- Urban formis the physical characteristics that make up a city, including its size and shape, population density and how the city is
- Many cities were initially established in areas with good water supplies, fertile soilfor growing food, plentiful natural resources and good defensive
- Over time the urban form of cities These changes are influenced by a number of factors:
Physical Factors
- Topography- physical features often influence the growth of cities.
- Water- the presence of lakes and seas limits urban growth in those areas, while cities may grow along the course of a City centre shops and businesses are usually located close to the waterfront, rather than at the geographical centre of the city.
- Natural resources- rich resources encourage growth in size and population of cities.
- Land type- some ground surfaces are more difficult or expensive to build on than others.
Human Factors
- Planning- urban expansion can be planned or
- Infrastructure- new developments are often built along transport links, leading to linear growth.
- Land value- the highest value land is often found in the city centre, so profitable businesses normally locate there, while less profitable businesses may be found further from the centre.
Central Business District (CBD)
- The CBD is surrounded by housing. Although land valuetends to be highest in the city centre, houses generally increase in value with distance away from the centre:
- Inner city areashave high land value, so housing is typically high density such as Wages are often low, and many residents live in relative poverty. The proportion of people from ethnic minorities tends to be high.
- Land value is lowerin rural and semi-rural areas, so residential areas are less dense and have more open space. Houses are usually larger and newer than those in inner city areas.
- Residents are generally quite wealthyand earn relatively high wages. The proportion of people from ethnic minorities tends to be low.
- Because of the availability of cheap landin semi-rural areas close to urban centres, many science parks and large shopping centres are constructed there.
- Cities in the developing world also have CBDs- these zones contain shops, offices and entertainment services.
The CBD is surrounded by housing, decreases in value with distance away from the centre:
- Land value is highestaround the city centre, so high-cost housing is built there. Wages are generally high, and residents are These areas are often home to wealthy immigrants from developed countries and emerging economies.
- Surrounding the high-cost housing, there is often a zone of medium-cost
- It may have started as an informal settlement, but gradually the housing has been improvedand some services have been provided.
- Land value is very lowon the outskirts of cities, so low-cost and informal housing is built there, often with limited access to services, such as clean water and electricity.
- Most residents have poorly paidjobs and poverty levels are high. Immigrants from elsewhere in the country and from other developing countries may settle there.