Transcript Hoyt’s Sector Model - Department of Geography

Sector Model
Hoyt
Background
 Research conducted by economist Homer Hyot (1895-
1984) in 1939
 Studied 64 widely distributed American cities
 Publication: The Structure and Growth of Residential
Neighbourhoods in American Cities.
Homer Hoyt’s
sector model
of 30 US cities
Why did he put forward
another model?
 He rejected the idea of concentric zones.
 He suggested that residential areas took the form of a
series of sectors.
 Sector is a section of an urban area in the shape of a
wedge, beginning at the edge of the CBD and gradually
widening to the periphery.
Significance
 ecological factors + economic rent concept to explain the
land use pattern
 stress on the role of transport routes in affecting the spatial
arrangement of the city.
 both the distance and direction of growth from the city centre
are considered.
 Brings location of industrial and environmental amenity
values as determinants in residential location
 Example: sectors of high class residential areas tend to grow
towards higher grounds, sites with better view, more open
space, the homes of influential leaders within the community
and existing outlying, smaller settlements.
wedge like/ sector
arrangement following the
axial arrangement of the
transport lines diverging from
the city centre.
 locate outside the CBD
due to land costs and
along transport routes to
minimize costs of
transportation.
CBD remains a
circular form in
the centre.
found near to railways, bordering the
manufacturing / warehousing
sectors (the least desirable land).
occupied intermediate
positions.
 developed along main transport routes
for ease of commuting into the CBD
 located away from areas of heavy
polluting industry.
 found on high grounds (good view),
 waterfronts not used by industries and
homes of community leaders.
How are sectors developed?

Differences in accessibility from outlying districts to the city
centre

High-class housing estates were built along transport routes, e.g.
suburban railway line / highway

 attract accretionary growth of similar residential housing,
thus extending the zone out as a sector (ecological factor).

A high rent residential district in one sector of the city will
migrate outwards by the addition of new belts of housing along
its outer arc.

Similar land uses attracted other similar land uses,
concentrating a function in a particular area and repelling
others. This ‘attract and repel’ process led to sector
development.
How are sectors developed?
 The growth of the city depends on the direction of the
transport route (directional factor)
 Hoyt suggested high-rent sector would expand according to
four factors
 Moves from its point of origin near the CBD, along
established routes of travel, toward another nucleus of highrent buildings
 Will progress toward high ground or along waterfronts,
when these areas are not used for industry
 Will move along the route of fastest transportation
 Will move toward open space
Sector model
 As high-rent sectors develop, areas between them are
filled in

Middle-rent areas move directly next to them, drawing on
their prestige

Low-rent areas fill remaining areas

Moving away from major routes of travel, rents go from high
to low
 There are distinct patterns in today’s cities that echo
Hoyt’s model
 He had the advantage of writing later than Burgess —
in the age of the automobile
Sector model
 Today, major transportation arteries are generally
freeways
 Surrounding areas are often low-rent districts
 Contrary to Hoyt’s theory
 Freeways were imposed on existing urban pattern
 Often built through low-rent areas where land was
cheaper and political opposition was less
Growth of low-density high-income
residential areas in NE NT
Palm Springs
Fairview Park
Rolling Hills
/ Scenic
Heights /
Vineyards
Growth of middleincome residential
belt in West Kowloon
Yuen Long
 Describe the spatial
distribution of various
residential land uses in
Yuen Long.
 Account for their
distribution pattern. Take
account of the following
factors: transport network,
“attract-and-repel” of
social groups, land-rent
mechanism, difference in
relief, historical inertia,
government influence.
Criticisms
 He based his model on housing and neglected other
land uses.
 Areas of low cost housing do occur beside main
roads near to the boundaries of most cities.
 It is too concerned with residential land use and has
not paid enough attention to the existence of
residential and industrial suburbs in cities.
 It has paid little attention to the height of buildings
and the variation of land use with height.