Urban morphology refers to the physical structure and patterns of towns and cities, including land use, street patterns, building arrangements, and densities. It is influenced by site factors, history, culture, economics, transportation, and government policy. Models of urban structure have been developed to represent typical land use zones as cities grow from infancy to maturity. Early models include the concentric zone model by Burgess and the sector model by Hoyt, while later models incorporate multiple nuclei of development. Students are assigned a project to study and map the past and projected future land use and transportation patterns of various Indian cities from 1980 to 2020.

1. Urban morphology
refers to
- the physical arrangement or structure of
towns and cities.
- involves the mapping and description of
patterns of internal land use,
- and includes street patterns, individual
buildings ,building blocks, densities
- and the different functions of the town or city

2. Urban morphology
Factors Influencing Urban Morphology
- Site factors
- Historical and cultural factors
- Functional factors
- Government influence
- Social values
- Economic forces
*economic circulation
*economic accessibility / urban land rents

3. Urban morphology
The Urban Land Rent Concept and Distance Decay
Mechanism
1. Areas of high accessibility
~ centre of the city
~ Major traffic routes
~ major traffic intersections
2. Land values and uses in a city
~ The central Business district
~ Industrial land use
~ residential land use

4. Models of urban structure
Introduction
Most western cities exhibit area specialization in
their internal land use patterns. That means “
functional areas” or “ functional zones”

5. Models of urban structure
Stages of urban growth
- Infantile stage
- Juvenile stage
- Adolescent stage
- Early mature stage
- Fully mature stage

6. Models of urban structure
Land-use models have been put forward on the basis of the idea
- that towns and cities do not grow in a haphazard
fashion, rather they tend to develop distinctive
patterns of land-use as they grow and develop.
- Land-use models are simplified diagrams which are
used to represent the pattern of land-use functions
within a town or city.
- It should however be remembered that these are
simplifications of reality and it is unlikely that any
model will fit every town and city perfectly.

7. CONCENTRIC GROWTH CONCEPT
E W BURGESS; EARLY 1925

8. CONCENTRIC GROWTH CONCEPT
E W BURGESS; EARLY 1920
Zone I: Central Business District (CBD) where most of the tertiary
employment is located and where the urban transport
infrastructure is converging, making this zone the most
accessible.
Zone II: Immediately adjacent to the CBD a zone where many industrial
activities locate to take advantage of nearby labor and markets.
Further, most transport terminals, namely port sites and railyards,
are located adjacent to the central area.
Zone III: This zone is gradually been reconverted to other uses by
expanding manufacturing / industrial activities. It contains the
poorest segment of the urban population, notably first generation
immigrants living, in the lowest housing conditions.
Zone IV: Residential zone dominated by the working class and those
who were able to move away from the previous zone (often
second generation immigrants). This zone has the advantage of
being located near the major zones of employment (I and II) and
thus represents a low cost location for the working class.
Zone V: Represents higher quality housing linked with longer
commuting costs.
Zone Va: Mainly high class and expensive housing in a rural,
suburbanized, setting. The commuting costs are the highest.
Prior to mass diffusion of the automobile (1930s), most of these
settlements were located next to rail stations.

9. CONCENTRIC GROWTH CONCEPT
E W BURGESS; EARLY 1920

10. CONCENTRIC GROWTH CONCEPT
E W BURGESS; EARLY 1920
ASSUMPTIONS

11. CONCENTRIC GROWTH CONCEPT
E W BURGESS; EARLY 1920
CRITICISM

12. CONCENTRIC GROWTH CONCEPT
E W BURGESS; EARLY 1920
CRITICISM

13. SECTORAL MODEL
HOMER HOYT; 1939
Major transport routes

14. SECTORAL MODEL
HOMER HOYT; 1939
There are three explanations for these land use patterns.
1 Historical
The urban area expanded outwards from the original site which is
where the city centre is found today.
2 Economic
Rents and rates in the CBD became too expensive for people. In
the suburbs there was more land and it was cheaper. Only
businesses could afford to stay in the CBD, but even they
needed to make the most of expensive land by building
upwards.
3 Concentrations of similar land uses
One part of the urban area may have all the advantages for
industrial location so that a lot of factories want to locate
there; but few people want to live next door to a factory, so
the residential areas are located elsewhere. Planners also
prefer this segregation of land uses into definite zones.

15. SECTORAL MODEL
HOMER HOYT; 1939
ASSUMPTIONS

16. SECTORAL MODEL
HOMER HOYT; 1939
ASSUMPTIONS

17. SECTORAL MODEL
HOMER HOYT; 1939
CONCLUSSIONS

18. SECTORAL MODEL
HOMER HOYT; 1939
CONCLUSSIONS

19. SECTORAL MODEL
HOMER HOYT; 1939
CRITICISM

20. MULTIPLE NUCLEI CONCEPT
HARRIS & ULLMAN; 1945

21. MULTIPLE NUCLEI CONCEPT
HARRIS & ULLMAN; 1945
- land use patterns do not grow from a single
central point in a city but from multiple points
or nuclei.
-
Some of these points existed before the city
began to grow, while others develop as the
city grows.
- Nuclei may include the original retail or
market area of the city and important
transport links such as railway stations, ports
or the airport.

22. MULTIPLE NUCLEI CONCEPT
HARRIS & ULLMAN; 1945
- The areas of the city that they recognise are
similar to the ones noted by Hoyt and Burgess
but the location of these areas will be different
in different cities.
- The central business district will often be
found near the original retail area of the city.
- Warehousing and light industrial areas will
develop adjacent to the CBD and along
transport links such as railways and roads.

23. MULTIPLE NUCLEI CONCEPT
HARRIS & ULLMAN; 1945
- Heavy industry will locate on the outskirts of towns
or where the outskirts were when the development
took place, since growth of the urban area may have
overrun this area by now.
- Residential areas will be found in the remaining
space, with high-class housing situated in the better
areas with good drainage, often on high ground and
away from nuisances such as noise and poor air
quality.
- Lower quality housing will be forced to occupy the
less attractive areas of the city.

24. MULTIPLE NUCLEI CONCEPT
HARRIS & ULLMAN; 1945

25. STUDENTS’ PROJECT
Study of Cities – Past, Present & Future growth
pattern in terms of –
a. Transport Network
b. Commercial Land Use
c. Industrial Land Use
d. Residential Land Use
Study Period: 1980 to 2020.
Study Method: For every decade mark on the maps a
to d mentioned above

26. STUDENTS’ PROJECT
Cities
GROUP 1 DELHI & NCR
GROUP 2 MUMBAI & MMR
GROUP 3 CHANDIGARH
GROUP 4 BANGALORE