Urban Landscape
Contents
•
•
•
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Urbanization
Network of Urban Centres
Spatial Patterns in Urban Landscapes
Urban Problems
Urbanization
•
•
•
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Meaning of Urban Settlement
Urbanization and Urban Growth
Causes of Urbanization
Difference between developing and developed
countries
Meaning of Urban Settlement
• Four general approaches for classifying urban and
rural
– Administrative divisions
• Type of local government
– Administration centres of all minor divisions
– Population clusters
– The presence of non-agricultural activities
Population clusters
• The minimum size adopted by various governments,
however, varies greatly.
Country
Sweden
Papua New Guinea
Canada
United States
India
Switzerland
Japan
Minimum Population of Settlement
Considered to be “Urban”
200
500
1000
2500
5000
10000
50000
Non-agricultural activities
• Urbanization is based on the assumption that a
town may be more suitably differentiated from
rural centres by the presence of non-agricultural
activities, and the official definition of urban
status in countries such as Israel and Yugoslavia
included such criterion.
Urbanization and Urban Growth
• It is clear that urbanization and the growth of cities
have become one of the major characteristics of
the present century.
• Northam: "Urbanization is the process
whereby a society is transformed from an
essentially rural to a predominantly urban
one. It has a beginning and an end. In
contrast the growth of cities has no limit."
Urbanization – meaning 1
• Measure of the degree of urbanism (level of
urbanization) in a society
• The proportion of the total population in country living in
urban settlements.
Country
Number of
urban
centers
Average size
of urban
centers
Total urban
dwellers
Total
national
population
Level of
urbanization
(%)
A
10
50000
500000
4000000
12.5
B
5
40000
200000
1000000
20
Urban Size and Urbanization
Urbanization – meaning 2
• The process by which this proportion of urban
dwellers increases over time.
• Different between urbanization and urban growth
Year
Total national
population
Total urban
dwellers
Level of
urbanization (%)
Urban Growth
1800
1850
1900
1950
2000000
4000000
8000000
14000000
600000
1200000
4800000
8400000
30
30
60
60
----600000
3600000
3600000
Urbanization and Urban Growth
Causes of urbanization
• An Efficient Agricultural System
– makes surplus quantity of food possible to sustain the urban population
• Invention of power-driven machinery
– The industrial revolution
Factories development
– concentration of production into bigger factories requiring large number
of workers
• The development of Trade and Services
– employment in the service, or tertiary sector of the labour force has
been an important factor in the growth of cities
Causes of urbanization
• Development of Transportation
–
–
–
–
It allows goods to be transported freely
It possible for people to move freely
Intra-urban transportation
Enable mass movement of people between home and work
places
– Widespread use of automobile and truck
– Decentralization of people and functions within urban areas
• Demographic and Social Factors
– Natural Increase (Cities) – about 20%
• Reasons:improvement of sanitation, health care, social welfare,……
– Rural-urban Migration - about 70%
Rural-urban Migration
• Push-Pull Model
Barriers
Origin
Positive Factor (Pull factor)
Negative Factor (Push factor)
Destination
>
<
Move
Stay
Urbanization in developed and
developing countries
• Developed countries – attenuated ‘S’, Curve
• Developing countries – ‘J’ curve or rising line
Causes of urbanization – Developed
Countries
• Industrial Revolution (End of 19 century)
• Western Europe and North America
• Causes
–
–
–
–
–
Farming mechanization
Increase agricultural efficiency
Release labour forces from rural
Fast development of industries in cities
Provide many jobs
• Slow increasing rate in Urbanization
• Eg. England and Wales 10% in 1891 but 60% in 1973
Causes of urbanization – Developed
Countries
Origin: Rural Area
Destination: Urban Area
Push factors
Pull Factors
 Unemployment for
mechanization
 Many job opportunities for
industrialization
 Low standard of living
 Higher standard of living
 Low wages
 More education
 Poor education
 Higher wages
 Poor view of future
 Better health care
 Better view of future
Causes of urbanization – Developed
Countries 2 (Sub-urbanization)
• Population growth rate in suburban zone is higher than
that in inner zones of the city.
• City scale not national scale
• Causes
–
–
–
–
Satellite and new town formation
Improvement of living standard
Improvement of transport between CBD and suburban
Government policy, eg. Urban renewal programme
Slum clearance…..
Causes of urbanization – Developed
Countries 2 (Sub-urbanization)
Origin: Urban Area
Destination: Rural Area/ New Town
Push factors
Pull Factors
 Overcrowded living
environment
 More open space, more pleasant living
environment.
 Pollution
 Fresh air, quiet
 Traffic congestion
 Lower land rent
 High crime rate
 Lower crime rate
 Higher land rent.
 Large modern shopping centres in
suburb.
 Large modern factories, more job
opportunities
Causes of urbanization – Developing
Countries
• Post World War II (1945)
• Countries in Africa, Asia and South America
• Rapid rate of urbanization
– 1920-1970, people living in cities of 100000 or more increased
275% in the developed countries but it was 675% in developing
countries.
• Causes
– High natural increase (high birth but low death rate)
• Great contrast in social, economic and medical in cities than in countryside.
