1.2.1 Urban form Flashcards
Urban form
Urban form is the physical characteristics that make up a city, including its size and shape, population density and how the city is arranged.
What are the physical factors affecting urban form?
- Topography
- Water
- Natural resources
- Land type
What are the human factors affecting urban form?
- Planning
- Infrastructure
- Land value
How does topography affect urban form?
The physical features often influence the growth of cities. For example, steep slopes are harder to build on and less accessible, so poorer housing (e.g. slums) may be built on them. Large flat areas encourage low density developments because there’s lots of space to build.
How does water affect urban form?
The presence of lakes and sea limits urban growth in those areas, while cities may grow along the course of a river. City centre shops and businesses are usually located close to the waterfront, rather than at the geographical centre of the city.
How does natural resources affect urban form?
Rich resources (e.g. coal, metal) encourage growth in size and population of cities.
How does land type affect urban form?
Some ground surfaces are more difficult or expensive to build on than others, e.g. swamps and wetlands can limit urban growth.
How does planning affect urban form?
Urban expansion can be planned or unplanned. For example, a lot of urban growth in developing countries is caused by the unplanned expansion of slums. In contrast, planned developments often include open space, leisure facilities, etc.
How does infrastructure affect urban form?
New developments are often built along transport links (e.g. motorways), leading to linear growth.
How does land use affect urban form?
The highest value land is often found in the city centre, so profitable business (e.g. chain stores) normally locate there, while less profitable businesses (e.g. independent shops) may be found further from the centre.
Land-use patterns
Cities in developed countries tend to have a Central Business District (CBD) – a central zone of shops and businesses.
The CBD is surrounded by housing. Although land value tends to be highest in the city centre, houses generally increase in value with distance away from the centre.
Because if the availability of cheap land in semi-rural areas close to urban centres, many science parks and large shopping centres are constructed there, e.g. Bristol and Bath Science Park, the Trafford Centre in Manchester.
Town Centre mixed-use development
These are areas where land use is mixed – luxury flats, offices, shops and entertainment facilities (e.g. bars, cinemas, gyms) are all located there, so residential commercial and leisure uses are combined.
Mix-use developments are planned by local councils, often with private investment. The aim is to attract people back to city centres by giving them the opportunities to live, work and relax there.
They can be easily accessed by pedestrians and include multiple functions within a short walk.
What is an example of a town centre mixed-use development?
BedZed
Cultural and heritage quarters
These areas focus on the history or character of a city. They are often home to theatres, art galleries and historical buildings.
They are often developed by local councils to regenerate former industrial areas. They attract visitors, encouraging economic development and creating jobs.
Example of a cultural and heritage quarter
Cardiff | Cardiff’s cultural and heritage quarter is home to The Welsh Parliament (Senedd) and Dr Who experience.
