Concentric Zone

The concentric zone model was among the early descriptions of urban form or Cities. Originated by Earnest Burgess in the 1920’s,the concentric zone model depicts the use of Urban land as a set of concentric rings with each ring devoted to a different land use. The model was based on Burgess Observation of Chicago during the early years of the 20th Century. Major routes of transportation emanated from the city core, thus making the central business district the most accessible location in the city. Burgess set out to identify five rings of land use that would form around the CBD. These rings are as followed. Firstly the Central Business District, secondly the zone of transition, thirdly the zone of independence homes, fourthly the zone of independence and lastly the zone of commuters.
To expound further on the different zones, zone one lies at the center of the city and this is where most business activities take place. Zone two is in transition. It is the crowded, multi-occupied zone of the city first invaded by migrants. Within this Zone are the poorer areas these are not necessarily slums or “Ghetto”. Zone three are the working men's houses, the area of second generation immigrants, one step up from Zone two. Zones four and five are residential; Zone four is for the better-off and Zone five for the commuters. . All these zones are held to have evolved separately and without planning. They result from the competition of different socio-economic groups for land. This competition results in variations in the cost of land and, therefore, causes segregation within a city. The model assumes uniformly flat, and available, land, and ignores the importance of transport routes, but relies on the theory that city growth results from distinct waves of in-migrants, that is to invasion and succession.
A very important feature of this model is the positive correlations of socio-economic status of households with distance from the central Business District. Wealthier