Sector model

Proposed in 1939 by economist Homer Hoyt, the sector model also known as the Hoyt model in urban land use and demography modified the concentric zone model of city development.

While accepting the existence of a central business district, Hoyt suggested that various groups expand outward from the city center along railroads, highways, and other transportation arteries. Using Chicago as a model, an upper class residential sector evolved outward along the desirable Lake Michigan shoreline north of the central business district, while industry extended southward in sectors that followed railroad lines.

In developing this model Hoyt observed that it was common for low-income households to be near railroad lines, and commercial establishments to be along business thoroughfares. Recognizing that the various transportation routes into an urban area, including railroads, sea ports, and tram lines, represented greater access, Hoyt theorized that cities tended to grow in wedge-shaped patterns -- or sectors -- emanating from the central business district and centered on major transportation routes. Higher levels of access meant higher land values, thus, many commercial functions would remain in the CBD but manufacturing functions would develop in a wedge surrounding transportation routes. Residential functions would grow in wedge-shaped patterns with a sector of low-income housing bordering manufacturing/industrial sectors (traffic, noise, and pollution makes these areas the least desirable) while sectors of middle- and high-income households were located furthest away from these functions. Unlike the Burgess model, which only ever attempted to explain a single city (Chicago), Hoyt's model attempted to more broadly state a principle of urban organization.