Imagine a city as a powerful magnet. Just like a magnet pulls iron pieces toward itself, a city pulls people, services, goods, and activities from its surrounding areas. This “pull” or influence that a city exerts beyond its physical boundaries is what we call the Sphere of Urban Influence, also known as the City Region…
To understand the urban hierarchy of a country—how cities are distributed in size and number—we need more than just the idea of a single dominant city (like in the Primate City concept). That’s where the Rank-Size Rule (RSR) comes in. The Rank-Size Rule, proposed by G.K. Zipf in 1949, is a mathematical model that explains…
Imagine a country where one city stands head and shoulders above all others—not just in size, but in power, influence, infrastructure, and economic activity. That kind of city is called a Primate City. Technically, a primate city is a disproportionately large city in the urban hierarchy of a country or region. It is significantly larger…
– The Modern Face of Urban Morphology 🔰 Background – Evolution Beyond Multiple Nuclei Earlier, we understood that cities are no longer unicentric (as per Burgess), but multicentric, as Harris and Ullman’s Multiple Nuclei Theory suggested. But with increasing suburbanization, especially in the post-World War II American context, even this explanation seemed inadequate. That’s where…
– Understanding the Complex Urban Morphology 🔰 Context – Why a New Theory Was Needed? “If we try to explain the structure of modern cities only through simple shapes like circles or sectors, we are oversimplifying reality.” Earlier models like: But Harris and Ullman argued in 1945 that urban growth is not so geometrically neat,…
“When geography meets sociology and climate, urban land use becomes a story of direction, class, and the wind.” Did you understand this statement? If not, I am sure you will get it at the end of this section. Well let’s start the story: See, in 1965, Peter Mann, a British geographer, introduced a model that…
“Urban growth does not always spread like ripples in water — sometimes it shoots out like the rays of the sun.” This is the core of Hoyt’s Sector Theory, developed in 1939 as an improvement over the Concentric Zone Model by E.W. Burgess. 🔁 Background: Why a New Model? 🔍 Main Idea of Hoyt’s Sector…
– Explaining Why City Centers Are So Expensive Let’s begin with a simple question: “Why is land in Connaught Place (Delhi) or Nariman Point (Mumbai) far more expensive than the land in a suburb like Rohini or Thane?” The Bid Rent Theory answers these using principles from Urban Economics — particularly from the Concentric Zone…
– An Extension of Burgess’ Model “City growth doesn’t always happen in perfect circles. Sometimes, cities stretch their arms along the roads that feed them.” This is the central idea of the Axial Development Theory. It accepts the core principles of the Concentric Zone Model — especially the idea of a central focal point —…
“A city is not built randomly. It grows systematically — layer by layer.” This was the foundational idea behind E.W. Burgess’ Concentric Zone Model, also known as the Ring Theory. Burgess, a sociologist, studied the structure of American cities, especially Chicago, and presented a scientific urban model in 1923. 📌 Core Idea: Urban growth happens…
