Gonzaga, Jasmine B.
ArPlanning3 | 3:30 4:30
Report: Chapter 3
Location Theory: The Foundation of Planning
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.
For example, 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 the following:
Regulate or control the activity of individual and groups in such a
way as to minimize the bad effects which may arise.
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 Thnen (1826)
A Prussian landowner, introduced an early
agricultural location (The Isolated State).
theory of
His model envisaged a single market
surrounded by farmland, both
situated on a plain of complete
physical homogeneity.
The model assumes that farmers
surrounding the market will produce
crops which have the highest market
value that will give them the
maximum net profit.
When transportation costs are low,
the location rent will be high, and
vice versa.
The Von Thnen model also
addressed the location of intensive
versus extensive agriculture in
relation to the same market.
Intensive agriculture will possess a steep gradient and will locate
closer to the market than extensive agriculture.
Different crops will possess different rent gradients. Perishable crops
(vegetables and dairy products) will possess steep gradients while
less perishable crops (grains) will possess less steep gradients.
Modifications:
Overall use pattern might be modified by the existence of a
navigable river.
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 Thunens 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
(1964)
Alonso
Introduced
Rent
the Bid
Theory
Rents diminish outward from the center of a city to offset both lower
revenue and higher operating costs and not least transport costs.
Bid rent theory shows how much different sectors of the economy
are prepared to pay for land. Basic assumption is that accessibility is
increased with centrality and therefore retailing is prepared to pay a
high price for land in the CBD. As distance from the CBD increases,
availability of land increases and it is affordable for residential and
even agricultural use.
Locational
Determinants of
Commercial
and
Industrial Use
Cost
Price and rent of land fall with increased distance from the
CBD.
wages are higher in the center
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.
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.
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.
Location
A factor which, as propagated by the adage location,
location, location is considered to be the foremost
determinant in the catalysing of the decision to purchase.
