Labs / Geography
How Cities Grow
Press play and watch a settlement swell from a founding site at a river crossing into a full city. As the population climbs, the built-up area sorts itself into rings — a dense business core, a band of industry, then homes and suburbs — while land value falls the farther you get from the centre. Hover anywhere on the map to read the zone and land value under your cursor.
Year 1800Pop 5 kRadius 0.0 kmLand —Zone —
What to try
- Why does the most expensive land end up right at the centre, and not out in the roomy suburbs?
- Turn transport routes on and off. Why does building roads pull the city into a star instead of a neat circle?
- Switch the founding site to the coast. How does having water on one side reshape where the city can grow?
- Crank the growth rate up. Does the city reach its final size sooner, or does it end up bigger?
- Scrub back to 1850 and forward to 2050 — in which decades does the edge of the city move fastest?