Q. Write the different approaches of urban geography.

Ans : 1) Locational approach :

Locational approach is most important in urban geography. To the study

of any places, location is most important criteria. Site and situational aspect gave rise to the
study of the role of cities in the cultural landscape.

A city is the capital of Kingdome or an empire, a centre of pilgrimage, a port city,

a fishing town or industrial centre, all these attributes of cities related to their location.

The locational approach is not a static but a dynamic method of enquiry. In

particular the locational approach offers a useful framework for generating normative theory
which in turn has significant implication for the spatial planning of emerging urban landscape.

2 ) Regional approach :

A city is a focal point of wider region and every town and city has its
concomitant tributary area. Town and city exist not only on their individual productive base but
also on the one hand and the rural village on the other.

The city region is essentially a functional region, where the functional

relationship between city and region are manifold and each specific function of city has
associated regional dimension.

The regional approach discuss two important facts :

i) Rural-Urban fringe of the city.

ii) The analysis of the levels of urbanization and aspects of the processes of
urbanization in different regions in the country.

Major focus of regional approach , by linking the study of rural with the study of urban place and
understanding and planning for socio-economic development of both rural and urban area.
3) Spatio – Structural Approach :

The city has several focal points with it – the main market , the railway
station and bus stand, educational and medical institutions, all focal points are linked with the
residential areas of rich and poor alike. The city is heterogeneous in terms of population
composition and complex land use structure. It is unified by its modes of transportation and
communication. Land, roads, buildings and people all form part of city structure.

This approach focus on the intricate patterns of land use in commercial

industrial and residential area. They examine the population segregation of the city’s
population in to zones, localities and mahalles. They study the distribution of population
density with in the city or the decline of land values from city centre to periphery.