urban structure

Urban Land Use Models

Land Use Models for MEDCs

CBD (Central Business District) The commercial and business centre of a

town or city. This part of the settlement will have the highest land prices.

The Zone of TransitionAlso known as the 'Inner City'. This area contains both low-class housing

(19th century terraced houses arranged in grid iron pattern) and light manufacturing. This zone is in a state of constant change with redevelopment and renewal. The poorest people in the settlement live here.

Low Class Residential

Wholesale Light Manufacturing

Medium Class Residential (Interwar Areas / Inner Suburbs) Semi-detached housing can be found here

with gardens and on large estates. There is a high concentration of council owned housing.

High Class Residential (Outer Suburbs)Private, top quality housing with large

gardens and garages.

Rural-Urban Fringe (RUF) The very edge of the settlement. Includes

satellite villages often called 'suburbanised villages' or 'commuter villages'.

In which area are you most likely to ...

CBDZone of Transition

Inner Suburb Outer Suburb RUF

Get your car stolen? See a fox at night? See a Porsche car parked? Have a school with good exam grades? Have people complaining about noise from

their neighbours? See empty McDonalds wrappers? Be able to buy milk at 10.30 at night? Be able to catch a bus to visit friends

anywhere in the city? See a police car with it's blue lights

flashing? Be able to buy drugs?

Land Use Models for LEDCs

GhettoA ghetto is described as a "portion of a city

in which members of a minority group live especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure."

Historic centre (Old Town)

Shanty townare settlements (sometimes illegal or

unauthorized) of impoverished people who live in improvised dwellings made from wood, metal, and plastic. Shanty towns, which are usually built on the periphery of cities, often do not have proper sanitation, electricity, or telephone services.

Shanty towns are mostly found in developing nations, or partially developed nations with an unequal distribution of wealth. In extreme cases, shanty towns have populations approaching that of a city.