Internal Structure of Towns and Cities

Internal Structure of Towns and Cities

IGCSE Geography

Lesson Objectives

• Describe the following land use zones:

  • Central Business District (CBD)

  • Residential Zones

  • Industrial Areas

  • Open Spaces​

  • Transport Routes

• Review Bid Rent (Activity)

It is the economic core of the city. It is an area most accessible to public transport and the location with the highest land values.

Central Business District (CBD)

Multistorey development

Concentration of retailing

Concentration of Public Transport

Concentration of offices

Vertical Zoning

Functional grouping

Low residential population

Highest Pedestrian flows

Traffic restrictions

There is an ssimilation zone in which CBD is expanding and a discard zone where it moves away.

Singapore's CBD

CBD changes over time

CBD can be divided into two: inner core where most of the department stores and specialist shops are found and the outer frame where coach and train stations, offices and warehouses may be located.

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Core-frame Concept

Open Ended

Use the illustration, select one factor influencing CBD decline and explain it in your own words.

Residential densities decrease with distance from the CBD. This is due to the a number of reasons (see next slides):

Residential Zones

History of Central Areas

Close to manufacturing jobs

Greater availability of land

Reasons

Improvements in transport and technology

Wealthy households can afford to live in attractive areas

Some want to live away from other communities and buildings may be difficult.

Reasons

Residential Patterns Disruptions

• Low densities in the CBD as residential land use cannot compete with commercial land use to meet high bid rents

• ​The location of high-rise peripheral estates which increases densities at the margins of the urban area

• "Green belt" restrictions, which artificially raise population densities in the suburbs.​

After a period of expansion, city centers start to decline following suburbanisation, which is followed by repopulation of the inner city.

A portion of a city that is zoned for industrial use rather than residential or commercial needs. Examples are oil refineries, ports, warehouses, distribution centers, and factories.

Industrial Areas

Traditional industrial areas located in inner cities are close to railways and/or canals.

Some are close to CBD:

- skilled labour, healthcare, market for distribution (newspapers and bakeries)

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Some industrial areas need access to water like those related to exports and imports that need proximity to docks/ports.

Samsung's Digital City with radial trasport routes located in Suwon, South Korea.

Areas where there is good access and good availability of land.

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Examples: Hyundai car works at Busan, South Korea.​

Edge-of-town/greenfied suburban sites close to airports.

Why cities are attractive for industries?

IGCSE Geography

• Capital cities serve as the major manufacturing centers of their county like Paris and Moscow.

• Cities are large markets.

• Port cities have excellent access to overseas markets and goods.

• Cities are major centers of innovation, ideas and fashion.

• A variety of labour is already available (skilled and unskilled workers), including decision makers, politicians and innovators​.

The amount of open space increases towards the edge of town as there's more land available there.

Open Spaces

An urban park in New York City located between the upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan.

Central Park

The most sacred Buddhist stupa in Myanmar located in the middle of the city.

Shwedagon Pagoda

A 262-meter high peak in the Jung-gu district of South central Seoul, South Korea.

Mt. Namsan

Cities have small, congested roads. Private transport is the main form of transportation increasing traffic volumes. At the edge of the town, roads are more much larger as they take advantage of the spaces available.​

Transport Routes

A line of road traffic at or near a standstill because of road construction, an accident, or h heavy congestion.

Traffic Jam

Public transport is much less taxing on space and the environment.

Private vs. Public Transport

Characteristics of a Central Business District

c/o Ms. Jona

Bid Rent Activity (Class Activity)

Use www.airbnb.com to look for vacation rentals and their corresponding prices.

Use the Guangzhou blank map from Ms. Jona and locate three vacation rentals for each location​:

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Locate where the vacation rental is and write the name and the price for a 1 night stay from January 12 to 13 for 1 adult.

Steps:

Each group is assigned to research vacation rentals for one area.

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Group 1: Zhujiang Area (CBD)

Group 2: Bai Yun

Group 3: Pan Yu

Group 4: Nansha

Group 5: ​Cong Hua

Use www.airbnb.com to look for vacation rentals and their corresponding prices.

Locate where the vacation rental is and write the name and the price for a 1 night stay from January 15 to 16 for 1 adult.

Open Ended

Discuss with your groupmates:

What patterns do you see about the prices of vacation rentals?

Does it follow the bid rent theory?

Only one person in the group should upload the answer. (Write your group number)