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Essay / The Growth of the City - 700
In “The Growth of the City: Introduction to a Research Project” by Ernest W. Burgess (1925), the author delves deeper into the processes that go into building a modern city or urban environment. Burgess lists its qualities as: skyscrapers, department stores, newspaper, shopping malls, etc. (p. 154). Burgess also sees social work as part of a modern urban environment. This is supported by its building pattern based on concentric circles which divided Chicago into five zones. The first was called a central loop intended for a business district. Second, there was an area for business and light industry. Third, there was an “area for workers’ hostels” (p. 156). The fourth is the residential area of high-end apartment buildings. The fifth concerns the location of suburban homes. Burgess goes on to write that each interior zone tends to extend its reach into another zone. But today, the central loop no longer has a single business but several businesses. And yet, this model and this terminology are still used in the urban domain....