How might a conflict theorist critique the concentric zone model? Group of answer choices a. The model fails to show the gentrification of neighborhoods as the upper classes start to take over poorer neighborhoods. b. The model fails to take into account all the parks and playgrounds in the city. c. The model does not show any careful city planning that usually takes place when a city is born. d. The model fails to explore areas of overlap where a business might be located in a suburb or people might live above their businesses in the city.

a. The model fails to show the gentrification of neighborhoods as the upper classes start to take over poorer neighborhoods.

• Conflict theorists typically analyze social phenomena in terms of power differentials and the competition between different interest groups. From the perspective of a conflict theorist, the concentric zone model would be critiqued on the grounds that it does not adequately capture the dynamics of power, class struggle, and the displacement of lower-income residents through processes like gentrification. Gentrification refers to the transformation of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents, which often results in the displacement of the original, typically poorer population. This is an example of how the interests of the more powerful (or wealthier) social groups can impact urban development, a critical focus for conflict theorists.
• The concentric zone model, developed by sociologist Ernest Burgess in the 1920s as part of the Chicago School of urban sociology, does not explicitly address this process of gentrification and how it might lead to the transformation of urban zones. Therefore, a conflict theorist would argue that the model is insufficient for understanding the full complexity of socio-economic changes in urban environments.