CITY FORM IN THE CONTEXT OF

DEVELOPED AND developing

COUNTRIES

Structure

Introduction
city
city forms

Types of city forms

The Radio centric city
The gridiron city
The linear city

City growth
Ecological models of urban land use
model
Concentric Model
Sector Model
Multi nuclei Model

Introduction |

A city is a group of people and a number of permanent

structures within a limited geographical area, so organized as to
facilitate the interchange of goods and services among its
residents and with the outside world.
The settlements grew into villages, villages transformed into
cities.
Cities created when large number of people live together, in a
specific geographic location leading to the Creation of urban
areas.
Cities exist for many reasons, and the diversity of urban forms
depends on the complex functions that cities perform.

What is meant by cities?

Introduction |
Urban Form refers to the physical layout and design of the city
spatial imprint of an urban transport system
adjacent physical infrastructures.
Jointly, they confer a level of spatial arrangement to cities.
Urban form or city form defined as the spatial pattern of human activities at a certain point
in time.

What is urban form ?

Factors influencing city form |

What is meant by factors ?

Types of city form |

The Radio centric (concentric)
city
Geographical possibilities of spreading in all directions.
Radio centric - Radiate outward from a common centre.
Inner Outer ring roads linked by radiating roads.
Core has business area.
Industrial area interspersed within the residential.
Periphery has green belts.
Example : Washington DC, Pre-industrial Baghdad in Iraq.

What is concentric?

Types of city form |

CASE STUDY
The Radio
MASCOW

centric

(concentric)

cityMoscow, the world

biggest Megapolis
(Russian Moskva) is the
capital of Russia.
The city grew in a
pattern of rings and
radials that marked
Moscow's growth from
ancient time to modern
layout.
The center of all rings is
Moscow Kremlin and
famous Red Square.

Moscow, 1893

What is case study ?

Types of city form |

CASE STUDY
The Radio
MASCOW

centric

(concentric)

city

Successive epochs of
development are
traced by the

The Boulevard
Ring and

The Garden Ring,

The Moscow
Little Ring
Railway,

And the Moscow

Ring Road.

Moscow, at present

What is case study ?

Types of city form |

The Grid iron city
It is composed of straight streets crossing at
right angles to create many regular city blocks.
This form is typical of cities built after the
industrial revolution because only then did
cities place such importance on economic
activity.
A city grid iron plan facilitates the movement of
people and product throughout the city.

What is grid iron ?

Types of city form |

CASE STUDY-1

The Grid iron city - chandigarh

The

primary

module

of

The

sector

citys design is a Sector, a

of recreations .

between
depending

topography

It is a self-sufficient unit

of

the

area.

school,

health centres and places

of

upon sizes of plots and

800 m X1200 m.
shops,

varies

3000-20000

neighbourhood unit of size

having

population

The shopping street of

each sector is linked to
the

adjoining

sectors

thus forming one long,

continuous ribbon .

CHANDIGARH

The

central

green

of

What is case study ?

Types of city form |

CASE STUDY-2

The Grid iron city - San Francisco

San Francisco was designed
to accommodate outrageous
number of people that came
to the city during the Gold
Rush.
It was laid out in a grid
pattern imposed on a city of
hills built on the end of a
peninsula.
Both grids and irregular
forms can be seen in San
Francisco.

DowntownSan
Franciscois extremely
dense.
The planning
commission split
downtown into four
separate zones with
different purposes.
Office District
Retail District
General
Commercial District
Support District

San Francisco

What is case study ?

Types of city form |

The linear city

What is linear ?

Types of city form |

The linear city
Initially proposed by Soria Y Mata.
Expand the city along the spine of transport
The Linear City concept is a Conscious Form Of
Urban Developmentwith Housing And Industry
Growing Along TheHighway Between existing cities
and contained by the continuous open space of the
rural countryside.
Advantages
Disadvantages
High accessibility
adaptability to linear growth
useful along the limited edge.

Very sensitive to blockage

requires control of growth
lacks focus,
The choice of connection or of
direction of movement are
much less.

What is linear ?

Types of city form |

CASE STUDY-1

The linear city Navi Mumbai

The growth of Mumbai city is
constrained by sea at south, east and
west. As a result total land area
available for development of Mumbai is
limited.
The cost of real estate and housing in
Navi Mumbai is much less than costs in
Mumbai and sub-urban areas.

As a result a large
population of service
class and middle class

shifted

population
to Navi Mumbai.

Many government and corporate offices

have been shifted from Mumbai to Navi
Mumbai .
the Taloja and Thane Belapur
Industrial Belt of Navi Mumbaioffer
job opportunities of every conceivable
kind - from engineers to mechanics
toclerksto
Navi
Mumbaipeons.
( an alternative to Navi Mumbai )

What is case study ?