– Rural-urban migration
• Rural Economics Collapse
Causes of urbanization – Developing
Countries
• Rural Economic Collapse
• Push factors are more important than pull factors
• Hope for improvement is a key force (dream)
Push
Pull
Rural-urban migration – developing
countries
Rural-urban migration – developing
countries
• Urbanization is ahead industrialization
– Urban lack the economic capacity to support such
urbanization
– Industrial growth is sluggish
– Unemployment in urban
– It cannot absorb the tremendous influx of rural migrants
• Improvement of transportation
– People can migrate more easily
– Diffusion of information from the urban
Rural-urban migration – developing
countries
• Worse rural conditions
–
–
–
–
–
–
High rural density
Great strain on the agricultural resources
Overcrowding, overgrazing, soil erosion,
Declining productivity
Unemployment
Droughts or famine
• Political instability
Problems from rural-urban migration –
developing countries
• Dream
– Hope of finding jobs
– Better standard of living, better views of future
• Urban cannot cope with such excessive labour
– Unemployment, high crime rate
• Housing problems
– Shanty towns, squatters and slums
– Extremely miserable living environment
• Urbanization in developing countries is problems creator.
Networks of Urban Centres –
Central Place Theory
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•
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Central Places
Assumptions
Building of the theory
Evaluations of the central place theory
Application of the central place theory
Conclusion
Central Places
• Urban settlements are seemed to be unorderly pattern and
no definite factors controlling location, size and spacing of
settlement.
• Good location: availability of water, height of the land, plain,
fertile soil,….. (old approach)
• Urban settlemnts are affected by it accessibility to people.
(location on routes, road, rail, water routes……) It is good
for importing raw materials and exporting finished products.
• The size of settlement is determine by its location
Central Place
• In 1933, Walter Christaller finished the book ‘Central Places
in Southern Germany’
• Every town acts as a focus for the surrounding countryside.
• Every town as a central place.
• Central places are settlements which are centrally placed
within the area which they serve.
• A central place serves and provides its immediate region with
goods and services.
• Some central places are more important than others. They
have more services and serve a larger area.
• Spatial hierarchy
Assumptions
• An isotropic plain
• Transport costs are proportional to distance, single uniform
transport system and an uniform transportation network in all
directions (equally accessible)
• The population is even spatial distribution.
• Common culture and a common level of technology
• The income, demand schedules, and propensities to consume
are all equal.
• Producers and consumers behave in an optimum fashion.
• Desire of people: Incomes of the people offering goods and
services should be maximized and the distance moved by
consumers to purchase the goods and services be minimized.
Building of the theory
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•
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•
•
Threshold Value
Range of goods/ services
The shape of the Tributary area
Different orders of goods
A hierarchical spatial arrangement of central
places
• K value (3, 4, and 7)
Real pattern of urban settlement
Threshold Value
• Minimum population that is required to bring
(support) about the offering of a certain type of
goods for sale to sustain any service.
• Minimum level of demand as the threshold value.
• The minimum population require to bring about
this demand is known as threshold population.
Range of Goods/ Services
• Maximum distance over which people will travel to
purchase a piece of goods or a services offered at a
central place. (Max. serving area of a central place.)
Demand curve and Demand cone
• The quantity of the goods that a consumer will prepare to buy
depends on the actual price of the goods.
• The price to the customer varies only with his distance.
• The further he is from the central place, the less he will consume.
Upper limit and lower limit
• The upper limit is the range
of a type of goods from a
central place.
• The lower limit is the
threshold value.
• It is impossible for the
whole population to be
served from only one
central place.
• Various central places will
appear each having its
own circular market area.
Lower limit or
threshold value
Upper limit or Range of goods
The shape of the Tributary Area
Different orders of goods
High order
goods
Medium order
goods
Low order
goods
Values
High
Medium
Low
Frequency
Low
Medium
High
Threshold
Population
Large
Medium
Small
Range of
goods
Large
Medium
Small
No. of
Activities
Small
Medium
Large
Different orders of goods
• It is impossible for all kinds of goods and services to
be provided at all locations.
• The distribution of the central places will be shown in
the figure which shows that the different orders of
goods are arranged in an orderly hierarchy.
A Hierarchical spatial arrangement of
central places
K value (3, 4 and 7)
• There are 3 possible spatial arrangement of
central places (K value)
• K=3 (Marketing Principle)
• K=4 (Transport Principle)
• K=7 (Administration Principle)
Marketing Principle (K=3)
• The boundary of a
central place’s
market area
passes through six
other consumption
centres.
• The demand of
each of these
centres is shared
with other central
places (1/3, K=3)
Marketing Principle (K=3)
• Number of Central Places:
– The number of lower order central places is 3 times the number of
its next higher order one.
– From the highest order central place to the lowest order central
places, the ratio is 1:2:6:18:54……
• Serving area of a central place:
– The serving area of a central place is 3 times the area of its lower
order one.
– From the lowest order central place to the highest order one, the
ratio is 1:3:9:27:81:243……..
• Spacing (Distance) of central places:
– The spacing (distance) of the same order central place is
calculated by 7 x K n (where n is the order of central place)
Transport Principle (K=4)
These central places lie on main transport routes
connecting the higher order centres.
• The boundary of a central
place’s market (serving
area) passes through six
other centres
• The demand of each of
these centres is shared
with other central places
(1/2, K=4)
Transport Principle (K=4)
• Number of Central Places:
– The number of lower order central places is 4 times the number of its
next higher order one.
– From the highest order central place to the lowest order central
places, the ratio is 1:3:12:48:192……
• Serving area of a central place:
– The serving area of a central place is 4 times the area of its lower
order one.
– From the lowest order central place to the highest order one, the
ratio is 1:4:16:64:256…….
