Chapter 13: Urban Patterns

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 13: Urban Patterns

The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography


Why Do Services Cluster Downtown?• CBD land uses

– Central business districts (CBDs)– Retail services in the CBD

• Retailers with a high threshold• Retailers with a high range• Retailers serving downtown workers

– Business services in the CBD


CBD of Charlotte, NC

Figure 13-1


Why Do Services Cluster Downtown?• Competition for land in the CBD

– High land costs• Some of the most expensive real estate in the

world = Tokyo• Intensive land use

– Underground areas

• Skyscrapers – “Vertical geography”


Why Do Services Cluster Downtown?• Activities excluded from the CBD

– Lack of industry in the CBD• Modern factories require large, one-story parcels of

land– Lack of residents in the CBD

• Push and pull factors involved

• CBDs outside North America– Less dominated by commercial considerations.


Where Are People Distributed in Urban Areas?

• Models of urban structure– Are used to explain where people live in

cities– Three models, all developed in the city of

Chicago• Concentric zone model• Sector model• Multiple nuclei model


Concentric Zone Model

Figure 13-4


Sector Model

Figure 13-5


Multiple Nuclei Model

Figure 13-6


Where Are People Distributedin Urban Areas?

• Geographic application of the models– Models can be used to show where

different social groups live in the cities• Census tracts• Social area analysis

– Criticism of the models• Models may be too simple• Models may be outdated


Where Are People Distributedin Urban Areas?

• Applying the models outside North America– European cities– Less developed countries

• Colonial cities• Cities since independence• Squatter settlements


Income Distribution in the Paris Region

Figure 13-10


Model of a Latin American City

Figure 13-14


Why Do Inner Cities Face Distinctive Challenges?

• Inner-city physical issues– Most significant = deteriorating housing

• Filtering • Redlining

– Urban renewal– Public housing– Renovated housing

• Gentrification


Racial Change in Chicago

Figure 13-16



• Inner-city social issues– The underclass

• An unending cycle of social and economic issues

• Homelessness– Culture of poverty



• Inner-city economic issues– Eroding tax base

• Cities can either reduce services or raise taxes – Impact of the recession

• Housing market collapse


Foreclosures in Baltimore

Figure 13-18


Why Do Suburbs Face Distinctive Challenges?

• Urban expansion– Annexation– Defining urban settlements

• The city• Urbanized areas• Metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs)

– Metropolitan divisions– Micropolitan statistical areas


Annexation in Chicago

Figure 13-19


City, Urbanized Area, and MSA of St. Louis

Figure 13-20



• Urban expansion– Local government fragmentation

• Council of government• Consolidations of city and county governments• Federations

– Overlapping metropolitan areas



• Peripheral model– Edge cities– Density gradient– Cost of suburban sprawl

• Suburban segregation– Residential segregation– Suburbanization of businesses


Density Gradient

Figure 13-23


Suburban Stress

Figure 13-25



• Transportation and suburbanization– Motor vehicles

• More than 95 percent of all trips = made by car– Public transit

• Advantages of public transit– Transit travelers take up less space– Cheaper, less pollutant, and more energy efficient than an automobile– Suited to rapidly transport large number of people to small area

• Public transit in the United States– Used primarily for rush-hour community for workers into and out of CBD– Small cities-minimal use– Most Americans prefer to commute by automobile


Subway and Tram Lines in Brussels, Belgium

Figure 13-28


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Chapter 13: Urban Patterns