ABSTRACT
In every urban complex there are well-defined geographical areas, called ‘natural areas’ by the ecologists or ‘functional areas’ by certain geographers, which are akin to the ‘natural formations’ of the plant ecologist. Such distinctive areas are formed by the segregation of similar kinds of land uses and population groups. The residential areas normally cover about one-half of the built-up area of a city. They have distinct variations based on, first, the kind of building structure (differing in type, age, and degree of obsolescence); second, the density of the population and its social and economic characteristics; and third, the degree of ‘polarization’ of the activities and associations of the people around cultural and commercial institutions.
