Concentric Zone Theory
Abstract
Envision a town or city. Are the businesses clumped
together or are there houses nestled in between? Are commercial buildings along
a river’s edge? Are wealthy neighborhoods separated from poorer communities?
Social scientists theorize why building are placed where they are and why. This
paper will define the concentric zone theory and how it can be useful in
developing policies with the proper statistical data. This paper will also
explain what type of statistical data is beneficial and how the data relates to
the concentric zone theory.
The concentric zone theory was developed by Ernest Burgess
in 1923 and based on the city of Chicago (Lewinnek, 2010). Burgess developed
the now famous bull’s-eye diagram. The innermost circle on the diagram
represents the downtown district. This consists of businesses. The transitional
zone is the next outer circle consisting of single-family tenements. The next
outer ring is the single-family housing zone. These houses consist of yard and
garages. The outermost circle is the suburbs. Burgess’ concentric zone theory
seeks to explain the socioeconomic divides in and out of the city of Chicago
and was the first theory to explain the distribution of social groups (Park,
et.al., 1925).
The
concentric zone theory is an ecological structure of a city that shows the
construction and tendencies of the busy central area of that city. The theory is that the way the structure is
set up, is to help move the poor individuals to more of a suburban area. These individuals would not have known how to
travel or where exactly to travel to enter the suburban area without the
concentric zone model. A great example
of this is the Beijing metropolitan area.
The way Beijing has their six concentric ring-roads are set up helps the
city’s ecological and socioeconomic functions maintain stability in urban areas
(Wu & Yang, 2010).
Developing Policies with Concentric Zone
Cities do not grow on their own or without land and
opportunities. City governments can implement policies based on concentric zone
theory data. Railways, universities and schools, shops, airports, medical
facilities, etc., were all established for growth, maturity, and wealth for
citizens. Policies develop to allow for expansion and migration. Political
economy and social policy articulate with the economic interests of the
different social classes within the concentric zone model.
Residential areas are segregated by socio-economic status.
The inner city houses low-income households who may be suffering from urban
decay or live near factories. However, the advantage to living in this area is
that workers do not have to travel far for employment or the shopping district.
Suburbs are far away from factories and shops; however, the affordability to
drive and experience better living conditions is prevalent.
Analyzing Concentric Zone Data
Along with the previously
mentioned factors, policies are designed and developed with residents in mind.
Cities develop zoning rules and place restrictions on what types of buildings
can be constructed, what citizens can do with property to increase value, what
businesses can and cannot do regarding competition, etc. Transportation
development such as busing, rail lines, paved roads, streetlights, pedestrian
cross walks, etc. all result from growth and migration. Hills and mountains may
be unattractive for transportation but utilized for a park or cemetery.
Waterfront property provides easy access for water attractions and port
industries such as commercial fishing (Kagan, et al, 2018).
Cities can develop urban renewal
programs to spur clean up of older parts of town that may contain old rundown
homes and replaced with attractive tall buildings. Cultural and social
differences affect government policy on urban development. Urban development
policies provide growth opportunities for cities to improve areas and spur new
migration and free up land for new growth and development. If urban development
goes unchecked, cities face unemployment, poverty, illness, loss of animal and
plant species, loss of factories and businesses.
Statistical Data and the Concentric
Zone Theory
The concentric zone theory divides a city into five sections
or rings. In the central part of the city, land becomes scarce; therefore, the
more affluent areas of society reside away from downtown. Homes become larger
with large yards and maybe detached or attached garages. Competition among
businesses is prevalent in the business district. This combination is important
because cities are destinations of immigration. Diversity is often common in
urban centers. Zone II of the concentric zone theory is the least desirable are
with low income, dilapidated structures, and rampant crime (Lewinnek, 2010).
The ability to define a neighborhood is employed using
high-resolution spatial population data. For instance, defining neighborhoods
as categorizations of urban space defined by both characteristics of the
individual and their spatial context. Egocentric scale profiles are developed
from assessing these. The identification of neighborhoods is based on the
composition – German, Irish, Yankee, rich or poor (Spielman & Logan, 2012).
Statistical data is useful in the concentric zone theory.
Not only do surveys describe people and neighborhoods, crime rates in specific
areas of a city, but the use of mapping is designed to lay out streets, roads,
connections and distances between socio-economic groups. The Duncan
Socioeconomic Index (SDI) measures socioeconomic groups based on occupations
and education (Speilman & Logan, 2012).
.
Conclusion
“The Concentric Zone Model is a model explaining the
internal structure of urban social setting with an arrangement of social groups
in a series of rings. It was the first model to describe the distribution of
various social groups in cities. The development of the model was based on the
idea that the nature of growth of a city is that it starts from a central
region and grows outwards in a series of rings” (Junior, 2019). The concentric
zone theory is broken down into five different zones or rings. In order to get
the best statistical data, the researcher must break down the theory into the
zones and derive the data from each zone, one at a time, get the best
information necessary, especially when needing to change polices where
necessary. When analyzing data from each zone, the residents are kept in mind
as well as their safety. If a specific zone shows that is more crimes, then
policies, rules and regulations need to be changed in that area
References
Junior, Vic Lang'at. (2019, August 7). What is the
Concentric Zone Model? Retrieved from https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-the-concentric-zone-model.html
Kagan, S., Hauerwaas, A., Holz, V., & Wedler, P. (2018,
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Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877916616300959
Lewinnek, E. (2010, March). Mapping Chicago, imagining metropolises:
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Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0096144209351105
Park, R. E., Burgess, E. W.,
& McKenzie, R. (1925). The City Suggestions for investigation of
human behavior in the urban environment. Chicago London, IL: The
University of Chicago Press.
Spielman,
S., & Logan, J. R. (2012, June). Using high resolution
population data to identify neighborhoods and establish their
boundaries. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 103(1),
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Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3532850
Tian,
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Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/search/advanced?docId=10.1016/j.habitatint.2009.09.010?
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