Urban Land Use Patterns (Edexcel IGCSE Geography)

• All urban settlements have recurring features:
  • A central core or central business district (CBD)
  • Industrial areas
  • Different residential districts
  • Shopping centres
  • High-rise buildings
  • Cultural and leisure areas
  • Multi-storey car parks
  • Bus and railway stations
• These features have created segregated land use over time

Land Values

• Segregation of land use is due to the urban land market
• Land that has 'purpose' will be valuable and cost more to buy or rent
• Usually retail shops can make money and seek prime positions
• Segregation is formed by retailers that can afford to be in those prime locations
• Therefore, land uses of similar activities will come together creating  'peaks' and 'troughs' of land values across the urban landscape
• There are two points to consider:
  • The value of the land:
    • Land value varies across the urban areas
    • Value usually decreases from the centre, outwards
    • Higher land prices are also found along main roads, urban hubs and around ring roads
  • The location of the land:
    • Location is important to value
    • The closer to key functions, the higher the value
    • Accessibility and desirability increase land value

Distribution of Urban Land Value 

• Cities can be segregated into zones
• Zones will have similar land values and locational needs such as access for customers, employees, etc. or space for expansion or privacy
• All towns and cities grow outwards, in a series of rings, from a historic centre or core to an urban fringe
• Each zone grows due to the needs of the city during its development, over time
• As a general rule, all towns and cities, regardless of place or level of development, show the same four features:
  • A central core: the oldest part of a city
    • Home to the central business district (CBD) e.g. banks, retail and commercial offices
  • An inner-city ring: also known as the twilight zone
    • Older, terraced 'worker' housing 
    • Older industrial areas
    • Areas are centred around transport links and access
  • A suburban ring: residential area
    • Semi and detached housing with gardens
    • Tree-lined avenues and cul-de-sacs
    • Smaller retail premises
  • An urban fringe: outer edges of the city 
    • Countryside is eroded through the urban spread
    • Housing is clustered into estates
    • Some industrial land use
    • Accessibility is best

• Other similar characteristics of modern urban settlements include:
  • Age of the built-up area decreases from the core to the fringe
  • Density of building developments decreases from core to fringe
  • Grandeur, function, design and style changes across the zones

Four Zones of a City

Bid-Rent Theory

• Also known as 'distance decay theory', where the price and demand for land change as the distance from the CBD increases
• Different land uses will compete for desirable plots to maximise their profits
• Accessibility increases the potential for more customers
• There is a trade-off between accessibility and the cost of the land
• The closer to the CBD the more desirable land is to retail and the higher the price charged/paid
• Industry cannot compete with high prices moving further away from CBD
• Residential land is outpriced across the zones, but competition is less so value decreases as more space becomes available

 Bid-Rent Theory

• People are also zoned or 'sorted' within an urban area
• People will live near to others they consider the same: ethnicity, religion, occupation etc. 
• This creates an urban pattern of self-organised segregation
• The largest segregation is created through personal wealth
• The wealthiest people can buy smart, large homes in the best locations
• This forces the less well-off to live in cramped or sub-standard housing in the worst areas
• Many have to pay high rental prices with little to no security
• Due to their limited means, many are forced to live in small, cramped spaces creating high-density residential areas and unequal sorting across the urban area