The McGee model is an urban model of Southeast Asian cities in which the old colonial port, not a central business district, anchors the city, with mixed commercial, residential, and squatter zones developing outward around it. It's one of the regional city models named in AP Human Geography Topic 6.5.
The McGee model (developed by geographer T.G. McGee) describes the internal structure of many Southeast Asian cities. The big idea is that these cities grew around trade, so the port sits at the heart of the model instead of a classic central business district. Around the port you find a mix of zones rather than one dominant downtown. There are commercial zones (often split between a Western-style commercial area and an alien commercial zone historically run by Chinese merchants), government and administrative zones, mixed land-use areas, newer industrial parks on the edge, and squatter settlements where rapid in-migration outpaces formal housing.
What makes the McGee model different from the classic North American models is the lack of a single, strong CBD. Business activity is scattered across multiple nodes, and land uses blend together instead of sorting into neat rings or sectors. That pattern reflects colonial history (port-based trade cities) and rapid modern urbanization in developing countries. In the CED, the McGee model is the "urban model drawn from Southeast Asia" listed in EK PSO-6.D.1.
The McGee model lives in Unit 6: Cities and Urban Land-Use Patterns and Processes, specifically Topic 6.5: The Internal Structure of Cities. It directly supports learning objective 6.5.A, which asks you to explain the internal structure of cities using various models and theories. The CED (EK PSO-6.D.1) explicitly lists urban models drawn from Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa alongside the Burgess, Hoyt, Harris-Ullman, and galactic city models. The McGee model is the Southeast Asia one. The exam loves to test whether you can match a city's described features to the right model, and "port-centered, no clear CBD" is the McGee model's fingerprint. It also connects to a bigger AP theme: urban form reflects history. Colonial trade built these cities around harbors, and the model shows that legacy frozen into the landscape.
Keep studying AP Human Geography Unit 6
Central Business District (CBD) (Unit 6)
The McGee model is basically defined by what it's missing. In Burgess and Hoyt, everything radiates from a CBD. In McGee's Southeast Asian cities, the port plays that anchoring role and commercial activity is spread across multiple smaller nodes instead of one downtown.
Burgess Concentric Zone Model (Unit 6)
Burgess shows a city sorting itself into neat rings around a CBD, based on Chicago. McGee shows the opposite situation, where land uses mix and overlap around a port. Comparing the two is the fastest way to see that no single model fits every city, which is exactly the point of 6.5.A.
Galactic City Model (Unit 6)
Both models describe cities where the traditional CBD has lost its grip, but for totally different reasons. The galactic city model shows a North American metro decentralized by cars and edge cities. The McGee model shows a Southeast Asian city that never centralized around a CBD in the first place because trade built it around a harbor.
Urbanization in Developing Countries (Unit 6)
The squatter settlements in the McGee model connect directly to rapid urbanization in the developing world. When rural migrants pour into a city faster than formal housing can be built, informal settlements appear, a pattern you also see in the Latin American and African city models.
On the multiple-choice section, the McGee model usually shows up as a model-identification question. You'll get a description ("a Southeast Asian city organized around its port with no distinct CBD and mixed land-use zones") or a diagram, and you have to pick the right model from the EK PSO-6.D.1 lineup. The giveaway details are the port at the center, the alien commercial zone, and the absence of a single CBD. No released FRQ has asked about the McGee model by name, but Topic 6.5 is fair game for free-response questions that ask you to explain or compare urban models, so be ready to explain why Southeast Asian cities developed this way (colonial port-based trade) rather than just labeling the diagram. The skill being tested is matching spatial patterns to processes, not memorizing the picture.
Both are regional models for cities in the developing world, and both feature informal settlements, so they get mixed up constantly. The key difference is the anchor. The Latin American city model still has a strong CBD with a commercial spine extending outward and squatter settlements (disamenity zones) on the periphery. The McGee model has no dominant CBD at all; the port is the focal point and commercial activity is scattered into multiple zones. If the stem mentions a port or Southeast Asia, it's McGee. If it mentions a spine, an elite sector, or Latin America, it's Griffin-Ford.
The McGee model describes Southeast Asian cities, where the old colonial port serves as the city's focal point instead of a central business district.
Unlike North American models, the McGee model shows no single dominant CBD; commercial activity is split among multiple nodes, including a Western commercial zone and an alien commercial zone.
Land uses in the McGee model mix and overlap rather than sorting into clean rings or sectors, reflecting rapid, less-regulated urban growth.
Squatter settlements in the model reflect rapid urbanization in developing countries, where migration outpaces formal housing.
The CED lists the McGee model under EK PSO-6.D.1 as the urban model drawn from Southeast Asia, alongside the Latin American and African city models.
The exam tests whether you can match a city description or diagram to the correct model, so memorize the McGee model's fingerprint: port-centered, Southeast Asian, no strong CBD.
The McGee model explains the internal structure of Southeast Asian cities, where the old colonial port anchors the city instead of a CBD and commercial, residential, government, and squatter zones develop in a mixed pattern around it. It's one of the regional models listed in Topic 6.5 (EK PSO-6.D.1).
No, and that's the model's defining feature. Instead of one dominant central business district, the McGee model shows the port as the focal point with commercial activity scattered across multiple zones, including separate Western and alien (Chinese merchant) commercial areas.
The Latin American (Griffin-Ford) model keeps a strong CBD with a commercial spine running outward to an elite sector. The McGee model has no dominant CBD and is organized around a port instead. Both include informal squatter settlements, which is why they're easy to confuse.
Cities in Southeast Asia that grew as colonial trading ports, such as Jakarta, Manila, Bangkok, and Kuala Lumpur. Their port-centered, multi-node layout reflects that trade-based colonial history.
Yes. EK PSO-6.D.1 explicitly includes urban models drawn from Southeast Asia, and the McGee model is that model. It typically appears in multiple-choice questions asking you to match a description or diagram to the correct urban model under learning objective 6.5.A.
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