1989
2,63
3,56
5,51
5,60
12,03
12,93
13,40
13,51
industrial areas
2,46
3,65
4,58
4,75
commercial areas
1,26
1,55
2,03
2,10
public and private services
0,19
0,29
0,61
0,80
residential continuous urban fabric
residential discontinuous urban fabric
forests
1998
10,07
10,26
10,34
10,30
water areas
1,05
1,10
1,17
1,19
transport areas
1,93
2,71
3,59
3,77
construction sites
0,50
0,94
1,60
2,09
green urban areas
arable land
1,38
1,41
1,71
1,70
50,14
50,36
41,91
40,86
permanent cultures
0,67
0,62
0,64
0,64
mosaic of meadows, fields and permanent cultures
7,64
1,75
1,47
1,50
agriculture with natural vegetation
3,97
4,40
5,63
5,53
meadows
2,88
3,06
3,70
3,64
other areas
1,19
1,41
2,11
2,01
Fig. 7 Built-up areas expansion in the period 1953–1998.
suburbanization and urbanization of prague
Fig. 8 Zones of industrial areas and their growth along railways.
In the case of industrial areas one can observe both their occurrence in the proximity of railways, a continual shift from the city center closer to its fringes and a
significant phenomenon – the enlargement of industrial areas in the course of time,
which brings about the emergence of industrial zones – the multiple nuclei. In accordance with McKenzie (1933) or Harris and Ullman (1945) it is therefore possible
to see specialization of the function of an area in various parts of the city (see Fig 8).
This has also been confirmed by the development of public and private services areas.
These, on the other hand, stay in the city center where their areas expand and get
more compact. Interesting features can be distinguished in commercial areas, which
expand along with the city growth into all of its parts, growing through it from its
center to its fringes. In the course of time they do not disappear from the center and
their areas gradually expand. Judging by these features, the process of commercialization is in its essence an azonal, rather stable and in the entire space of a city an evenly
distributed category (Fig. 9 – 4× commercial areas).
On the other hand, the second group of categories which have in the course of
suburbanization moved to the fringes of the city or have been completely forced out,
the biggest fall in area has been recorded in the mixed agricultural category – the mosaic of meadows, fields and permanent cultures. This was a category typical of private
farming before the collectivization drive. This category created the typical structure of
the Czech cultural landscape with a fine mosaic cultivated by small-production technologies. It transpires from the data that by 1968 it had been almost completely wiped
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Fig. 9 Spatial development of commercial areas 1953–1998.
out by big agricultural expanses – above all by compact blocs of arable land. This is
also proved by a change in the structure of small plots of arable land – there was a 31 %
increase in the average area of the plots between 1953 and 1968. The places where the
mosaic was replaced with blocs of arable land are apparent in the Figures 10 and 11.
Figure 11 describes the development of spatial distribution of the category arable land,
which was in the period under observation continuously moving to the fringes of the
city and its area considerably decreased in the considered territory after 1968.
Fig. 10 Spatial development of mosaic of meadows, fields and permanent cultures between 1953
and 1998.
suburbanization and urbanization of prague
3.3.2 Dynamics of land use/land cover pattern in concentric zones
So far we have summed up the results for the whole area under observation. However,
it is our main objective to examine the proportion of individual categories of land
use/land cover in concentric zones from the city center to its fringes and changes in
such delineated zones in the course of time. The definition of such zones, in our case in
the 2–kilometer interval with a center placed roughly in the middle of Charles Bridge,
is inspired by von Thünen’s methods of research and concentric zones theories as
such. It can serve as one of the foundations for the contemplations on the regularities
and mechanisms which contributed to the shaping of spatial distribution of individual
categories. There is the question of whether the competition of types of land uses
and the resulting land use pattern was influenced in any decisive way by the factor
of profit of investment to the land, whether, in line with von Thünen’s theory, there
was in individual zones a domination of the use which could have brought the biggest
profit or whether a bigger role was played by other factors such as interests of the
residents, nature protection, the general concepts of urban development, etc.
In order to make clear the differences in spatial structure and proportion of categories within zones, we are presenting the results of assessment from the bordering
years of the period under observation: the years 1953 and 1998. The results are depicted in Figs. 12–15. They give us an interesting insight in the presence and proportion of the categories of land use/land cover in individual zones as well as individual
Fig. 11 Spatial development of arable land in the period 1953–1998.
