Clark Density Model

The Clark density model is the classic empirical description of how urban population density falls with distance from the city centre, formulated by the economist Colin Clark in 1951. It states that density declines exponentially outward from a central peak, so that plotting the logarithm of density against distance yields a straight line whose slope is the density gradient. This negative-exponential 'law' became the standard model of urban spatial structure and the empirical foundation for later monocentric-city theory.