CASE STUDY Copenhagen city

Types of city form |

Radial City, Finger City, The Urban
Star

CASE STUDY
Map of the fortress in the 17th century

Types of city form |

Radial City, Finger City, The Urban
Star

CASE STUDY
Tokyo with two Loop
structure

Types of city form |

Lobe structure

CASE STUDY
Ebenezer Howards GARDEN CITY

Types of city form |

decentralized concentration

Satellite city

Types of city form |

STUDY

Land Use Pattern-Shapes

Linear
Usually the result of natural topography which restricts growth; may also be a transportation
spine.
Branch
A linear span with connecting arms.
Sheet
A vast urban area with little or no articulation.
Articulated sheet
A sheet accented by one or more central clusters and several subclusters.
Constellation
A series of nearly equal sized cities in close proximity
Satellite
Constellation of cities around a main cluster

City growth

Growth
According to urbanist HANS BLUMENFELD, cities can grow in any of
three ways:
Outward (expanding horizontally)
Upward (expanding vertically)
Toward greater density (expanding interstitially)
As long as intra city traffic moved only by foot or hoof, possibilities of
horizontal and vertical expansion were strictly limited.
Growth was mainly interstitial, filling up every square yard of vacant
land left between buildings.
With the advent of the elevator and the steel frame, the vertical growth
of skyscrapers began.
Suburbs spread out horizontally along streetcar and bus lines and
around suburban railroad stations, surrounded by wide-open spaces.

What is growth ?

Ecological urban land-use Model|

Concentric zone model
Developed in 1925 by Ernest w. Burgess.
Cities grow radially outward away from a single centre.
Different land uses are distributed like concentric rings around the city
centre.
They are: CBD, zone in transition, low-class residential zone, middleclass residential zone, high-class residential zone.

Criticisms about concentric zone theory

Physical features - land may restrict growth of certain sectors
Commuter villages defy the theory, being in the commuter zone but
located far from the city
Decentralization of shops, manufacturing industry, and entertainment
It assumes an isotropic plain - an even, unchanging landscape

What is model ?

Ecological urban land-use Model|

Concentric zone model

What is model ?

Ecological urban land-use Model|

Sector model
Developed in 1939 by Homer Hoyt ,states that a city develops in
sectors, not rings
All land uses except the CBD form sectors around the city centre.
The land use zones are influenced by radial transport routes.
High-rental and low-rental areas repel one another.

Criticisms about sector model

Applies well to Chicago.
Low cost housing is near industry and transportation proving Hoyts
model
Theory based on 20th century and does not take into account cars
which make commerce easier
With cars, people can live anywhere and further from the city and still

What is model ?

Ecological urban land-use Model|

Sector model

What is model ?

CASE STUDY-1

Ecological urban land-use Model|

Sector model- Gandhinagar
GANDHINAGAR is planned to function
mainly as administrative center for
the state.

The sectors are numbered from 1 to

30 and they are formed by seven
roads running in each direction and
cutting each other perpendicularly.

They are planned on

the neighborhood
concept in two
phases:
First Phase - The
basic amenities were
constructed.
Second phase constructions
of
capital
complex,
sports
complex,
town halls, research
institution, cinemas,
cultural
centers,
residential
bungalows etc.

What is model ?

Ecological urban land-use Model|

Multiple nuclei model
A model of urban land use in which a city grows from several
independent points rather than from one central business district.
Apart from the CBD, there are several separated, secondary centres.
Certain functions require specialised facilities or sites, e.g. a port
district needs a suitable waterfront.
Similar functions may group together for agglomeration economies.

Criticisms about the Multiple nuclei model

Negligence of height of buildings.
Non-existence of abrupt divisions between zones.
No consideration of influence of physical relief and government policy.
The concepts may not be totally applicable to oriental cities with
different cultural, economic and political backgrounds.

What is model ?

Ecological urban land-use Model|

Multiple nuclei model

What is model ?

Ecological urban land-use Model|

Multiple nuclei model

What is model ?

Ecological urban land-use Model|

Radial to multi-nuclei or polycentric city form
Delhi

References|
Website and books

Cities and Urban Life By John J. Macionis And Vincent N. Parrillo

Good City Form Kelvin Lynch
www.urbanform.org
www.cityform.mit.edu
www.ocw.mit.edu Courses Architecture
www.urbanmodel.com
www.cs.toronto.edu/~mes/russia/moscow/description.html
www.sf-planning.org
jnnurm.nic.in/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/CDP_Delhi.pdf
chandigarh.gov.in/knowchd_gen_plan.htm
www.cidco.maharashtra.gov.in/NM_Developmentplan.aspx