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development of the zones – the changes which occurred in every zone between 1953
and 1998.
In both years, there was a specific structure of land use in the first zone – the center of a city (less than 2 km from the “center” of the city). It distinguishes itself with
the absence of all agricultural categories and a dominance of areas with residential
continuous urban fabric. There is also a significant share of commercial areas, whose
proportion is here much higher than in all other zones. Compared with 1953, there
was a big increase of areas for services in the zone by 1998. Services and commercial
use are certainly the activities which can yield substantial profits in the center of a
metropolis. Along with links to residential housing this is certainly a reason of why
they have exceeded other types of use. On the other hand, in both years there was a
high share of green urban areas in the first zone. Naturally, this has not resulted from
any competition for a maximal profit. If anything, it may be connected with an effort
at maintaining the attractiveness of the center for the development of tourism, the
links of the green areas with large areas of historical sights and related protection
of architectural concept of the city. As a result, it is not possible simply to state that
the city center would only include the categories which can yield a direct economic
benefit.
The second zone (less than 4 km from the center) distinguished itself in both
years by a comparable proportion of two categories – continuous and discontinuous residential urban fabric. Again, the occurrence of agricultural categories is tiny,
somewhat bigger in 1953, including the arable land, which quite disappeared by 1998.
In 1953 it was a zone with the highest proportion of industrial areas from all parts
of the city. These changes in the course of time and by 1998 industrial areas have
a maximal representation in the fifth zone (this means between 8–10 km from the
center of the city).
The third zone is a sort of turning point as regards the density of residential housing.
In 1953 there was a significant and in 1998 slight dominance of residential discontinuous urban fabric at the expense of continuous urban fabric. It is also the zone in which
one could observe for the first time in both years under observation outside the center
of the town quite a significant proportion of forests and in 1953 also of arable land. The
latter virtually disappears by 1998. One can suggest that probably due to a change in
the situation of transport services (see also the growth in the extent of transport areas)
and transportation costs, which confirms that von Thünen’s theory was overcome, a
major role is at present being played close to the center of a city by other, economically
more advantageous, types of land use than agricultural exploitation.
This is also true of the zones 4 and 5, where the period under observation witnessed
a considerable decrease of arable land with a parallel growth of the size of industrial
areas. Moreover, there was a strong increase in the areas of residential continuous
urban fabric, which is an evidence of the growth of the city in general and its thickening. There is also a major representation of forest land in these zones. Both in 1953
and 1998 forests had the biggest representation in the zones 3, 4, and 5. This was not
certainly caused by maximal profitability of forest and timber production in the area,
but by the fact that forest areas are to some extent of park character and used for
suburbanization and urbanization of prague
recreation and relaxation of residents and also by the fact that agricultural production
had never been dominant in the area because this is urban environment.
There was also an interesting increase in the category of agriculture with natural
vegetation, which is a mixed category. Maybe this phenomenon can be partly attributed to the lowered quality of care for land and its overgrowing by vegetation at
the time of transformation, caused by the demise of the businesses in charge of land
farming. Moreover, this can bear witness of the time when speculators with land bide
their time with a view to waiting for further development of its protection and the
possibility of the exemption of the purchased land from agricultural land resources
category and its sale at a fine price. But if we compare the data from 1998 with those
from 1989, we find out that the growth of this category in the transformation period
only occurred in some areas, while their total proportion in the area under consideration has fallen.
In the zones 6–8 there is a significant decrease of residential continuous urban
fabric, while the proportion of arable land is strongly increasing. This area has the
character of a suburban loosened zone where agricultural production is profitable
and most local land is used for this purpose. Unlike more central zones the proportion of industrial areas falls here, while there were many more industrial areas in 1998
than in 1953.
