Higher Urban 3

1. Higher Urban 3 Urban Land Uses

2. Urban Land Uses

3. What do the images tell you about the CBD of Glasgow?

4. Central Business District The land in urban areas is used for many different purposes: • Leisure and recreation may include open land, e.g. parks or built facilities such as sports centres • Residential - the building of houses and flats. • ･Transport - road and rail networks, stations and airports • Business and commerce - the building of offices, shops and banks.･Industry - factories, warehouses and small production centres • The Central Business District (CBD) in the city centre is where most business and commerce is located.

5. Features of the CBD 1 • Highest Land Values- Intensive competition for space • Centre of routes • Multi Storey buildings • Lack of Space, high road and building density • Commercial and Financial Land Uses ( High Profit) • Large Department Stores – John Lewis, Debenhams, Marks for large sales turnover • Specialist shops e.g. Argyll arcade for Jewellery • Offices-Banks, Solicitors etc (western CBD of Glasgow for Finiancial services) • Transport termini – Buchanan Street Bus Station, Central, Queen St • High Traffic and Pedestrian Flow, especially at rush hour • Historic Core- Old buildings, tourist attractions e.g. Cathedral

6. Features of the CBD 2 • Variety of Retailers (optimum population) • Entertainment – Cinemas (UGC), Theatres, Nightclubs • Low Residential Population because of high land values • Pollution • Traffic Congestion • Grid Street Pattern

7. Problems of the CBD • Traffic congestion at bridging points, central areas (grid pattern) • Poor air quality- fumes from high traffic volume • Pedestrian Congestion • Competition from out of town services • Preservation v Modernisation (Historic Core) • Noise • Crime

8. CBD solutions • Decentralisation of functions e.g Greenfield and brownfield sites • Braehead as an alternative shopping venue? • However, CBD loses out, so… • Pedestrianisation- Change the shopping environment, reduce congestion and air pollution • Bus, Cycle lanes, Park and Ride, Double yellows • M74 extension • Improvement of underground services (Commonwealth?) • Covered Shopping Malls – Buchanan Galleries, St Enoch • Develop Tourism ( Short stay breaks, Hotel facilities built, boom in restaurant numbers e.g Merchant City) • Associated Conservation of historic buildings • Change in function? – Merchant City housing

9. How can we tell the position of the CBD on an O.S. map?

12. Copy these notes CBD The main characteristics of the CBD are as follows: • It forms the Old Core - often with a complex historic street pattern. • It is very accessible with many routes converging here. • Public Transport is often based close by, on the edge of the CBD with rail and bus stations and taxi ranks. • High numbers of pedestrians during the day - two daily rush hours • High land values • National Chain Stores - those at the top of the shopping hierarchy i.e. department stores that can afford the high land values. • Tall buildings (build up rather than out due to high land values) • Local Government Buildings e.g. Town Hall, Library, Council Offices. • Specialist services - including financial services, e.g. banks, building societies etc. • Entertainment Centre - theatres, cinemas, museums. • Little Industry or residential

14. BID RENT THEORY • Bid rent theory is a geographicaltheory that refers to how the price and demand on land changes as the distance towards the CBD (Central Business District) increases. • It states that different land users will compete with one and other for land close to the city centre. This is based upon the idea that retail establishments wish to maximise their profitability, so they are much more willing to pay more for land close to the CBD and less for land further away from this area. This theory is based upon the reasoning that the more accessible an area, the more profitable it is going to be. • The different land users all compete with one and other for the more accessible land. The amount that they are willing to pay is called Bid Rent. As a direct result of this, a pattern of concentric rings of land use develops. It could be assumed that, according to this theory, the poorest houses and buildings will be on the very outskirts of the City (the suburbs), as that is the only place that they can afford to occupy. However, in modern times this is rarely the case, as many people prefer to trade off the accessibility of being close to the CBD, and move to the edges of the settlement, where it is possible to buy more land for the same amount of money (as Bid Rent states). Likewise, lower income housing trades off greater living space for greater accessibility to employment. For this reason low income housing is found in the inner city, and high income housing is at the edges of the settlement.

15. Bid Rent Theory • Commercial land uses and businesses which can afford higher rents can afford the most accessible and expensive sites in the city centre and along main roads. • Industry and residential land uses take up more space and can not afford expensive city centre land, so they are located on cheaper land on the edge of the city.

16. Land Use Values (peak land value intersection) • Land is expensive in the CBD where competition for the land is greatest. • Land becomes increasingly cheaper towards the edge of the city. • The most expensive area of land is known as the PEAK LAND VALUE INTERSECTION, this is in the CBD. • There are smaller peaks of value at other desirable areas – e.g. at major crossroads and suburban shopping centres.

17. Peak Land Value Intersection • The Diagram opposite shows that Retail (shopping) occupies the PLVI. • It also shows that PVLI location is in the CBD. • In London the PVLI would be occupied by a large department store such as Harrods.

18. Bid rent curves • Your worksheet and the diagram opposite show that each different land use in the city has its own bid rent curve. • These curves are steepest where the land use can charge the highest amount for land in the city centre. • These land uses are usually retail. • The gentle curves represent housing which can not afford to pay the high land prices of the CBD.

19. Offices • Offices are the second main land use in the CBD after retail. • Offices cluster in the CBD to take advantage of available information, personal contacts and the highest accessibility to the whole urban area. • A site in the CBD offers access to a range of ancillary, quaternary services such as computer services, advertising and financial advice. • Offices which do not need these services are usually found in office parks on cheaper Greenfield sites on the edge of the city.

20. What are the main characteristics of a CBD? How many characteristics of a CBD can you spot in the next four slides?

21. What typical characteristics of a CBD are shown here? The Tallest Buildings Why? Public Buildings eg. Corn Exchange / Town Hall Busy – lots of pedestrians Markets

22. Purpose built shopping centres providing undercover shopping experience What typical characteristics of a CBD are shown here? Big Department Stores and National Chain Stores – why?

23. What typical characteristics of a CBD are shown here? Public Buildings eg. Corn Exchange / Town Hall Some of the oldest buildings Very accessible – public transport & traffic management required due to congestion. Historic/ old street pattern – often some narrow streets

24. What typical characteristics of a CBD are shown here? Entertainment – e.g. restaurants Entertainment e.g. pubs Entertainment e.g. cinemas (although increasingly these are moving further out of town)

25. Task • Using an OS map of Edinburgh find the CBD of the city and then list the evidence you can see of this urban zone. • Complete questions 4 and 5 on p 334 of the Core Higher Textbook.