Theory

• Urban morphology refers to the spatial structure and organisation of an urban area, traditionally being affected by physical factors such as relief and drainage.
• Early industrial areas developed close to rivers where they could harness the power of water for energy and transportation. Flat land was also important for transportation of goods via road or rail. Relief still plays an important role today as flat land is easier to build on and may attract a higher land value, but may pose a flood risk.
• In poorer cities, informal settlements are often found on undeveloped steep land. Brazil's larger favela, Rocinha, is built on a steep and rugged hillside overlooking Rio de Janeiro. The poorer parts of the favela are found higher on the hilltop, with many houses only accessible by foot.
• The main factor affecting land use in HICs is land value, traditionally higher in the centre of a city where accessibility is greatest. The Peak Land Value Intersection (PLVI - occupied by large rich retailers e.g. M&S) is the point with the highest land value and from here, land prices decline in line with the theory of distance-decay.
• As richer retail companies dominate the CBD, smaller retailers cannot afford the prices and occupy the edges of CBDs.
• Taking a transect from the CBD to the suburbs, land values fall significantly as the different land users are less reliant on accessibility and unable to pay the higher prices associated with this, known as the bid-rent theory.
• The 1980s trend towards out-of-town shopping centres affected land values in some cities and this can be seen by the presence of secondary land-value peaks. An increase in traffic meant that the city centre was no longer always the most accessible part of the city and lack of space encouraged retailers to look elsewhere. For consumers, edge cities provided free parking and other land uses, causing a rise in land values in such areas.