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Introduction

The aim of this piece of work is to compare urban zones of a city, in reference to the 1920’s Burgesses model of urban development. I choose Bristol because it’s my city of residence. I have a good local knowledge and will have easy excess to hands on information.

Hypotheses:

  • Building height decreases with distance from the CBD.
  • House value increases with distance from the CBD.
  • Traffic density decreases with distance from the CBD.  

                                                                                       

I believe these statements to be true, as I recognise them any day as I travelling from the suburbs to the Central Business District. For this reason I support my hypotheses.

Burgess Model 

                                                                                                                                                                                     

                     

The Concentric ring model also known as the Burgess model was the first to explain distribution of social groups within urban areas. Based on one single city Chicago, it was created by sociologist Ernest W. Burgess in 1925. This concentric ring model depicts urban land use in concentric rings: the Central Business District (or CBD) was in the middle of the model, and the city expanded in the rings with different land uses.          

   

The centre was the CBD, followed by the transition zone otherwise known as the Inner City, then by low class residential homes AKA Inner Suburbs, the forth ring would be that of better middle class homes also known as Other Suburbs; the last and fifth zone was known as the “commuters’ zone”. Burgess observed that there was a correlation between the distance from the CBD and the socio-economic status of the denizens richer families tended to live further away from the CBD. As the city grew, Burgess also observed that the CBD would cause it to expand outwards; this in turn forced the other rings to expand outwards as well.

The model does not account for the physical landscape; even the city it was based on Chicago does not follow the pattern due to the coastline. Burgess did not for see the development of commuter villages. Urban regeneration and gentrification has changed the status of housing in inner cities. Council estates in the suburbs do not fit the model. Decentralisation of shops and industry does not fit the model- out of town shopping centres e.g. The Mall in Bristol.                         

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National Map

Bristol Background

Bristol is a large city located in the South West of England. With an approximate population of 410,900 and urban area of 550,200, it is England’s sixth, and United Kingdom’s ninth largest and most populous city. The city is 105 miles (169km) west of the Capital London, and 44 miles (71 km) east of Cardiff.

        Bristol is one of the centres of culture, employment and education in the region.  From its earliest days, its prosperity has been linked to that of the Port of Bristol, the commercial port, which was in the city centre but has now moved to the Severn estuary coast at Avonmouth and Portbury.

         In more recent years the economy has been built on the aerospace industry, and the city centre docks have been regenerated as a centre of heritage and culture. Bristol is known for its  industry and shipping.

Regional Map

                                 

     

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North of Bristol

These are the sites we visited to collect are data due north of Bristol from the Central Business district to the rural urban fringe. We stopped at each location on the map to collect are information from the site in stratified samples. We also visited sites south of Bristol which is located below. I done this to make my research more reliable and so I can achieve the best possible results.    

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South of Bristol

KEY WORDS (Geographical Terms) Meanings

Central Business District (CBD)                     Centre of a city

Rural Urban Fringe (RUF)                              Outskirts of a city

Regeneration                                                    Re-development in areas by the government  

Gentrification                                                   Re-development in areas by the community

Decentralisation                                               Big shopping centres outside the city centre

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Data Collection

We stopped at a total of 8 sites to gather information on the different urban zones of Bristol, 4 sites from the north and 4 from the south. We travelled along the A38 due north of Bristol stopping at designated areas to collect are research starting from the CBD.We stopped at a place called Stokes Croft (Broadmead) followed by City road (St.Pauls), Monks Park (Horfields), and the RUF Florence Park , (Almondsbury). The south sites we travelled along the A37 also starting from the CBD, we visited Baldwin street (Broadmead) then Coronation road (Bedminster), Rookery road (Knowle), the final the RUF of the south Sleep lane (Whitchchurch village).  

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Systematic   - System of collecting data

Random       - Is a technique of random sampling

Subjective    - Own opinion

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Sites:

A38                                                                A37

Site 1 – Florence Park, Almondsbury           Site 1 – Sleep Lane, Whitchchurch village

Site 2 – Monks Park, Horfield                      Site 2 – Rookery road, ...

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