Settlement Patterns Essay, Research Paper

Settlement Patterns

There are three main models for planning a city:

The Burgess plan which viewed the city as a series of concentric zones, with the CBD as the single centre surrounded by a series of functional zones to produce a pattern of concentric circles – the CBD being the centre surrounded by a zone of transition, surrounded by workers houses, then by the zone of better residences, and the commuters zone. This plan was alright when first designed but now with decentralization it does not work as well or allow for topography and access.

The Hoyt plan concentrated on residential land use to show that, as a city grows, land uses that develop around the CBD have a tendency to expand outward, each retaining the land use of its own sector. Hoyt felt that cities do not grow in a ripple effect but in sectors or wedges radiating outwards from the CBD along major transport routes. This plan takes into account topography however use of expressways limits growth in wedges. Both of the Burgess and Hoyt plans were designed before the widespread use of the car. The car has provided people with a degree of mobility that was not envisaged when the concentric and Hoyt designs were designed.

The third city plan is the multiple-nuclei model designed by Harris and Ullman and it shows how a city grows from many points in specialised cells, but with each connected by various modes of transport to allow the city to function as a whole. This plan has 9 zones – 1. CBD, 2 wholesale, light manufacturing, 3 low-class residential, 4 medium-class residential, 5 high-class residential, 6 heavy industry, 7 outlying business district, 8 salelite suburb, 9 outer industrial estate. This plan is more flexible, developed later and took into account the car.

At first Brisbane developed in a pattern similar to that of the Concentric Model. With the CBD at the centre, surrounded by the transition zone, areas such as Wickham Terrace, Fortitude Valley and Herston. The working class and less wealthy people tended to reside in areas adjacent