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BURGESS’S CONCENTRIC ZONE MODEL
The Burgess Model was developed by Ernest Burgess in 1925. He identified a series
of concentric rings coming out from the centre of the city which correspond to different types
of land use. In the centre was the Central Business District; followed by an inner city area
known as the transition zone, with light manufacturing; then a series of residential zones
gradually becoming wealthier towards the edge of the city.
Burgess‟s original model was entirely based on Chicago. The sloping line through the
centre shows the shore of Lake Michigan. To the left of this line Burgess labelled the reality
of Chicago with names and types of places; to the right, he identified the academic terms he
gives to each zone.
The model is useful because it shows a heavily simplified version of reality that could
be applied to many cities. It doesn‟t actually explain why these zones are in those locations,
but it is the basis for theories that do: the main one is bid-rent, discussed elsewhere on this
site. Some other explanations that follow from the Burgess model are:
