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Convenience, market forces, transport networks and the ability to pay for the desired site all
influence the final decision. The result is a pattern of land use within the city which appears
simple but is in practice difficult to summarise. Of the several attempts to form relatively
basic models, the most important results are:
(a) the concentric model
(b) the sector model
(c) the multiple-nuclei model
Land use models have been put forward on the basis ofthe idea that towns and cities do not
grow in a haphazard fashion rather that they tend to develop in distinctive patterns of land use
as they grow and spread. Land use models are simplified diagrams which are used to
represent the pattern of land use functions within a town or city. It should however be
remembered that these are simplifications of reality and it is unlikely that any model will fit
every town and city perfectly [www.geobytes.org.uk, (2007)].
The most visible characteristic of cities is the form oftheir built environment - tall buildings
located at the city's centre, outlying areas of manufacturing and distribution, and residential
areas with greater density near the centre than in the suburbs. It is the location of these, and
other, activities that define patterns ofurban land use [www.uncc.edu, (2007)].
In terms of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP, 2005/2006), Ulundi has a large rural
population (83%) and the settlement pattern demonstrates a high concentration of people in
and around its peri-urban areas and along the main routes R66 and P700 (Figure 1.2). There
is currently a dominant centripetal force of relatively affordable commercial site in the study
area and that has the potential ofdrawing functions and activities towards the centre.
2.4.1.1 The concentric model
This a classical model, based on the study ofland use patterns in Chicago devised by Burgess.
According to Rix et aI., (1987), Burgess suggests that cities grow outwards from the CBD in a
series of concentric rings of land use. The oldest part of the city is at the centre and the
newest part on the outer edge. The quality and size of housing in this model increases with
distance from the CBD. In addition, the height of buildings tends to be greatest closer to the
Central Area, where land-values are high and space is at a premium. The quality and size of
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