• Spacing (Distance) of central places:
– The spacing (distance) of the same order central place is calculated
by 7 x K n (where n is the order of central place)
Administration Principle (K=7)
Efficient administration is the control the whole area and it is
impossible shared with with other centres.
• All 6 tributary
centres are
under the
control of the
central place.
Administration Principle (K=7)
Administration Principle (K=7)
• Number of Central Places:
– The number of lower order central places is 7 times the number of its
next higher order one.
– From the highest order central place to the lowest order central places,
the ratio is 1:6:42:294:2058……
• Serving area of a central place:
– The serving area of a central place is 7 times the area of its lower
order one.
– From the lowest order central place to the highest order one, the ratio
is 1:7:49:343:2401…….
• Spacing (Distance) of central places:
– The spacing (distance) of the same order central place is calculated
by 7 x K n
(where n is the order of central place)
Combination – No Pattern
Evaluation of the central place theory
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•
•
•
Criticisms
Values of the Christaller theory
Application of the theory
Conclusion
– Hierarchy of settlement
– Centrality score
Criticisms
• Christaller has not given a satisfactory explanation of the
hexagonal shape of the complementary areas.
• Regular arrangements of the central places have only been
tentatively demonstrated.
• A hierarchical structuring base on the assumptions of an
isotropic surface, but the aggregation of areas masks this
structuring.
• It is economic deterministic. It allows no account of individual
perception.
• Restricts of tertiary production.
• Distribution of towns in most area of the world reveals no sign
of a hexagonal shape.
Criticisms - 2
• Towns do not fall into discrete classes but rather are spread
uniformly along a continuum of sizes from the smallest to the
largest.
• It applies well in poor and thinly settled farm districts with simple
social organization and mainly self-contained, but not works well
in manufacturing area.
• Highest-order center offers all the low-order services
– Some low-order service may not be offered in highest-order center
• The centers of the same order will offer same range of services
– The services offered by the centers of the same order may be different
Values of the theory
• It shows the interdependence of town and its hinterland.
• A hierarchy of functions and of settlement is devised.
• The idea of competition between centres is stressed in the
marketing principle.
• It is possible to make a number of predictions about the pattern of
future settlement location.
• It defines the ideal pattern of central places and explains why an
urban hierarchy may exist in the reality.
– A small number of high-order centers serve large hinterland;
– Many low-order centers serve small hinterland.
• It provides a basis for planning the size and spacing of centers in
newly-developing areas.
Application of the central place theory
• Skinner’s study in China
• There are 3 levels of towns
– Standard market towns
– Intermediate market towns
– Central market towns
•
•
•
•
•
Urban system in Guangdong (1998)
Urban system in Zhejiang
Urban system in Hong Kong
Shopping Centres planning in Hong Kong
The impact of increased population density or increased income
of population
• The impact of improved transportation on central place system
Standard market towns
• It provided for the exchange
of goods produced within the
market’s dependent area.
• It was the starting point for
the upward flow of
agricultural products and the
termination of the downward
flow of imported items in the
marketing system.
• Most of the standard market
towns were having
hexagonal hinterland.
Intermediate market towns
• Markedly larger than
standard market towns.
• Intermediate positions in
the vertical flow of goods
both ways.
• Farmers seldom direct go
to these towns unless they
happen to live within
immediate vicinity of the
intermediate market towns.
Central market towns
• Highest in the hierarchy.
• Normally situated at a
strategic site in the
transportation network.
• The functions not only
as wholesaling centres
for the rural markets but
also offer upper-level
goods and services to
the wealthier individuals.
Urban system in Guangdong
(54 cities by total population in 1998)
Urban system in Zhejiang
Urban system in Hong Kong
Shopping centre planning in HK
• Metropolitan Centers
– Catchment population:
Whole HK and tourists
– Range of goods: consumer
durable goods, many banks
and commercial services,
cinemas, theatres,
restaurants, entertainment
and social facilities.
– Examples: located at
Central, Tsim Sha Tsui and
Causeway Bay
Shopping center planning in HK
• Regional Centers
– Catchment population:
250,000 to 1,000,000
– Range of goods:
department
stores/supermarkets,
many ancillary services,
i.e. banks, restaurants,
cinemas, theatres and
other social facilities
– Examples: new town
centers. Typical centers
may range from 50,000
to 250,000 sq.m.
Shopping center planning in HK
• District Centers
– Catchment population:
50,000 to 250,000
– Range of goods: limited
entertainment and social
facilities, but significant
concentrations of retail
facilities and restaurants
– Examples: mediumscale shopping centers
of town-wide or district
significance, Wan Chai
in the urban area and
Kam Tin in NT. Typical
centers may range from
Shopping center planning in HK
• Local Centers
– Catchment population: less
than 50,000
– Range of goods: small-scale
concentrations of shops for
local retail services and
restaurants, such as in Fung
Tak Estate and Tai Yuen
Estate. Local centers are less
than 10,000 sq.m.
•
Source: HK Planning Standards and
Guidelines,
http://www.info.gov.hk/planning/tech_doc/
hkpsg/index_e.htm
The impact of increased population
density or income of population
• Consumer expenditure will increase
• Further high-order services will be required
• Increase the potential number of levels of
hierarchy
• Increase the degree of functional specialization
of the highest-order center
The impact of improved transportation
on central place system
• Population mobility increased
• People are willing to travel longer to obtain
services
• Market area of a central place will expand
• Restructuring of central places, some have
to be closed.
Conclusion
• Christaller has presented urban hierarchies of both vertical
and horizontal, cities of the same order were equidistant apart.
