Urban Land Use

Rationale:

In order for an urban area to function effectively, all the needs of its citizens must be met.

In order to do this, municipal governments divide the land up into six types of land uses.

6 Types of Urban Land Use

Residential – 40% Transportation – 32% Institutional – 10% Open space – 7% Industrial – 6% Commercial – 5%

Residential Land Use

This is where people live. The type of housing in an area is based on

residential density, defined by: Number of housing units in a hectare (unit of land) A hectare is about 100 x 100 metres (or roughly

the size of two football fields)

Types of Residential Density

Low Density Single-family homes, semi-detached homes,

and duplexes Have less than 30 homes per hectare

Medium Density Town houses, low-rise

apartments Have between 30 to 100

homes per hectare

High Density High-rise apartments Have more than 100 units

per hectare

Transportation Land Use

Land that is used for moving people and goods from one place to another.

Includes: sidewalks, roads, highways, subways, streetcars, railroad tracks, freight yards, airports, marinas and any other land that is used for transportation.

Institutional Land Use

Land that is occupied by schools, hospitals, government offices, and places of worship.

Open Space Land Use

Land that is now vacant, or left in a natural state (like a woodlot), or land that is for recreational use (parks, playgrounds, community centres)

Industrial Land Use

Land that is used for industry Some examples: Factories, warehouses,

power plants, or places of resource extraction (like mines).

Commercial Land Use

Land that is set aside for commercial activities. This includes any land use that is used for buying, selling, or trading goods and services.

Christaller’s Central Place Theory

This theory suggests that any good or service offered by a central place needs a minimum number of customers to stay in business

Low-order goods & services (need only a small population to stay in business – milk & bread)

Middle-order goods & services (larger population is needed – family doctors, hair salons, shoe stores)

High-order goods & services (need a large population – specialized hospital, art gallery, designer clothing store)