Sociologist Ernest Burgess developed the Concentric Zone Model in 1925. It is one of the earliest theoretical models attempting to explain the built environment and urban social growth. The theory, based heavily off of Chicago, states that cities begin in the center, in the central business district. Slightly outside the center is the zone of transition featuring a mix of residential and commercial use. The next rings are the inner suburbs and outer suburbs. The final zone is the commuter zone, made up of mostly affluent single family housing.
This is just a theory and no city perfectly follows the model. In the art piece the dots loosely represent growth in the city over time, and similarly to real life it is less rigid and more fluid. The different dot colors show theoretical activity in that zone.
(Click on the canvas to recenter the zones and watch the city grow. If you would like to save the final result push the s key)