• As for vertical hierarchy, smaller central places will be nested
within larger central places according to marking,
transportation and administrative principles.
• It is applicable to retailing.
• Smaller shopping centres will sell less goods with a smaller
range of goods and threshold value but much more frequently
visited by customers.
• Such settlement patterns are more likely to be found in nonindustrial or rural areas.
• It could serve for prediction and future planning purposes.
Hierarchy of settlement
• It can be explained in two ways:
• Size of population and Number of functions
• Size of population
– The larger settlement serve large area and small settlement
serve small areas
• Hamlet, village, town, city, conurbation, metropolis, metropolitan
– Hierarchy of shopping centres within a single urban area.
• Local centre, district centre, regional centre, metropolis centre.
Hierarchy of settlement - 2
• Number of functions
– The larger settlements are having greater number of
functions while the smaller settlements are within smaller
number of functions provided for local people.
– If there are two towns of different sizes but equal in
importance as central places, the smaller town may be
regarded as having a higher central place status
• Resort town has a higher status than residential town.
– Improvement in transport
• There are fewer smaller settlement especially hamlets because
of accessibility and each settlement on the same level of the
hierarchy will not necessarily with the same range of services.
Centrality score / index
• The greater the index, the higher the status as central
place. Usually the higher the rank of central place,
the more population.
• Centrality score / index
t
C 
T

 x100

Where C = Coefficient of location of the function
t = Number of outlets of function ‘t’ in one town
T=Total number of outlets of function ‘t’ in the whole system
Centrality score - 2
Furniture
Clothing
Grocers
Jewellery
Doncaster
49
247
196
48
Sheffield
183
764
1067
199
Barnsley
26
148
199
31
Rotherham
30
115
154
32
Total
288
1274
1616
310
• Index of centrality of Doncaster
48 
 49 
 247 
 196 
 48 
 49 247 196




 x100  
 x100  
 x100  
 x100  
 x100  64
 288 
 1274 
 1616 
 310 
 288 1274 1616 310 
Spatial Patterns in Urban Landscapes
• Distribution of Urban Population / population density
– The pattern
– Difference between developed and developing countries
• Economic Factors affecting distribution of urban
population
– Urban land rent
– Bid rent curves
– conclusion
Spatial Patterns in Urban Landscapes - 2
• Urban Land use
–
–
–
–
–
CBD
Commercial landuses
Zone in transition
Residential
Manufacturing
• Urban Landuses Model
– Concentric Model
– Sector Model
– Multi-Nuclei Model
Distribution of Urban Population
• The city centre is very sparsely populated
• Population density increases with increasing distance from the city
centre.
Reasons
• The city centre is very sparsely populated
– The city centre is the most accessible place int eh city.
– Land rent is very high. (competed by all landuse)
– Onlycommerce enterprises can affored the high land rent.
• Residential district immediately outside the city centre will be very density
populated.
– The low income group cannot afford the high transportation cost
– They had to live in very small apartments or resort to subletting.
• Population density is low in suburbs.
–
–
–
–
The rich live here.
Poor environment of inner city (high crime rate, pollution…)
They can live in spacious residences spread widely apart for low land rent.
They can drive to work everyday.
• Density is extremely low towards the periphery.
– Too far away and transport cost is too high.
Difference between developed and
developing countries
• Western Cities
Difference between developed and
developing countries
• Non-western cities
Economic factors affecting distribution
of urban population
• Urban Land rent
– Urban land rent chiefly determined by the location measured in terms
of accessibility.
• Retailer will bid for the most accessible point for his market.
• Manufacturers want to be near to the terminals to cut down the transportation
cost.
• The land would go to the highest bidder.
• The market value and the land rent of more accessible area will increase.
– City core is a point of intersection of most (most accessible location),
so is the peak of land value.
– Land value will decrease from the core towards the periphery for
declining accessibility.
Bid rent curves
Bid rent curves -2
• Retailing demands greatest accessibility to the whole city
population in order to maximize profits.
– Away from the city centre, market declines very rapidly and so is
the willingness to pay high rent.
– The curve is very steep.
• Offices of insurance firms, doctor, dentist can still survive
in less accessible regions.
– The curve is less steep.
Bid rent curves - 3
• If the curves are
superimposed,
where the
slopes intersect
the users further
away from the
core will be outbid.
Bid rent curves - 4
• Two-dimensional
diagram, a series
of concentric zone
will be generated
Conclusion
• In fact, it is directly related to the distribution of transport
networks.
• Larger city, several major peaks may be found all near to the
points of inter-section of roads or nest to the terminal of MTR.
• Central peaks of land value will occur near the centre with a
general decrease in all directions.
• Ridges are relatively high value which extend along the major
radial routes.
• Rent, transport cost and location are interdependent.
– Good locations are highly accessible, higher rent, lower transport
cost.
Conclusion - 2
•
Relationship between transport system and land rent value.
Urban Land Use
•
•
•
•
•
CBD
Commercial landuses
Zone in transition
Residential
Manufacturing
Central Business District - CBD
• CBD is the focus of transport routes and the area
of the greatest pedestrian, vehicular traffic and a
high intensity of urban landuse.
– General Functions of CBD
– Characteristics of the CBD
– Criteria to delimit the CBD
General Functions of the CBD
• Public Administration:
– Government offices and departments (prestige reason)
• Head quarter of the large companies
– Insurance, financial business, multi-national…..
– Accessible to their clients and other businessmen with whom they have frequent
contact and appointments.
