Urban Land Use (chapter 21)

Six Major Land-Use Groups Residential - where people live – from single-family houses to huge apartment buildings. Usually the largest land use in cities (40%) Residential density = # of houses per hectare – affected by cost of land and age of neighbourhood (trend has gone from dense to less dense back to dense) * See page 249

2. Transportation – 1/3 (33%) of developed land in most cities is used for roads and highways. Vehicles – can create a large amount of congestion. Mass-transit systems help this = subway, rail line, bus lane. Expensive, but worth it in highly dense areas. Terminal Facilities – at the end of all travel paths train, bus stations, airports, docks, parking lots

Travel Paths – subway, street car, and roads and highways – 4 types Expressways – largest- capacity, carry huge amounts of traffic quickly over long distances Arterial roads – moderate amounts of traffic, shorter distance Collector roads – move traffic from local roads to arterial roads Local roads – small and narrow, take people from home to arterial or collector roads

- about 5% of city’s land use 3. Commercial Land Use - about 5% of city’s land use - Buying and selling of goods and services (“business”); important for the economy 6 main types: Local service centres (Mac’s Milk) Neighbourhood Plazas and Ribbons (supermarket) Community Shopping Centres (Malls) Power Centres (big-box stores – Canadian Tire) Regional Shopping Centres (big malls, department stores) The Central Business District (CBD) (“down-town” financial, retail, entertainment, hotel)

Industrial Land Use(6%) - Factories (processing and manufacturing) - Warehousing (storage) - shipping products Types: - CBD industries, - ribbon industries, - suburban industrial parks - suburban business parks * See page 256

Institutional and Public Buildings (10%) schools, hospitals, government offices, places of worship Open Space and Recreational Land (7%) open land = vacant, wood lot, cemetery recreational = parks golf course, arenas

Factors Affecting Land -Use Patterns “ Land- use patterns in towns and cities do not develop by chance. They result from decisions made by people about such matters as where to work, what type of home to live in, what kind of local government to have, and how to spend money. Your decisions will affect the way your community looks in the future.” - text page 264

1. Land value Land values are generally the highest in the most accessible areas (ex. CBD) and along major transportation routes Zoning Lows that control the kind and amount of development in an area Climate Winter-city concept – participate in city life all year long (you don’t even have to step outside)

Urban Expansion - Rural-urban fringe – area next to a an urban are where there is a mixture of urban and rural land uses; city expands outwards (= loss of productive farm land) - Urban Sprawl – low-density development surrounding a city Read pages 261-263