The concentric model/Burgess’s model (1924)

• This is known alternatively as the concentric model, the ring model for urban land use or Burgess’ model.
• It was formulated by Burgess and Park in 1924 after their studies of the city of Chicago in the United States.
• Their study revealed that the city could be divided into a number of concentric land-use zones :
• The Central Business District
• The Zone of transition
• The Zone of transition
• The Zone of workingmen’s houses
• The Zone of middle income or medium density housing
• The Commuter Zone
• The model assumes that the city grows from a single nucleus (core) in concentric circles of distinct land uses.
• The city grows by urban ecology or expansion due to demand of different goods and services.
• The city will continue to grow into surrounding rural areas.

The CBD

• It is the nucleus of the city
• All (communication) routes meet in this area.
• It has high rise buildings/skyscrapers.
• Rentals are normally high in this area.
• It has very few people and traffic during the night and high traffic densities of people and traffic during the day.
• It is the commercial core where hotels, banks, specialized services, theaters, departmental stores, finance houses and cinemas are found.

Zone of transition

• It surrounds the CBD
• It has residential areas with poor housing.
• It has offices and light industries.
• It is characterized by industrial functions that require a lot of land.
• It infamous for its crimes and social problems for example prostitution.
• It is characterized by transient population, migrant workers, the poor, aged and unemployment.
• Examples are Mbare and Avenues.

Zone of workingmen’s houses/Low class residential areas

• This is known as to the zone of workingmen’s houses or low-income residential zone
• This zone is found near heavy industries for example Highfield and Glen Norah suburbs near Willowvale industries and Mbare and Graniteside Industries.
• The density of houses per unit area is high
• The zone is characterized by high density suburbs with each house located on a small plot of land.
• This area is occupied by factory works, single houses, small yards and untarred roads.

Zone of middle income/medium density housing

• This is characterized by large houses,
• with gardens and broad tree-lined streets..
• A small commercial centre and
• greenbelts can be found within this zone.
• Social centers like pre-schools and schools can also be found in this zone.
• Examples are Hillside and Cranborne suburbs in Harare.

Commuter zone

• Is located some distance away from the city center.
• People use commute to the CBD in order to get to work using trains, cars and buses.
• The zone starts off with low density, high income residential areas,
• with large spaced houses and gardens.
• In some places market gardening may be practiced for example Honey Dew farm in Greendale.
• They usually have a suburban shopping center for example Sam Levy in Borrowdale and Kamphinsa in Greendale.
• The zone may also give way to larger farms supplying fresh fruits, dairy products and vegetables to the town.
• Sometimes the farming zone may be interrupted by small dormitory towns such as Chitungwiza.

To access more topics go to the O Level Geography Notes page