• Retailing and services
– Large department stores and small specialty shops which sell high price luxury goods.
– Many cafes and restaurants to supply meals to the working populations in the CBD.
• Light industries
– Printing and tailoring which have to accessible to customers
– Only require a small floor space and usually occupy the upper floors
• Entertainment:
– Theatres, cinemas, shops and expensive restaurants.
• Recreation:
– Parks and Gardens
Characteristics of the CBD
• Maximum accessibility
– Focus of transport routes and the terminal of public transport system
• The Highest land value
– Result of landuses competition
• The tallest buildings
– If the CBD is expanding horizontally, its efficiency will be deduced.
– The vertical growth of the CBD is the result of technological
changed.
• Reinforced cement, lifts, escalators, air-conditioning, artificial lighting and
improvement of architecture technology…..
• High day time and low night time population density
– Daily flow of population into and out from CBD creates the morning
and evening peak hour rushes.
Criteria to Delimit the CBD
• Appraised or Assessed Land Value
– subjective
• High Rent
– Confidential and also subjective
• Ratable value
– Subjective and rating is not only base on the land value, but also
the conditions of the buildings.
• Building Height
– Many non-CBD buildings are also very tall especially in HK
• Vehicular and pedestrian traffic count
– Traffic may be just passing through since the CBD is usually the
focus of regional road network
• Land use (the best one)
Land Use
• Derived by Murphy and Vance in 1955
• 1. Define the CBD and non-CBD land uses
– Non-CBD: residential, govt. and public buildings, churches,
colleges and industrial establishments
• 2. Measure floor space devoted the CBD and non-CBD
uses.
– All storeys should be considered
• 3. Calculate the following indexes
– HI, CBHI, CBII and CBI
The indexes
• Total Height Index (HI)
– HI = Total floor space / Ground floor space
• Central Business Height Index (CBHI)
– CBHI = Total central business floor space / Ground floor space
– >1, more than the ground floor is devoted to CBD uses
• Central Business Intensity Index (CBII)
– CBII = (Total central business floor space / Total floor space) x 100%
– Percentage of all available floor space in C.B. uses
– Limiting value (say 50%) can be used as a standard in delimitation.
• Central Business Index (CBI)
– CBI = CBHI of at least 1 and CBII of 50%
– All continuous blocks meeting the requirements set in CBI are
included.
Demerits of the Methods
• The central business uses are subjectively
determined
• The variation in block size is not taken into account.
• No account is taken of the quality of use of an area; a
smaller corner shop and a specialized and expensive
central shop belong to the same class.
Delimiting the Hard Core of the CBD
• Murphy and Vance was modified by D.H. Davis.
• Cinemas, hotels, head-offices, newspaper
establishment, governmental offices and retail shops
offering low quality goods (subjectively defined) were
regarded as non-C.B. hard core uses.
• CBI were increased to CBHI larger than 4 and the
CBII of 80% is delimiting the hard core area.
Internal Specialization within the CBD
• Various economic and functional links bind together
the landuses which characterize these specialized
area.
• Theatres and cinemas and other forms of
entertainment profit from each other’s presence.
• Proximity of various government and administrative
offices in the same district adds to the efficiency of
the functioning.
• If the rent of a site is very high, only a few functions
can afford to utilize the site.
Commercial Landuses
•
•
•
•
Type of shops
Hierarchy of Retailing Centres within the city
Spatial Arrangement of shopping centres
Factors affecting decisions to locate a store
Type of Shops
• Convenience goods store:
– Patronized frequently and regularly.
– Low threshold population and small range of goods (trade area)
– Eg. Bread store
• Shopper’s goods store:
– Patronized less regularly, at intervals of about weeks or less.
– Larger threshold population and larger range of goods (trade area).
They have to seek a more central location.
– Eg. Boutique, shoe shops (Durable goods)
• Specialist store:
– Selling goods needed only occasionally.
– Eg. Furniture shop (Durable goods)
Hierarchy of Retailing centres
• Shopping centres
– Number of shops in present:
• Higher order business centres will have more shops.
– Types of goods available for sale:
• Higher order centres will provide convenience goods and a wide
range of shoppers’ goods while in low order centres, there may be
an absence of shoppers’ goods
• Four types of shopping centres:
–
–
–
–
The CBD (Metropolis centre)
Regional business centres
District centres
Local centres
Spatial arrangement of shopping centres
• CBD providing both convenience goods for local needs and
shoppers’ goods serve a much larger trade area.
• Higher order centres require a large threshold population, and
fewer in number, spread more widely apart to reduce
competition.
• The trade area of the low order centres will be nested within
the trade areas of the high order centres.
• The pattern is unlikely to be closely followed as accessibility
(Christaller’s model)
• Variations in density of population, income level of the people
and the consumers’ behaviour are also important factors
affecting the pattern.
Spatial arrangement of shopping centres
Factors affecting decision to locate a store
• Trading area potential:
– pass the minimum threshold value
• Accessibility to trading area
– Competition for a site near to road intersection or corner sites at
the main roads
• Growth potential
– Area with growing population or rising income
• Business intersection
– The pedestrian may be intersected along the main lines of daily
movement.
Factors affecting decision to locate a store
• Cumulative attraction
– More similar stores concentrate in a small specialized area can
attract more potential customers
• Compatibility
– Providing goods of compatible uses will generate maximum
customer.
• Minimization of competition
• Rental value
– Jewellery shop can stand high rental for because only a small
space is needed.
