(Geography Grade 9) Unit 4

• Types of land use in urban areas


  • Industrial
  • Commercial
  • Residential
  • Institutional and public buildings
  • Transportation
  • Open space and recreation
• Transportation


  Roads, highways, and the vehicles that drive on them
• Parts of transportation


  • Parking (private driveways, garages and public parking)
  • Travel paths (arterial roads, local roads, expressways, and collectors)
  • Transit facilities (stations, surface lines, and reserved lanes)
• Residential


  Homes from single family dwellings to multi unit high rise buildings
• Residential density


  • Low density - single family homes
  • Medium density - townhouses, low rise buildings
  • High density - high rise buildings
• High density living


  • More effective transportation systems allowing people to walk or bike to work
  • Less land required to house each person, preventing cities from expanding outwards and protecting farmland and animal habitats
  • Allows people to be closer to centres like restaurants, libraries, schools, swimming pools, grocery stores, etc.
• The thing that drives people to choose high density living

  Low costs without considering the liveability concerns
• In low density areas


  They don't have to deal with traffic or noise
• As the population increases in high density areas


  Schools and community centres will become more crowded
• Commercial


  Buying and selling goods and services including wholesale, retail, financial and many other businesses
• Commercial categorized by order of goods

  • Low order (variety stores, banks and small supermarkets)
  • Low to middle order (clothing and shopping centres, insurance offices, jewelry stores)
  • Low to high order (book stores, movie theatres, and specialized stores)
  • Low to very high order (designer items, unique items, and specialized stores)
  • Middle to high order (big box stores, national or international store chains, fast food chains and sit down restaurants)
• Industrial


  Shipping centres, factories, warehouses
• Industrial facilities are often located in suburban areas where land is less expensive and close to transportation routes (highway) to allow easier and more effective transportation
• Institutional and public


  Publicly bonded buildings like educational facilities, government offices, hospitals, and places of worship that serve a variety of purposes
• Open space and recreational areas

  Open space, fields, parks, and cemeteries
• Open space and recreational areas are vital for urban life and also for the quality of life and well-being of humans if they want to rest and relax to become more productive
• Factors affecting land use

  • Land value (determined by proximity to CBD and availability of major transportation routes and public transit)
  • Zoning (laws passed by government to control type of land use and prevent conflicts)