LECTURE

CHAPTER FOUR: THEORIES AND MODELS OF

URBANISATION AND URBAN GROWTH

1 INTRODUCTION
The issues of urbanization play significant roles in the study of development management. A
range of issues like race, economics, and human behaviour intersect in cities. Let’s look at
urbanization through the development management perspectives using sociological,
economical and other perspectives.

2 THEORIES
2.1 WHO MIGRATES AND WHY?
The most likely person to migrate fits the following criteria:
a) Young adult (normally between ages 16-24)
b) Educated (mostly qualified individuals, often have a degree)
c) Prosperous/ adventure seeking (attracted by the idea of a better life)
d) Child bearing age (Young and if the age associated with high fertility: 16
– 24)
Often these young migrants are purely attracted by the city lights and the promise
of a better life. Two major factors influence the reasons for peoples choices to
migrate to cities, namely push and pull factors.

Push-factors refer to the negative conditions that pushes people away from an
area, mostly rural areas, such as high crime rate, high property prices, traffic
congestion, lack of job opportunities, etc.
Pull-factors refer to the positive conditions attracting people to cities. Some of
these are the possibility of a higher living standard, employment in the formal
sector and medical facilities, etc.

The following Table gives an indication of the push and pull factors:
3 MODELS

 Regional City Models explain the way different places have different city shapes.
 An example would be the Multiple Nuclei Model; most cities in the United States take
this shape.

 Worldwide examples would be the Latin American model that has a CBD spine in the

middle with squatter settlements surrounding it. The European city model has
dendritic pattern, sky scrapers in the outskirts more public transportation and

greenbelts to prevent sprawl. Here is one such an example:

3.1CONCENTRIC ZONE MODEL OF CITIES

 The Concentric Zone Model of Cities is a model of the internal structures of cities in which social
groups are spatially arranged in a set of rings. The model was created by Ernest Burgess.

 This model is also known as the Burgess Land Use Model and explains the organization of urban
areas. It was based on the city of Chicago during the 1920's. The zones in order of this model are,
the CBD (Central Business District), the Zone of Transition, the inner city (low class), outer suburbs
(middle class), and the commuters zone (high class). It is based on the Land Rent Model mad by
Von Thunen, and is considered the urban area version of it. The model itself was not very accurate
because it was too simple and had limited applicability as it was made for American cities. However
not a lot of cities possess its characteristics as many American cities were still in the middle of
developing at the time it was created.

 A world-wide example of this model is Chicago. Chicago contains many of the model's
characteristics. The CBD in Chicago is also known as the "loop" is where most of the tertiary sector
jobs are located and is highly accessible. Adjacent to the loop, there are many industrial activities
located near labour and markets. The next zone has the low-class section of the urban population,
having the lowest living conditions. The next is the residential zone occupied by the working class
and people who have moved away from the previous zone. The final zone has mainly high class and
expensive housing in a rural, suburbanized area.
3.2MULTIPLE NUCLEI MODEL OF CITIES
 The Multiple Nuclei Model of Cities was developed Chauncey Harris and Edward Ullman. It shows
how economic opportunities develop in different places.

 This model is explaining how urban growth is independent of Central Business Districts (CBD).

 Worldwide examples of the Multiple Nuclei Model are cities such as New York, London and
Noirobi.
3.3 HOYT’S SECTOR MODEL

 The Hoyt Sector Model is a model that focuses on residential patterns explaining
where the wealthy in a city choose to live.

 Hoyt said that the city grows outward from the centre (a CBD), so a low-rent area
could extend all the way from the CBD to the city's outer edge. This is what he based
his model on.

 An example of this model would be the city of Johannesburg.

3.4 RANK-SIZE RULE

 Rank-size Rule is a pattern of settlements in a country, such that the nth largest
settlement is 1/n the population of the largest settlement.

 In more basic terms, Rank-size rule is when the second largest city in the
county is 1/n of the largest city. Rank-size Rule shows more of an economic
development.

 A worldwide example of Rank-size Rule can be seen in the United States.

New York City has a population of 8 million people; the city following is
Los Angeles and has a population of about 4 million people. After Los
Angeles, Chicago comes next and has a population of 2 million people.

3.4 PRIMATE CITY RULE

 Primate City Rule is a pattern of settlements in a country, such that the largest
settlement has more than twice as many people (population) as the second- ranking
settlement.
 Primate City rule basically means that the largest city in a country has more than
double the population in the next largest city.

 A worldwide example of Primate City Rule can be seen in the county Mexico. The
largest city in Mexico is Mexico City and has a population of 20 million people. The
next largest city is Guadalajara, only having a population of 4.5 million people.