– Furniture retailing are space consuming and they cannot afford
central locations
Zone in Transition
• It is an area of mixed commercial and noncommercial landuse.
• It separates the CBD with the surrounding
residential neighbours or heavy industrial district,
usually present are warehouse, light
manufacturing, wholesaling, multi-family residents.
• It is a former CBD.
• Lack of renewal of old building will create
deterioration and blight.
Residential areas
• Distribution of houses within the city on two
criteria:
– House types
– Socio-economic status of residents
• Distribution of residential areas is the result of
the distribution of socio-economic groups
Social characteristic of residential areas
• Population are segregated into social classes.
• Social distance can be translated into physical
distance, segregation groups can be occupied
by separated residential area.
Intra-urban residential pattern
• Kain
– Wealthier classes move to the suburbs
– Vacant buildings abandoned, old and declaim houses, are either
redeveloped or deteriorated into slums.
– The poor city workers, new immigrants and young students want to
live near the city centre in spite of high density for they cannot afford
the transport cost.
• Shevky and Bell
– The social changes will make the city population more heterogeneous.
– People of different social ranks, family status and ethnic status will be
segregated physically and live in different social areas.
Three locational pattern
• Sector residential zone:
– Zone are segregated according to their economic status or social rank.
– The rich will move to the respectable district or districts with superior residential
quality.
– The poor is conformed to another sector zone adjacent to the industrial district.
• Concentric zone:
–
–
–
–
–
According the life style.
Family oriented household will prefer the suburban houses
Non-family orientated households will prefer a small apartment near to the city centre.
People at different stages of their life circle will then have different housing need.
Districts will be occupied by people more or less in the same aged group or
household of similar structure.
• Clustered groups:
– Similar racial, linguistic or cultural background will clustered together.
– Some minority groups may isolate themselves of their own for sharing specific
facilities, eg. Food stores, church, speaking their language.
Ghettos
• Immigrants from other countries, they live in slums
created in the periphery of the business and
industrial districts. (Transition Zone)
• The new residents of the ghettoes may escape
through the rising of economic and education status.
• The Negroes found it impossible to leave the
ghettos.Characteristics:
– High unemployment, low income, less home own ship,
substandard homing, inferior educational opportunities
and inadequate public services and amentias, high
delinquency and crime rate.
Manufacturing areas
• Attraction of large cities for industry
– Accessibility to Potential Customers
•
•
•
•
Local market for the consumer goods
A lot of industrial undertakings in the city
Can save transportation cost by having a city location.
Large cities are also ports (access to international and internal market)
– Presence of External Economies
• High concentration of industrial activities
• Infrastructure (highways, railways, terminals, commercial facilities (advertising
agencies, insurance company), educational institutes, research organizations…..
– Availability of Suitable Labour Supply
• Large cities provide a pull of labour of varied skills.
• Managerial staff, skilled, unskilled, low-paid (new immigrants and married female)
Manufacturing area – 2
• Industrial structure of city
• Factors influencing industrial location are mainly concerned with
accessibility – access to water, power, raw materials, skilled
workers, space, market, port facilities and so on….
– Characteristic Locations
• Central location – highest accessibility
• Along transport arteries or port industries
– Good locations for assembling raw materials and distributing finished
products
– For access to unskilled and semi-skilled workers
– Factories producing products for export.
– Cannot afford the high land price of the central site
• Scattered locations – Light industries
• Suburban location – Large space needed, dangerous and
obnoxious.
Manufacturing areas - 3
- Trends
• It shows the least tendency to agglomerate as compare to other landuses
because each type of industry will have its own particular set of locational
requirements.
• Tend to be dispersed away from the city centre and have a linear appearance.
– Reasons
• Factories cannot afford the high rental in the city centre
• Congestion in the city centre may lead to diseconomy
• Large basic processing industries create a great deal of noise, smoke and
unpleasant odour, will repeal other landuse development thus must be
removed.
• Large assembly plants may need an extensive area and location along the
road and railways so that the transport of bulky materials and commodities can
be facilitated.
• Some large new plants like to seek a sub-urban location for cheap land price.
Models of internal urban landuses
• Concentric Model (Burgess 1925)
• Sector Model (Hoyt 1939)
• Multi-nuclei Model (Harris and Ullman 1949)
Concentric Model
• Study of Chicago by Burgess in 1925.
• Urban landuse tended to display a zonal
organization concentrically arrayed about the city
centre.
• Two assumptions:
– Population is evenly distributed
– Movement is equally easy in all directions
– (isotropic plain)
Concentric Model - 2
• 1. CBD
• 2. Zone in Transition
• 3. Zone of Low-paid
working class houses
• 4. Residential Zone
• 5. Commuter Zone
Concentric Model - 3
Concentric Model - 4
• Criticisms
– Fails to consider the location of heavy industry. (transition zone was
only about light industry)
– Clear cut boundary
– Too simple to summarize the model city structure.
• It may be worked to the US cities of 1920’s. However, the internal structure of
cities has become more complex now.
– Star pattern is more common than concentric ring.
– In reality, government planning is important in deciding landuse
pattern
– Paid little attention to the vertical variation in buildings height.
– It is not universally available to all cities. It cannot be applied to preindustrial city.
– It is a static model
Concentric Model -5
• Star Pattern
• Conclusion
– It is too simple and too limited historically and culturally to a
particular situation at a particular time in a particular country.
Sector Model
• Study of residential rent patterns of 30 cities in the
USA in 1939 by Hoyt.
