FACTORS INFLUENCING THE LOCATION

O F FUNCTIONS IN A CITY
• Accessibility – CBD where transport routes
converge
• Land values – heavy industry on cheaper land
• Special requirements – heavy industry on
outskirts == large land
• Compatibility = clothing store vs shoe store
• Planning & zoning = city planners
• Centrifugal forces
• Centripetal forces
FACTORS INFLUENCING THE LOCATION
O F FUNCTIONS IN A CITY

• Centrifugal forces
• Centripetal forces
FACTORS INFLUENCING THE LOCATION
OF FUNCTIONS IN A CITY

• Centrifugal forces – forces that allows people

to move out of the city centre eg. pollution,
crime, high land values, etc.
• Centripetal forces – forces that allow people
to remain in the city centre or move back eg.
accessibility, upgrading of structures, etc.
 DIFFERENT SHAPES OF
TOWN/CITIES

NB!!!! trace outside of the built-up areas to

determine the shape
 SHAPE OF CAPE TOWN
• linear
round or circular
star-shaped city
SHAPES OF URBAN SETTLEMENTS

Linear shape
LINEAR SHAPE
• normally limited by an
ocean on one side & a
mountain on the other
side
• eg. Cape Town
 Circular or round shape
• from a central point
outward in all directions
CIRCULAR OR
ROUND SHAPED • outside roughly circular
• can be semi-circular as
well especially if
development close to a
harbour
 Star or stellar shape
• outside of city appears
STAR-SHAPED like “fingers”
OR STELLAR
SHAPES • built-up area has ‘green’
gaps inbetween
EXAMPLES OF SHAPES OF CITIES
The shapes of the city boundaries as determined by
physical, cultural, planning factors.

Circular Semi circular Linear Star shaped

STREET PATTERNS
 Advantages
• regulated & easy to extend
GRID STREET PATTERN
• easy to find your way
OR
RECTANGULAR around
STREET PATTERN
• easy to construct
Disadvantages
• many intersections
• built on flat surfaces
• usually in older parts of the city
• traffic congestions
• many stop streets  many
accidents
Radial concentric
RADIALor Cobweb
 Advantages
• all major roads lead to
CBD
RADIAL CONCENTRIC
OR
COBWEB OR COB-WEB
• few intersections
• attractive

• city develops around a from a main focus eg. church, city

hall, etc.
Disadvantages
• very expensive
• easy access from any direction to the middle of city

• streets block size changes

PLANNED IRREGULAR
CROSS ROADS
 Advantages
• roads all look different
• makes area look attractive
PLANNED • fewer intersections
IRREGULAR
PATTERNS • allows for flow of traffic
• safer due to many crescents &
cul-de-sacs

• at areas with uneven topography eg. many hills,

etc.

Disadvantages
• easy to get lost
• traffic can become chaotic
UNPLANNED IRREGULAR
 UNPLANNED IRREGULAR

• very old cities

• narrow alleys
• very chaotic
STREET PATTERNS
 ACTIVITY ON WORKSHEET
LESSON 9

CBD OF PMB WEMBLEY AND

CLARENDON

Identify the street pattern Rectangular or grid Planned irregular

Why is it there? Oldest part of city Broken topography

Flat, level ground Hilly areas

What does it look like? Roads intersect at right No clear structure

angles

Two advantages Easy to plan Speeds up traffic flow

Land divided easily Fewer intersection

Two disadvantages Traffic congestion Difficult to plan

Monotonous (boring) Easy to get lost
 ACTIVITY 1 ON P.203

1.
1.1
1.1.1 residential land use
1.1.2 CBD
1.1.3 rural-urban fringe
1.1.4 greenbelt zone
1.2
1.2.1 density higher in iMbali than Chase Valley
1.2.2 Chase Valley can travel via the national road
residents of iMbali has to take train or bus
 ACTIVITY1 ON P.203

1.
1.3 smaller plot size
very or no natural vegetation
close to railway lines or stations
street pattern – planned irregular
1.4 railway line & main road for transport
or accessibility of workers
canal – use of water
cheaper land = away from CBD
 ACTIVITY1 ON P.203

1.
1.5.1 CBD – grid or rectangular street pattern
Northdale – planned irregular
1.5.2 CBD – flat land or gentle gradient
= easier to layout, subdivide, extend
Northdale – hilly, uneven area
= speeds up traffic flow, fewer intersections
1.6 Aerodrome (G4)
Golf course (E5/6)
Race course (E4/5)
 URBAN PROFILE
~ describes what city looks like from the
side

~ closely linked with land values

~ building height decreases from city

centre or CBD
 URBAN PROFILE

~ tallest buildings in CBD

~ decreases towards the outskirts
~ second high point == office parks in
suburbs, OBD or suburban shopping
malls
 RESPONSE TO ACTIVITY

Paragraph:
The tallest buildings are found in the CBD as this is where you
will find the highest land values. The buildings will also be
close to each other to use as much space in this land use zone.
High density construction.