The zone 9 (16–18 km from the center of the city) is again a zone of a certain
turning point. In both years under observation it was a zone with no occurrence of
residential continuous urban fabric and the proportion of discontinuous urban fabric
is very low, too. On the other hand, it is a zone with a maximal proportion of arable
land. In our opinion, one can place in the area a sort of imaginary boundary of the
city. Interestingly, in 1998 one could see in the last zone (number 10) again a minimal
proportion of residential continuous urban fabric. To some extent, this could have
been brought about by some inaccuracy of the used method. But we tend to prefer the
opinion that residential satellites have started to be concentrated in these areas and
that there is a development of suburban housing. This theory is also confirmed by a
significantly higher proportion of residential discontinuous urban fabric in this zone
as against the zone 9 and also by the falling proportion of arable land compared to the
zone 9. This explanation is also supported by findings of other authors. It is possible
to find in the zone 10 some areas with the most dynamic, rapidly developing housing
function, singled out by Kamenický (1998), such as Davle, Vrané, Černošice, Jíloviště.
Although the last delineated, 10th zone (18–20 km) was in 1953 primarily agricultural – with a dominance of arable land and a mosaic of meadows, fields and
permanent cultures – despite a remaining large proportion of arable land, one can
see in this area a construction boom by 1989. Not only the proportion of residential
urban fabric increases, but also that of construction sites, which proves the influence
of a sprawling big city and the development of activities related to suburbanization.
The development in the zones 6–10 thus bears witness of a shift of the transition zone which can be called, in accordance with Pryor (1968), rural-urban fringe,
between 1953 and 1998 farther from the city center to the originally agricultural
landscape (rural fringe) and of advancing suburbanization.
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Fig. 12 Land use/land cover in concentric zones of Prague 1953.
Fig. 13 Land use/land cover in zones 1953.
suburbanization and urbanization of prague
Fig. 14 Land use/land cover in concentric zones of Prague 1998.
Fig. 15 Land use/land cover in zones 1998.
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4. Discussion and conclusions – theories of zonal models and reality
Our analysis brings results which are more or less concentrated on the observation
of development within delineated concentric zones. It could be a matter of a broad
discussion to what extent a concentric zonal character determines the land use pattern in Prague. The resulting findings could have to be generalized only if further
detailed surveys were carried out. Such a research would have to discern regularities
or anomalies in the arrangement depending, e.g., on the direction (angle) from the
center (sectors of a circle) or on the course of main transport arteries, water streams,
on geomorphological characteristics of the area and on further factors. The presented
results only bring an example of the opportunities provided by the apparatus of zonal
theories and can inspire further experiments.
It is certain that land use/land cover pattern in all metropolises of the world and
in Prague, too, is subjected to such a complicated variety of influences and factors
that it cannot be described by any theoretical model. In fact, none of the theoretical
models can satisfactorily describe reality, embrace the complicated variety of conditions, and be valid in the trajectory of the development in which many inputs change.
Any model is necessarily based on a limited framework of initial assumptions, which
is consistent with its feasibility.
Von Thünen’s concept had been created for a theoretical, spatially limited, flat
territory with uniform geographical characteristics inhabited by farmers who were
flexible in their land use, and used the same method of transporting products to a
single market. The town was centrally localized with the same accessibility on all sides.
These idealized assumptions of “Isolierte Staat” have never been duplicated in reality.
In later parts of his work von Thünen examined how the ideal distribution would be
affected by other variables. He showed, e. g., how dramatically the model distribution
would be influenced by the presence of a river or a small town. He recognized the
influence of varying land fertility on production costs, the influence of such factors as
taxes or restrictions of a market (Sinclair, 1967).
Von Thünen’s experiments have been followed up by a number of geographers.
A comprehensive analysis of his work has been carried out by Sinclair (1967). He
mentions that von Thünen’s theory can be partly valid in the developing countries,
but it has been overcome in most of the world, among others because the price of
all types of transport has been significantly curbed in comparison with the prices of
agricultural products. It does not directly depend on distance also because one can
freeze or preserve the food. This means that the main factor on which von Thünen had
based his theory – the costs of the transport to a market –, is no longer of primary
importance and does not determine the distribution of individual categories of land
use (land use pattern) in the vicinity of towns.
Also Sinclair’s theoretical pattern – urban expansion theory – can be seldom duplicated in reality. As the author mentions, the suggested assumptions of uniformity
and simplicity are never found. Isolated metropolitan area is far from the reality,
urban sprawl tends to be chaotic, expansion of urban land uses proceeds in an uneven, and often apparently aimless, pattern. It extends along transportation arteries,
suburbanization and urbanization of prague
develops around certain nodes, it is always affected by planned public infrastructure.
