Introduction: The inner city is the zone between the central business district (CBD) and the suburban housing areas. In British cities the inner city grew during the industrial revolution. Factories were built on the edge of the historic towns, now the CBD. Many people view inner city areas as rather dull and depressing as they tend to be overcrowded and polluted. Unfortunately even though the problems of inner city areas are apparent the local councils and business and invested a greater proportion of money in CBD rather then inner cities, which has lead to an escalating problems.

The Diagram illustrates the burgess conurbation model, which highlights the various areas of a conurbation settlement: The burgess model of urban land consists of five concentric circles arranged around a CBD inner core. All conurbation models initiates with the central business district (CBD), which forms the heart of a settlement. Large businesses exist here since they are the only ones able to afford the high land values and rents. The inner city is the 2nd zone in the burgess model. This zone represents old industry established at the birth of the city.

The third zone is known as the “Low-class residential” which is located in the inner city close to the old industries. This was because the poor who worked in these industries had to be local. The medium class residential represents the penultimate zone. This is more expensive housing catering for the moderately wealthy populace. The final zone is the high class residential located in the rural urban fringe. This is the most affluent area and caters for the wealthiest element in the population. According to this model, cities grow outwards from the original site; therefore properties are younger on the outskirts of the city.

– The Burgess Urban Land Use Model In 1925, E. W. Burgess presented an urban land use model, which divided cities in a set of concentric circles expanding from the downtown to the suburbs. This representation was built from Burgess’s observations of a number of American cities, notably Chicago. The main characteristic of the inner city was for the industries to build factories to maximise production. The land was cheap and there was room for expansion for the industries. Houses were constructed local to the factories so that workers would not need to walk all the way to the inner cities.

Some year’s later new industries emerged with bigger and better products. This had a detrimental effect on the older factories, which could not compete and forced to shut down. The inner city was plagued with problems. Firstly houses were old and dated and of poor build quality. There was an immediate need for improved low-cost housing to accommodate and increasing population of workers. However land was scarce and the problem was addressed by high-rise affordable housing. This is one of the reasons why so many inner city areas are dominated by high-rise housing today.

The local councils and government during the 1960`s tried to address the problem of Low-cost housing by building high-rised council flats. Many people were housed but with time their opinions began to change. Council tenants as they were named began to complain of poor amenities and facilities in their estates. Lifts were often breaking; there was vandalism and crime. People began to feel insecure and feared for themselves and their family’s safety. Big factories are derelict monuments of the industrial revolution. Terraced houses, built for the richer people in Victorian times, are now derelict and broadband up.

Empty buildings are favourite targets for vandalism. Which adds to the problems in the area. Economic decline soon follows. Those who could afford have moved out into rich houses. Crime rates are tend to be higher in poorer areas in the inner cities. The closure of factories has lead to the overall decline. These factories were unable to compete with the new emerging industries and were forced out of business. Some factories remained empty and have decayed while others were demolished and the land was often left unused. Transport facilities were also heavily affected.

Canals and railways were closed and roads were made narrower. This lead to an increase in traffic and congestion which lead to more pollution and made the environment less attractive. The environment soon became heavily polluted. Houses were blackened by smoke from factories and domestic chimneys. Clean air acts were still a thing of the future. Rivers and canals became dumping grounds for industrial and household waste. Empty buildings were vandalised while sites of demolished buildings became rubbish tips. Environmental problems Housing:  Decaying terraced housing.

Poorly built tower blocks Pollution and Decay Air, land and water pollution  Derelict warehouses and churches  High levels of graffiti and vandalism  Traffic congestion Poor services  Lack of open space and poor facilities Social problems  Above-average concentration of pensioners, lone parents, Ethnic minorities and students  High levels of diseases, illness and overcrowding  Rising crime rates Poor police and community relations Economic problems overty and low income High unemployment, often over 50 per cent male unemployment.

Declining industries  Poor access to motorways and airport High land values The inner city has been in decline for a considerable period of time and is plagued with problems. Pollution, crime, high land value and poor local services are just the few of the common problems that exist today. The government need to take more responsibility to address these major problems otherwise the situation could rapidly worsen. The government should introduce new plans to attract wealth and business into the inner cities thus eliminating many of the economic-related problems.

In the past the government had attempted to address some of the issues of the inner cities particularly the housing problem. They were forced to build high-rised flats due to the limited space available. These projects soon proved unsuccessful ands these areas became common ground for vandalism and crime. People felt insecure and unsafe particularly the extremely venerable, namely pensioners and foreigners. In my opinion the problems of the inner cities are vast and considerable. There is no quick and easy solution.

The government needs to attract investment and business into the areas to bring wealth and prosperity for the inner cities by attracting business. New opportunities can be created and high unemployment can be reduced. Facilities and amenities can also be improved all leading to a better quality of life. This is important to everyone because if they don’t control the inner city by improving it, there would be a line between the rich and the poor and there would be more crimes on the streets & more muggings. Mostafa Dehghanpour 10K Geography Mr Andy Ouma.