As you move further away from the CBD, the height of

buildings decreases as land values also decreases. Buildings
are wider thus density is less. More horizontal buildings will
be constructed due to cheaper land values.
MODELS OF URBAN
STRUCTURE

Also referred to as a
land use model
What is a land use model?
* simplified version of layout of urban
areas

Refer to pp 205-209 in your

textbook
Complete the following table:
Urban Model Characteristics Reason/s for
development

Harris & Ullman’s Multiple

Nuclei Model

Modern American-
western city

Third World city models

The South African city

Urban Model Characteristics Reason/s for
development

Harris & Ullman’s *activities in different • Different growth

Multiple Nuclei Model area to meet specialised points
needs • Smaller settlements
• its absorbed when that develop away
city expands from major
• joined together by settlement
transport system

Modern American- *low residential density Due to Urban sprawl

western city *socio-economic and
ethnic segregation of
residential areas
*modern buildings
*high vehicular usage
*place of employment &
residence sharply
divided
Urban Model Characteristics Reason/s for
development

Third World city *housing quality declines from impact of colonial

models centre planning and
• newer commercial and administration
business strip extends from
colonial core to newer parts
• along the spine/strip, one
finds good services, roads,
and transportation
* city’s best residential zones,
shopping malls, are on either
side of the spine
*most major urban centers also
have a ring road or beltway
highway
*zone of peripheral squatter
settlements where many of the
urban poor live in the worst
housing
HARRIS & ULLMAN MULTIPLE
NUCLEI MODEL

43
Urban Model Characteristics Reason/s for
development

The South =rapid expansion of cities displays colonialism

African city saw a growth of informal and later apartheid
settlements laws
=close to the former poorer
areas reserved for black
residents
=developments still echo the
divisions of apartheid city.
=the spread of informal
settlements is a feature of
most modern South African
cities
MODERN AMERICAN-WESTERN
CITY

46
THE THIRD WORLD CITY
THIRD WORLD CITY

49
THE SOUTH AFRICAN CITY
SOUTH AFRICAN CITY MODEL

52
 Activity page no.5
5.1 CBD
5.2 comparison shops are found in and close
to the CBD, such as high order goods
convenience shops are found all over such
as low order goods
5.3 greenbelt areas eg. parks, recreational
5.4 very little in the CBD, land values to high, mainly for
commercial use
becomes more dense towards outskirts, land
more cheaper, more houses & large houses
can be built
 Activity page no.5
5.5 types of industries near CBD – many, light
and on industrial estate
towards outskirts – heavy and fewer
CHANGING URBAN PATTERNS & LAND USE IN
SOUTH AFRICAN CITIES
 1. CBD & TRANSITION ZONE

• CBDs were becoming less useful due to centrifugal forces

• thus : the following processes were implemented 
1. urban renewal
2. gentrification
3. facadism or chelseaficatrion – renovating the front part of
a building only
URBAN RENEWAL
SIGNS OF GENTRIFICATION
Analysis-subject-2013 60
Analysis-subject-2013 61
Analysis-subject-2013 62
*Facadism (also called
chelseafication
 Definitions:
• Urban renewal == redevelopment of areas
within a large city, typically involving the
clearance of slums
• Gentrification == process of renovating and
improving a house to conform to middle-class
taste
• Facadism or chelseafication == practice of
preserving the fronts of old buildings while
building behind it.
 Processes influencing
residential zone
•Invasion & succession
= as city grows, urban functions will invade &
take over previous functions’ space

* Residential
professionals near the CBD
Zone
*Filtering
= when previous residential areas
becomes
affordable to middle-income groups
*Gentrification
* = old, neglected housing upgraded
by young
* Residential
professionals near the CBD Zone
2. OBD’s
 as a result of commercial
decentralisation
 some OBD’s become mini-cities

or edge cities 
 phenomena of regional shopping

centres became lifestyle centres

eg. Century City, Cape Gate
Centre
OBD’S
 Outlying business districts (OBD)
 found along main roads, leading from CBD to outskirts
® characteristics are similar to those of the CBD.
® Two types:
1. Neighbourhood shopping centres
2. Regional shopping centres
COMMERCIAL DECENTRALISATION

• Shops, offices, surgeries, etc. are leaving the CBD to trade on

the outskirts
• Called Centrifugal forces, eg. Pollution, high land values,
Isolated store clusters
crime, etc.
• Settle in shopping centres – “malls”
EXAMPLE OF AN EDGE CITY
 MINI OR EDGE CITY

• Definition: a concentration of business,

shopping and entertainment outside a
tradition CBD.
3. RESIDENTIAL ZONES
 an increase in population density in both formal and
informal residential zones
 this increase is referred to DENSIFICATION

__________________________________________
 properties are subdivided

 blocks of flats/apartments emerging in middleclass areas

 increase in backyard dwellers in low income areas

 process of invasion & succession taking place too

 examples are gated communities, boomed

neighbourhoods, etc.
DENSIFICATION
Definition: describe the increasing
density of people living in urban areas
3. RESIDENTIAL ZONES
BOOM OR GATED HOUSING
 4. RURAL-URBAN FRINGE
under constant pressure to
office parks, industrial parks,
residential new developments
 issue of development vs using
of fertile soil????