LAND USE IN THE MONOCENTRIC CITY AND MODERN CITY

Monocentric city:

•The monocentric city was the dominant urban form until the early part of the twentieth century

•Many of today’s small and medium size cities are still monocentric

•Concentration of employment in the central core area.  Most people commuted inward in jobs in the city centre

•Transportation is an important factor in determining urban form

Assumptions:

•City center of focal point of metropolitan area

•Manufacturers are oriented to railroad terminal

•Office firms are oriented to central market area

•Households are oriented toward employment in the central core area

•Retailers are oriented to the hub of the streetcar system

The role of transportations:
1.Central export node–Manufacturing firms export their output from the city through a railroad terminal at the city center2.Horse-drawn wagons–Manufacturng firms use horse-drawn wagon to transport their freight from their factories to the railroad terminal3.Hub and spoke streetcar system–Workers travel by streetcar from the residential areas to their jobs in the hub/CBD
4.Agglomeration economies–Employees from different office meet in the city center to business transaction

Modern city:
•The typical modern city employment is not concentrated in the central area, but is instead distributed throughout the metropolitan area•Jobs are divided between central business districts, suburban centers, and “everywhere else”•Most job widely dispersed throughout the metropolitan area, most people work and life far from the center•market forces behind the transformation of cities and causes the urban sprawl