Borchert's Epochs and Urban Morphology

Borchert’s Epochs

Urbanization Mirrors Technological Change

Sail-Wagon Epoch 1790-1830• Wind and water power• Most urban places were ports or water

power sites• Major cities: New York, Boston,

Philadelphia - oriented towards European trade

• Water transportation critical• Overland travel slow

Iron Horse Epoch (1830-1870)• Steamboats and railroads diffuse

– Great Lakes and Mississippi River system key• Industrialization & coal mining boom• Coal powered steam engine revolutionizes

overland transport

Railroads 1870

Steel Rail Epoch (1870-1920)• Industrial Revolution diffuses, steel industry

develops• Coal power generators allowed manufacturing to

take place away from water power sites• Coal & iron ore from Appalachia & Minnesota’s

Mesabi Range• Steel railroad tracks replace iron = heavier trains,

faster speeds, longer distances = lower transportation costs

• Continental U.S. stitched together by railroad network

Auto-Air-Amenity Epoch (1920-Present)

• Gasoline powered combustion engines

• Trucks, automobiles & airplanes• Dense network of roads makes

travel easier• Suburbanization• Sun Belt development

Interstate Highway System

Urban MorphologyThe layout of a city, its physical form

and structure

Functional Zonation

The division of the city into zones for certain functions

North American City ModelsBurgess Concentric Zones 1920s

Cities grow in rings radiating out from the Central Business District.

Bid Rent Curve

The closer you are to the CBD, the more expensive the land.

Hoyt Sector Model 1930s

Cities grow in wedges following transportation corridors.

Harris & Ullman’s Multiple Nuclei Model1940s

Cities grow and develop around clusters of economic activity.

Ex: university node, airport node

Vance’s Urban Realms Model 1960’s To Present

Urban area is comprised of a series of independent suburban downtowns within a larger metropolitan area.

Galactic City Model

European Cities

Green Belt Maphttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/greenpolitics/planning/9708387/Interactive-

map-Englands-green-belt.html

• More compact than U.S.• Some greenbelts (esp. UK)• Focus on healthy CBDs• More mass transit, less car

focused• More mixed use zoning• Higher income housing

closer to city center, lower income housing in suburbs (opposite of U.S.)

Cities Around the World Have Different Structures Based on

Their Unique Histories

See detailed explanations in text,

Kaplan Review Guide and on Models To

Know page.

Griffin-Ford Latin American City Model

deBlij’s African City Model

See detailed explanation in text,

Kaplan Review Guide and on Models To

Know page.

McGee’s Southeast Asian City Model

See detailed explanation in text,

Kaplan Review Guide and on Models To

Know page.

Middle Eastern City Model

Mosque is focus and bazaars

(marketplaces) are common in city

centers.