MODULE 3 – LOCATION THEORY
Dissatisfaction on the part of individuals and groups concerning their relationships with the environment will lead them to take modifying actions. These changes could include:
- the nature of the activity itself
- the space in which it was carried out
- its location with respect to all other activities
- the kinds of communications made with activities at other locations
- the channels which served to carry or transmit them
Modifying actions cause repercussions on other activities, spaces, communications, and channels. Ex. when a man decides to leave his car for work and uses the train, his action causes repercussions though how trivial and unnoticeable. But if several hundred are to do the same, then the effects would be noticeable
Actions taken by individuals and groups in interest can bring about conditions which give rise to serious social, economic, and aesthetic problems connected with the use of land.
Planning seeks to…
a) regulate or control the activity of individual and groups in such a way as to minimize the bad effects which may arise.
b) promote better performance of the physical environment in accordance with a set of broad aims and more specific objectives set out in a plan.
Location theory…
� explains the pattern of land use
� indicates a solution to the problem of what is the most rational use of land suggesting ways in which the current pattern can be improved.
Johann Heinrich von Thunen (1826)…
� postulated that around a central town-rural land of constant fertility assumed different forms
(the type of land use varies with distance away from the market)
- land use diminishing intensively in reverse relationship to increased distance from the town.
(The intensity of production declines with distance away from the market)
� land in greatest demand would be as near as possible to the market on account of low transport costs.
- the highest rent would be gained for this advantage and the highest value output per hectare would accrue.
� outer belt would have little demand for land because of transport costs.
- rent would be low and the value of extensive production would be correspondingly low.
Modifications…
� overall use pattern might be modified by the existence of a navigable river.
…cost of river transport are low especially for bulky commodities compared to fairly high transport cost overland.
…river would have the effect of extending the different land uses almost parallel along its course.
� further modification might occur if a small city with its own production zones is located within the land use pattern of the main settlements.
Von Thunen model assumed unlikely conditions such as production taking place around an isolated market place and soil being of constant fertility. However, it established a distance-cost relationship which recently became the basis of urban location theory.© as price mechanism largely decides the profitability or utility of goods and services, it subsequently determines the location of activity and the spatial structure of the urban area supplying these goods and services
William Alonso…
� rents diminish outward from the center of a city to offset both lower revenue and higher operating costs and not least transport costs.
…a rent gradient would compensate for falling revenue and higher operating costs
…different land uses would have different rent gradients, the use with the highest gradient prevailing.
use “a” prevails up to a distance of 2kms from the CBD, from 2 to 5kms use “b” is dominant, and beyond 5kms use “c” prevails.a change of use could be expected to take place through the price mechanism when one gradient falls below another.
Alonso model did not specify the type of land use associated with each bid-gradient.
assumed that the urban area has a single nucleus and that the market for land is perfect.
Locational determinants of commercial and industrial use…
A. COST
� price and rent of land fall with increased distance from the CBD.
� wages are higher in the center
…local demand for labor being greater than local supply.
…commuting costs need to be offset by higher remuneration. (transport cost more of a reflection of accessibility than distance)
� locations close to junctions, nodes and terminals are particularly favored maximizing proximity to suppliers and markets.
� decentralized shopping centers are being developed following road improvement and increased car ownership.
� modern manufacturing industry relies increasingly on heavy road vehicles for long distance transportation and incurs lower transport costs on the fringes of cities than at more central locations.
B. REVENUE
� retailing revenue is determined by the size of the shopping catchment area or hinterland, not just in terms of population but in terms of purchasing power.
� distribution of the day-time population and points of maximum transit (where people cluster together) are also important.
� in the case of offices, the spatial distribution, number and size of client establishments determine revenue.
� revenue is thus greatest within the CBD and so are the aggregate costs.
…as distance from the center increases, revenue falls and aggregate costs (after falling initially) rises.
…this is due to the upward pull of transport costs, which are no longer offset sufficiently by economies in the use of land and labor.
…only within a fairly short distance from the CBD are commercial users able to realize high profitability.
C. PROFITABILITY
� to maximize profits, firms need to locate where they can benefit from both the greatest revenue and from the lowest costs.
� specialized functions and activities serving the urban market as a whole will locate centrally.
� firms requiring large sites and those attempting to reduce costs of over-concentration will be attracted to the suburbs.
� firms locating close together to benefit from complementary will incur lower costs because of external economies and enjoy higher revenue due to joint demand.
…since there is a high degree of inertia, most firms find it difficult to adjust their locations to the optimum.
…a satisfactory rather than ideal location moreover is established by zoning and land use controls.
A mixture of interacting influences usually explain each locational decision.
.....as price mechanism largely decides the profitability or utility of goods and services, it subsequently determines the location of activity and the spatial structure of the urban area supplying these goods and services
.....high levels of accessibility within the CBD are reflected in low transport cost attracting greatest demand for commercial sites
.....conversely, low over-all accessibility and high transport cost outside urban areas will attract a much lower level of demand.
.....other possible influences: changes in population, technology and transportation, pressures from redeveloped central areas and local and central government policy.
D. LOCATION
A factor which, as propagated by the adage “location, location, location” is considered to be the foremost determinant in the catalyzing of the decision to purchase.
True in the practice of conventional suburban development
Downside being that a preexistence of excellence in location is invariably associated with high cost of land acquisition
Created by proximity to a desirable factor such as transportation, a waterfront, a slope, a long vista, a pleasant climate, a popular resort, or a desirable community
Only method to economically achieve the value added by location is to create it on inexpensive land through Planned Neighborhood Development.
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