Kearsley’s model of urban structure is a modified version of Burgess’ concentric zone model that described a typical American city having five concentric zones of land use. G. W. Kearsley stated that Burgess model is the basis for introduction to urban geography and the structure of a city. He noted (Kearsley, 1983):

“…it is felt that the basis for a modern and relevant introduction to urban geography can be built around the basic formulation in a way that retains the essential holism of structure and society that characterizes the modern metropolis.”

Rationale behind Kearsley’s model

Burgess model has been modified by Kearsley to better reflect changing demographics in cities over time, especially after the end of the Second World War, which characterized most of the Western cities. His model was, therefore, an attempt to extend Burgess’s model of urban structure to contemporary dimensions of urbanization such as the governmental involvement in urban development such as that in Britain, and other social patterns that influenced the character of the city. Some of these include: suburbanization, redevelopment and slum clearance, decentralization of economic activities, commuter villages, satellite towns, gentrification and ghettoization. Kearsley’s modified Burgess model offered elements such as the extension of inner-city blight, minimization of local and central government housing, and expansion of recent low-density suburbs, that presented a North American variant urban structure.

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