• Rent area in US cities tended to conform to pattern of
sectors rather than concentric rings.
• Similar type landuse tend to extend outwards from the
CBD in elongated wedges along the radiating routes.
• The model is widely applicable and an introduction
marks a vital step from generalization to reality.
• The model might be taken as a modification of
concentric model rather than a completely a new one.
Sector Model - 2
Sector Model - 3
• There is a difference in accessibility between the
arteries (emphasis on the role of transport)
• High rent residential districts grow in the direction of
better environment (high ground open space, lake shore,
sea coast, home of community leader,……)
• Low class residential districts develop in another
direction properly adjacent to the industrial zone
• Heavy industry will develop along major lines of
communication.
Sector Model - 4
• Application:
– Emphasis on the role of transport.
– It recognizes the spatial association of mutually attractive landuse
activities (light manufacturing zone and lower-class residential zone)
and mutually opposed land use activities (manufacturing zone and
higher-class residential zone)
– More reality is shown by considering the directional element of
outward-oriented city growth.
• Limitation:
– Its narrow focus on housing and rent
– Paid too little attention to the segregation of residence according to
racial difference and religious creeds.
– Paid little attention to the height of buildings and the variation of use
with height.
– Neglected the existence of mixed landuse zones.
Multi-Nuclei Model
• It was developed in 1949 by Harris and Ullman reference with
Detroit. (Auto centre)
• A single CBD or a single shopping district is seldom enough
to meet the need of a large number of business firms or upper
class retail shoppers in a large city.
• Landuse zones will develop around a number of separate
nuclei like railways station and industrial complexes, in
addition to the CBD.
• Cities have a cellular structure.
• Larger the city, the more numerous and specialized nuclei
(landuse zone).
Multi-Nuclei Model
-2
It is the most flexible and
most applicable model of
all theories.
Dispersal of urban
functions were increased by
car ownership.
Growth of retail sub-centres
and the decentralization of
population are the trend in
the world cities.
Multi-Nuclei Model - 3
• Reasons for multi-nuclei:
– Certain activities require specialized facilities.
(CBD – max. accessibility; industry – along the water front.)
– Certain activities group together for bringing mutual benefits.
(Retailing – increases the concentration of potentially
customer; Industry – external economy)
– Certain activities are detrimental to one another.
(Industrial landuse and higher class housing)
– Certain activities are unable to afford the high rent of the
most desirable site.
– Improvement in transport technology.
(Sub-urbanization of urban functions)
Multi-Nuclei Model - 4
• Application:
– It is more complex and can be more appropriate in describing the land use in
cities in reality.
– It also allows for the characteristics of a city’s individual sites and the
corporation of more general social and economic forces.
– Include time dimension. It is a guide to think about the structure of the city
rather than a generalization about urban forms.
– It is the most flexible and widely applicable to large modern cities.
– It reflects the tendency for dispersal of urban functions. (business, retailing,
residence and manufacturing….)
– It contains the concept of agglomeration, forces of attraction and repulsion.
– Increase the sub-urbanization and decentralization tends to develop multiple
nuclei.
• Limitation:
– Fails to recognize the existence landuse in a single building.
Theories of Internal structure of city:
Conclusion
• Generally speaking, small towns (very old established towns)
on flat land exhibit concentric zones, medium sized industrial
towns have sectors, and large towns have multi-nuclei
patterns.
• Larger the town the greater will be the tendency to show
aspects of all three models.
• In the world’s largest cities, all three models pattern may be
observed in superimposition.
• Early growth may be around a central area and other nuclei,
later growth would be conditioned by transport routes, finally
adjustments of land use in response to land value changes
would reflect a concentric element.
Sydney
Southeast Asian Cities
Hong Kong (1970s)
Hong Kong (1980s)
Urban Problems
• Transport Problems
• Housing Problems
Transport Problem
• Introduction:
• The Problems
• Solutions
Introduction
•
•
•
•
Transport is a service of all activities in a city.
City’s activities can be function in the best way with it.
Transport can also be regarded as a type of landuse .
CBD are the focal points of transport and the largest
employment fields of the city, CBD are the areas of greatest
traffic congestion.
• Roads leading to factories, offices or schools will be
congested with vehicles and people in the morning and in
the evening.
Problems
• Congestion
– In most cities in the developed countries, rush hours (peak
hours) may last for 2.5 hours or 3 hours.
– Congestion of urban central areas is due to the use of
private cars, and the speed are greatly reduced (to 15km/hr).
– Many congestion spots (HK: entrance of the cross harbour
tunnel, central district, ….)
– In developing countries:
•
•
•
•
Narrow streets not suitable for heavy traffic
Presence of animals on the roads (India: many cows)
Poor traffic management
Poor maintenance of road and cars
Problems - 2
• Inefficiency of the Public Transport
– 80% of the total demand for public transport is confined to
a mere 20 hours of the week.
– During rush hours each day, the rolling stock is used to
capacity, but at other times, it is either under-utilized or
lying idle. (pushed up fares)
– Capacity pressures on buses and trains are now the norm
at peak periods at all metropolitan cities. (Tokyo: rail
system is overload 308% in the morning rush hours)
– Off peak hour period, public transport suffer from the
problem of too few passengers.
Problems - 3
• Inadequate Parking Space:
– Problems in finding parking spaces in central areas.
– Narrowness of streets lack of parking facilities, which
creates congestion.
– Prohibited parking in streets hinder shop deliveries,
conversely shop deliveries hinder traffic flow in the city
centre.
