Concentric zone model

Concentric zone model
Name	Concentric zone model
Creator	Ernest Burgess
Year	1925
Field	Urban sociology
Region	Chicago

Concentric zone model The Concentric zone model is an urban theory developed in the early 20th century to explain spatial structure in cities. It originated from empirical study of Chicago and became a cornerstone of urban ecology, influencing research at institutions such as the University of Chicago and informing planners associated with the City Beautiful movement and Robert Moses. The model has been discussed alongside theories by figures like Ernest Burgess, Roderick D. McKenzie, and Louis Wirth.

Origins and development

Ernest Burgess advanced the model within the context of the Chicago School and the University of Chicago Department of Sociology, reporting results that drew on fieldwork near neighborhoods like Hull House and publications such as the journal American Journal of Sociology. The model emerged during debates that involved urban reformers such as Jane Addams, bureaucrats associated with the Chicago Plan Commission, and critics in the Progressive Era. Burgess's work intersected with demographic studies by Otto Neurath and mapping methods later used by scholars at the Carnegie Institution and the National Resources Planning Board.

Model description and zones

Burgess proposed a series of concentric rings radiating from a central point often identified with the Central Business District (CBD) of Chicago. The inner ring, adjacent to the Loop and transportation hubs like Union Station, was described as a zone of transition containing industrial uses and recent immigrants, followed by rings representing working-class residential areas, middle-class suburbs, and commuter suburbs served by rail corridors to places such as Evanston, Illinois and Oak Park, Illinois. The model references spatial features including arteries like Lake Shore Drive and civic institutions such as the Chicago City Hall.

Theoretical foundations and assumptions

The model rests on ecological metaphors imported from scholars influenced by Herbert Spencer and organizational thinkers at the University of Chicago like Robert E. Park. It assumes radial growth, competition for central land as seen in cases like the Loop versus industrial districts such as Pilsen, and homogeneous social groups forming distinct neighborhoods akin to patterns documented by Louis Wirth and Clifford Shaw. Key assumptions mirror those in models of diffusion studied by researchers connected to the National Bureau of Economic Research and to methodological approaches from the American Sociological Association.

Applications and empirical tests

Planners and social scientists applied the model in comparative studies of cities including New York City, London, Paris, Los Angeles, Detroit, Philadelphia, Boston, St. Louis, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Toronto, Montreal, Sydney, Melbourne, Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Shanghai, Beijing, Mexico City, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Lima, Bogotá, Santiago, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Nairobi, Cairo, Istanbul, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Rome, and Madrid. Empirical tests used census data produced by agencies like the United States Census Bureau and mapping techniques advanced by projects at Harvard University and the London School of Economics. Urban economists associated with Richard T. Ely and institutional researchers at the Brookings Institution also evaluated Burgess's propositions.

Criticisms and alternatives

Critics argued the model oversimplified spatial reality and failed to account for historical planning interventions by figures such as Daniel Burnham and Le Corbusier, legal instruments like zoning ordinances enacted by municipal governments including the New York City Department of City Planning, and transport innovations exemplified by Henry Ford. Alternatives emerged including the Sector model by Homer Hoyt, the Multiple nuclei model by Chauncy Harris and Edward Ullman, and later frameworks developed by scholars like David Harvey, Manuel Castells, Saskia Sassen, Jane Jacobs, and proponents of New Urbanism. Empirical divergences were highlighted in case studies of metropolitan regions such as the Los Angeles Basin and polycentric systems like the Randstad.

Legacy and influence on urban studies

Despite limitations, the Concentric zone model influenced generations of researchers at institutions such as the University of Chicago, Columbia University, MIT, and the University of California, Berkeley. It shaped curricula in departments overseen by figures like Lewis Mumford and informed planning debates involving agencies such as the Federal Housing Administration and think tanks like the Urban Land Institute. Its concepts persist in analyses by contemporary scholars at centers including the Brookings Institution, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and international bodies like the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), serving as a historical reference point in comparative urbanism, metropolitan governance, and debates over spatial inequality exemplified in studies of neighborhoods across Chicago and other global cities.

Category:Urban models