Agricultural pattern is then affected by the urban expansion and all its variations and
irregularities, and the concept of a ringed pattern is somewhat unreal. According to
Sinclair (1967), the models presented need not have been converted into rings, they
could be considered rather as zonal arrangement, which can extend out from any
original shape.
These thoughts have also guided the authors of other theories, which we described
in the introduction (radial sector theory, multiple nuclei theory). But in the case of
these theories we agree with the view of Briassoulis (2000) that the theories are static
descriptive devices of urban land use structure with an apparent focus on residential
land uses. Although not suggested directly, the underlying land allocation mechanism
is similar to the urban land theory’s bidding process where the determining factor is
the ability of a user to pay for the price of a particular site in the city. None of these
theories, however, explain the “why” of the processes of change in the land use patterns – the factors that account for the growth and decline of economic activities, the
dominance of certain activities, the changes in preferences and other constraints (e.g.
institutional) on land development and use.
Besides, in the case of Prague mechanisms of market in particular, but also other
initial assumptions were considerably distorted by the presence of the rules of the
Communist regime. As a result, all theories and models based on an economic foundation lost their feasibility. This gave no chance for the creation of such an arrangement
of land use/land cover which would depend on the real distribution of prices of land
and for the advancement of the categories which would give land owners in a given
place the highest profit. As a result, if one can see in the course of urbanization and
suburbanization of Prague at a given time and a given place some of the economically
conditioned elements of the above theories and the resulting arrangement of land
use/land cover, determined by the theoretical assumptions, this has mostly occurred
in the periods when market mechanisms at last partly came to fruition, which means
beyond the Communist regime. This is exemplified by changes in the spatial structure
of a city in the period of transformation such as investments to the land and the development of construction along with falling agricultural activity in the fringe parts of
the city. It is possible to suggest that in accordance with Sinclair’s theory (1967) there
is at present a “high degree of anticipation of urban encroachment” and as Sinclair
continues, “the greater are the chances of urban land uses taking over, the less practical it becomes for the owners to invest highly in capital and labour for agricultural
purposes” (Sinclair, 1967).
It can be suggested that in many cases in the urban development there would be
certainly partial assumptions of the presented theories and the described resulting arrangement of land use may arise. In the case of Prague, too, we can observe
throughout the whole period irrespective of the political or economic systems further
traces of validity of some features of these general theories such as the emergence
of mono-functional zones (industrial areas, housing areas, commercial zones) or the
influence of transport and road network on the resulting arrangement of the city. But
there is the question of whether this is just a random development or the result of a
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complicated variety of factors and to what extent a phenomenon is explicable and
predictable on the basis of a scientific zonal theory.
Although zonal theories cannot comprehensively describe, let alone explain, reality, they should be perceived as a gradually developing and improving instrument of
generalization and search for generally valid mechanisms. As one of the deductive
directions of research on urbanization they have an undeniable importance in the
development of regularities of urban and suburban land use pattern identification and
also in their provision of an apparatus and impetus for further research. At present
this can be exemplified by an advancing modeling of future development of urban
and suburban land use/land cover with use of modern computer simulations such as
the method cellular automata. Cellular automata are systems that are able reproduce
and mimic complex systems with self-organizing properties. This method gives rise to
unique models for specific cities tailored on the basis of detailed, here acquired, data
on the previous development (from several decades) along with implementation of
development plans, including planned restrictions, constraints, protective measures,
etc. Such models have been constructed, e. g., within the project Murbandy/Moland
for a number of European cities, including Prague (Baredo et al., 2002). Their main
target is not just to predict future land use development under existing plans and
policies, but also to compare alternative planning policy scenarios in terms of their effects on future land use development (Baredo et al., 2002). If the knowledge, acquired
by the zonal theories, is inserted in the new methods, this can improve them and
bring practical results in the planning of future development of cities.
This article is an output of the projects of Czech Grant Agency no. 205/02/P093 and
MSM 113100007.
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Joint Research Centre EC – http://www.jrc.cec.eu.int/
Project Murbandy: http://murbandy.jrc.it/
Corine Land Cover: http://reports.eea.eu.int/COR0-landcover/en/tab_abstract_RLR
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