Problems - 4
• Safety of Pedestrians
– In HK, there is average 1 person killed in road accidents
each day.
– Widening of roads, narrow the width of pavement.
– Lessening the time of green light for pedestrians
– Building flyovers and tunnels, decrease the ease of
movement of the old people, children, pregnant women and
handicapped people.
– Developing countries:
• Too many pedestrians on streets for cannot afford to travel by
vehicles.
• Pedestrians forms an obstruction to transport.
Solutions:
• Encourage and expand the use of public transport.
– Restrict the use of private cars
• Imposition of road tolls, high parking fee, costly license, high
purchase taxes, road pricing,…..
– Improve public transport services
• Improved bus services
– Set up special lanes, make bus services more reliable and comfortable.
• Improved rail systems
– It is an efficient massive transport
– In HK, MTR and KCR accompanied by the the feeder bus system have
contributed to the reduction of surface traffic congestion and improved the
intra and inter districts transport to a certain extend.
Solutions - 2
• Building of ring roads and by-pass.
– In HK, the Eastern Corridor from Causeway bay to Central.
– In Guangzhou, Inner-ring by-pass.
– There is clash of interest between improved accessibility
and preserve the environment.
– Objections:
• Visually unattractive, noisy, source of fumes, dirts and vibration,
loss of business to the shops, devaluation of the properties near
a flyover.
Solution - 3
• Better town planning
– To decentralize economic activities from city centre to suburbs is a
way of reducing traffic congestion.
– Govt. can give tax relief, cheap land and monetary grant to industries
to disperse to suburbs.
– Population and economic development more evenly distributed and
can reduce the need to travel long distance to and from work.
– Building new towns.
• Self-contained new towns have industrial as well residential areas aim to
provide employment and better housing for people who move from the major
towns to the new towns.
• Other methods
– Staggered working hours, building new roads, ‘park-and-ride’
scheme…….
Housing Problem
•
•
•
•
Introduction
Problems in western cities
Problems in developing countries
Solutions
Introduction
• Housing problem: when people found that their home cannot
fulfill the role of a home.
• Restricted privacy, highly uncomfortable, inconvenient, stays at
home unenjoyable.
– Quantities of houses:
• Not enough houses, crowded in small houses, squatter.
– Quality of houses:
• Fails to provide enough decent and acceptable houses.
• Space available per person, degree of privacy, supply of electricity and water,
materials used for construction, width of streets, lighting of streets, provision of
drainage system………
• It is a critical problem in a growing city. High income groups are
OK, but for the poor are unsatisfactory and too many people
live in congested slum or squatter areas.
Housing problems in western cities
• 19th century (starting of industrialization):
– housing the workers close to their place of work.
– Low-income workers were forced to live in the substandard housing
in the transitional zone.
– These substandard housing suffered from narrow and winding
streets, poor lighting and poor sanitation.
• Slums
– Mostly the poor, the new immigrants, and the socially deprived and
colour groups. Slums pose social problems like health hazards,
delinquency, crime and social unrest.
Housing problems in western cities
• England and Wales:
– One million houses listed as unfit to live in.
• Tokyo:
– Overcrowding is a serious problem
– Rents are so high that few families can afford a city centre flat
bigger than 6m x 4m.
• Hong Kong:
–
–
–
–
Selling prices and rent are too high
Many household apartment less than 500ft2
Buildings are pushed to vertical development for high land value.
The housing selling price was dropped 50% in 1999 compared
with the peak in 1997. However, it also the third highest housing
all over the world.
Solutions of western’s housing problems
• Urban renewal:
– It helps to remove the urban slums and rehouse the former
residents.
– Effectiveness: very slow
•
•
•
•
Some old housing are being preserved for historical and cultural.
Some owners are not willing to sell their properties.
Some try to hold out their properties for obtaining higher price.
Acquisition of land is time consuming and expensive.
(Urban renewal Authorities 巿區重建局)
• Develop new towns:
– Encourage sub-urbanization, develop new satellite towns
to disperse the overcrowded population to the periphery.
Housing problems in developing countries
• Housing problems were shown by street-sleepers,
ubiquitous slums, squatter areas, incredible high
rate of overcrowding, extremely high population
density.
• Rapid expansion of the city population, shortage of
reasonable employment and poverty lead to
struggle for land and housing.
• Not enough cheap housing for the poor.
• The poor building their own squatters on empty land
and shanty towns formed which grow in any
available space.
Housing problems in developing countries
• Slum areas have few public services (water and
electricity supply, sewage facilities and proper
drainage)
• Houses are mere shelters made of wood, mud, straw,
flattened petrol tins and even paper boxes.
• There are hazards of fire, landslides, flood, crime
and spread of disease.
Housing problems in developing countries
• Latin America:
– Shanty towns are the result of housing shortage rather
than of poverty.
– Slum dwellers are indeed professional people or middle
class, they are living in the better shanties.
• Calcutta, India:
– ¾ people live in overcrowded slums.
– 20 people share a lavatory.
– In 1975, 1.75 million people lived in shanty towns and
100000 were pavement dwellers.
Solutions
• Clearance of shanty towns and rehousing scheme.
• Effectiveness of rehousing scheme:
– Many third world govt. cannot afford to undertake such
scheme. (Successful cases: Hong Kong and Sinapore)
• Other solutions:
– Upgrading of existing shanty towns probably offer a better
solution. (Lusaka in Zambia)
– Development of rural areas (farming) might slow down
rural-urban migration and stem the growth of shanty
towns.
End