Schemes of city classification Classifications

Based on Age
J.M. Houston's scheme
In his book "A Social Geography of Europe" J.M. Houston envisaged three stages of city growth. They
are
1. The Nuclear Stage
A city in nuclear stage is in the early stages of development has a central and is confined within walls
on the outer fringe or by boulevards and thoroughfares.
2. The Formative Stage
These cities developed following the Industrial Revolution. Changes took place in terms of changing
transport and trade. Beyond the central area many houses were built and factories laid, particularly
along the lines of communication.
3. The Modern Stage
In these cities rapid growth has taken place. All the activities in the cities are well established and
even extended up to the suburbs. Motor transport is well developed, creating a link between the
centre and the suburbs.

G. Taylor's scheme
Griffith Taylor also gave a classification based on the age of cities but he went into more details and
explained the difference between embanking urban settlements and well established cities. Taylor's
stages of city growth are:
(1) The Infantile Stage
In this stage the cities are at an initial stage of development with no clear cut demarcation between
domestic and commercial areas or rich and poor residential areas. The buildings are haphazardly
distributed. The old towns of Oklavik and Fort Smith on the Mackenzie River represent this stage.
(2) The Juvenile Stage
This is the stage of city growth when shops start springing up leading to the concentration of
commercial activity at the centre. The residential houses are established in the fringe areas and
factories come up in between. Toronto of 1842 can be cited as an example of this stage.
(3) The Maturity Stage
Toronto of 1885 represents this stage. In this stage the residential zones are established at the outer
fringes. These residential zones are well segregated with the poor, closer to the centre and the
richer, further away from it. Commercial and industrial areas are well established particularly along
the railway lines and on the sides of the lake.

(4) The Senility Stage

After the well-developed stage of maturity, the growth stops as the senility stage is attained. Decay
of some districts and a decline in economic prosperity takes place in this stage. Industrial towns like
Lancashire, Yorkshire and Durham have reached this stage.
Taylor also mentioned the development of other factors like establishment of a university, starting
of newspaper circulation, administrative annexation of outlying satellites and the formulation of
zoning laws. But these developments were so gradual that they could not be demarcated in different
phases of growth.

Classification based on Growth of Civilisation

Lewis Mumford
Lewis Mumford under the influence of Patrick Geddes visualised a town not so much as a physical
entity but as a social phenomenon. He suggested a two-fold classification.
(a) On the basis of social changes brought about by technical progress as human history advances,
(b) On the basis of the cultural rise and fall of a town or city.
Adopting the first method, Mumford distinguishes the following phases:
1. Eotechnic
This phase is characterized by the use of immobile power sources (like wood, wind and water),
primitive technology and undeveloped means of transport. Manufacturing is done on the lines of
cottage industry, using ubiquitous raw materials, having a high labour input. They exhibit a scattered
spatial pattern. The West European towns between the tenth and eighteenth centuries represented
this phase.
2. Palaeotechnic
This phase is marked by the beginning of the use of coal as a source of power and the development
of the iron and steel industry. Urban settlements are compact. The transport system is still primitive,
therefore, costly. The factory system based on individual ownership system is established using
localized raw materials (especially heavy, weight losing minerals) and serves fairly localised markets.
3. Neotechnic
This phase is characterised by technological innovations in industry, agriculture, energy resources
and transportation. This resulted in the introduction of electric power, internal combustion engines,
the use of lighter and rarer materials like aluminium and tungsten, regeneration of waste, invention
of new gadgets, etc. With these developments, manufacturing became well organised on large scale
basis for mass consumption. Thus the city is marked by tall buildings, central blight (degenerated
central area), traffic congestion and urban sprawl. West European towns of the 1880's are an
example of this phase.
4. Biotechnic

This is the most developed phase. Civilization by now is dominated more by the biological sciences
than by the physical sciences. Man's knowledge of bacteriology is applied to medicine and sanitation
and his knowledge of psychology to human behaviour. The cities of developed countries like those of
Britain represent this phase. The residents of these cities are more concerned about the city's
environment and its conservation.
In his second classification of towns Mumford compares a town to a living organism and
demonstrates how a single town resembles a whole civilisation. He considers a town rising through
three stages and then sinking through another three. The stages are:
1. Eopolis
This is the earliest stage of a city evolution when the village community rises from an economy that
was dominated by agriculture, mining or fishing.
2. Polis
This stage envisages a small market town with some manufacturers, dependent upon the region and
in turn serving a restricted region. The growing out of suitably placed village, small markets
developed to serve the newly developed town.
3. Metropolis
This term is applied to a very large city that develops under favourable circumstances. Such a city
dominates a number of small towns and villages, i.e., it has a wide sphere of influence. It contains a
cosmopolitan population who are engaged in many specialised occupations. It begins to suffer from
a class struggle, from an increasing difficulty in integrating its diverse cultural elements and from the
growing power of its merchants and bankers.
4. Megalopolis
This term refers to a highly urbanised and bloated city where material wealth dominates life,
standardised products replace original art, size dominates form and the evils of bureaucracy
intensify. The Second Century Rome, 18th Century, and early 20th Century New York each
represents a Megalopolis.
5. Tyrannopolis
The megalopolis psychology continues in this stage. Wealth demonstration and extravagance
become the yardsticks of culture, moral apathy replaces good living and commerce alternates
between boom and depression.
6. Necropolis " C i t y o f t h e D e a d "
This is a city where due to war, famine or disease (epidemics), living conditions deteriorate badly.
Municipal services decline, cultural institutions decay and the city begins to resemble a shell-like
ancient Babylon and Nineveh.