The Von Thunen Model of Land Us cwhg home土地使用cwhg家杜能模型.pptVIP

Agricultural landscape In the Eastern Hemisphere fragmented farms are the rule Farmers live in farm villages or hamlets Fields are situated at varying distances and directions from the settlement One farm can consist of one hundred or more separate parcels of land In Asia and southern Europe individual plots may be roughly rectangular Narrow strips are most common in Western and central Europe The Von Thünen Model The Von Thünen model of agricultural land use was created by farmer and amateur economist J.H. Von Thünen of Germany. He believed farmers were ‘economic men.” His model was created before industrialization and is based on the following 6 limiting assumptions: Von Thunen’s assumptions… 1. The city is located centrally within an Isolated State which is self sufficient and has no external influences. 2. The Isolated State is surrounded by an unoccupied wilderness. 3. The land of the State is completely flat and has no rivers or mountains to interrupt the terrain. 4. The soil quality and climate are consistent throughout the State. 5. Farmers in the Isolated State transport their own goods to market via oxcart, across land, directly to the central city. Therefore, there are no roads. 6. Farmers act to maximize profits. The first von thunen model postulates that the intensity of production of a particular crop declines with distance from the market since transport costs increase with distance from the market and the locational rent is therefore lower. Intensive farming—which demands costly inputs—is only profitable where locational rent is high to cover costs, so intensive farming takes place only near the city. Bid rent theory (this will also be used in the Urban Geography unit) Rent – a profit resulting from some advantage such as capitalization and accessibility. The highest rent is for retail because it is the closest to accessibility. Rent gradient – a representation of the decline in rent in distance from the center. Von Thünens second