The concept of urban zones and ecological analysis is most closely associated with which school?

• A. The Chicago School
• B. The Frankfurt School
• C. The Vienna Circle
• D. The Paris School

Answer: (A)

The idea of urban zones and ecological analysis comes from the Chicago School. Researchers like Park and Burgess treated the city as an ecosystem, analyzing how different areas form concentric zones around the center and how social groups cluster and move as the city grows. Their concentric zone model—central business district at the core, followed by zones of transition, working-class and residential areas, and the outer commuter belt—shows how land use, population, and social dynamics shape the spatial layout of urban life. This ecological approach emphasizes how distance from the center and the interactions between people and their environment produce distinct urban neighborhoods. The other schools are associated with different theoretical traditions and don’t center urban ecology in the same way.