AP® Human Geography review sheet from Aim for Five (aimforfive.com/geo/units/6/6-5)
Unit 6 · Topic 6.5
6.5 The Internal Structure of Cities
Urban models try to show how land is used inside cities: Burgess's concentric zones, Hoyt's sectors, Harris and Ullman's multiple nuclei, the galactic city, and models for Latin American, African and Southeast Asian cities. Each simplifies one region and era, so use them to compare and explain real cities, not as exact maps.
Key terms
- concentric zone model
- sector model
- multiple nuclei model
- galactic city model
- Latin American city model
- bid-rent theory
Bid-rent theory inside the city
Bid-rent theory explains much of these models. Land near the central business district (CBD) is the most accessible, so it's the most valuable. Businesses that need lots of customers, like offices and stores, outbid other users there and build tall to use expensive land efficiently. Industry outbids housing a bit farther out, and housing, which needs more space, takes the cheaper land farther from the center.
Models of North American cities
| Model | Pattern | Based on | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Concentric zone (Ernest Burgess, 1925) | Rings around the CBD: CBD, zone in transition (factories, poor housing, new immigrants), working-class homes, better middle-class homes, commuter zone | 1920s Chicago, a fast-growing industrial city of streetcars and immigrants | One city and era; ignores transport routes, terrain and multiple centers |
| Sector (Homer Hoyt, 1939) | Wedges extending out from the CBD along transportation routes; high-income housing follows an attractive corridor, industry follows rail lines or rivers | Rent data from many U.S. cities | Still centered on one CBD; less useful for car-based metros |
| Multiple nuclei (Chauncy Harris and Edward Ullman, 1945) | Several centers, such as the CBD, an airport, a university or an industrial park; similar uses cluster and unlike uses avoid each other | Growing car-based U.S. cities | Doesn't predict where nuclei form |
| Galactic city (peripheral model) | An older central city that is no longer the only hub, surrounded by suburbs and edge cities linked by a beltway highway | Late-1900s U.S. metros such as Atlanta and Houston | Mainly fits U.S. car-based metros |
Models of cities in other regions
- Latin American city (Ernst Griffin and Larry Ford, 1980): a CBD with a spine of commerce and wealthy homes extending outward along a main boulevard. Quality of housing generally falls with distance from the center, ending in a ring of informal settlements on the edge. Disamenity zones, like steep hillsides or land near dumps, hold the poorest residents. Wealth near the center is the reverse of the classic U.S. pattern. Example: Lima or Mexico City.
- Southeast Asian city (Terry McGee, 1967): built around a colonial port, with no single dominant CBD. Instead there are separate zones for government, a Western commercial area and a commercial district run largely by Chinese merchants, then residential zones and squatter areas, with market gardening and industrial estates on the edge. Example: Jakarta or Bangkok.
- Sub-Saharan African city (Harm de Blij): three CBDs: a former colonial CBD with modern office buildings, a traditional CBD of small local shops and traders, and an open-air or periodic market zone. Around them sit ethnic and mixed neighborhoods, mining or manufacturing zones, and informal settlements on the edge. Example: Nairobi or Lagos.
Using the models well
Each model was built from particular cities at a particular time. Burgess wrote before most people had cars; McGee described cities shaped by colonial ports. Real cities mix patterns: Chicago today shows Burgess-style rings, Hoyt-style sectors along rail lines, and multiple nuclei like O'Hare Airport.
On the exam, a model is a tool for explaining a pattern, not a fact to recite. State what the model predicts, test it against a real city, and say where it fails and why.
Worked examples
Try each one yourself first, then open the solution.
- Example 1
Applying and critiquing a model
Explain one way the Latin American city model differs from the concentric zone model, and give a reason for the difference.
Show the solutionHide the solution
- Step 1: State the concentric zone pattern: the poorest housing near the center (zone in transition) and wealthier homes farther out.
- Step 2: State the Latin American pattern: the wealthy live near the center along the commercial spine, and the poorest live in informal settlements on the edge.
- Step 3: Explain a cause: in many Latin American cities, colonial planning placed elites around the central plaza, and fast migration later filled the edges with self-built housing that lacked services.
Answer: Model answer: In the concentric zone model, the poorest residents live near the CBD and the wealthy live in outer zones. The Latin American city model reverses this: elites live near the center along a commercial spine, while the poorest residents live in informal settlements on the periphery. Colonial cities were planned around a central plaza where the elite lived, and rapid rural-to-urban migration later filled the edges with self-built housing.
Common mistakes
- Confusing the concentric zone model with von Thünen's model. Burgess is land use inside a city; von Thünen is farmland around a market.
- Describing a model without its limitation. Most model questions expect you to say where it fails.
- Placing wealthy neighborhoods on the edge in the Latin American model. In that model, the wealthy are near the center along the spine.
On the exam
- Expect a model diagram described or shown in a stimulus. Identify it, explain one zone, and give a limitation.
- Comparison questions are common: be ready to contrast a U.S. model with a Latin American, African or Southeast Asian one.
Connected topics
Videos
Check yourself
4 questions on 6.5 The Internal Structure of Cities. Pick an answer to see if you got it, and why.
An urban model shows the CBD surrounded by a zone in transition, then a ring of working-class homes, then better residences and finally a commuter zone. This is the
In a city, a band of factories and working-class housing extends outward from downtown along a railroad and river, while a band of wealthy homes extends in the opposite direction along a scenic avenue. This pattern is best explained by the
Which observation would best support the multiple nuclei model rather than the concentric zone model?
An urban model shows a city focused on an old colonial port zone, with a Western commercial zone and a separate commercial zone run by an immigrant merchant community, but no single dominant CBD. This model describes cities in
0 of 4 answered