Webers Least Cost Theory

Raw materials

marketslabor

Where you place your location depends on several variables. Those variables may change over time.

The substitution principle states that the benefits of one input could outweigh the negatives of another.

Based on transportation costs

Ravenstein's Laws of Migration

1. Most migrants travel only short distances, towards centers of absorption.

2. Short distance migrants are generally women.

3. Migrants travelling long distances move to large industrial centers.

4. More migration is found where there are more transportation opportunities.

5. Most migrants move “step by step” or, step migration.

WORLD SYSTEMS THEORY - CORE-PERIPHERY -- EMMANUEL WALLERSTEIN

Is applicable to industry as well as political.Could be applied to cities as well (core cities vs periperhy cities.

URBAN -Latin American cities (and most colonial cities) integrate their past with the present.

The design and layout of the city was developed hundreds of years ago.

Many of the zones in the city radiate from a central core in a “spine” formation.

Note 4: high income residences3: Industrial district1: commercial business district7: squatter districts

Cities are laid out with the cbd as the”hub.” Travel from one area to another requires moving through the hub.

Economic development has made many Asian cities prosperous.

Most are built on the coast and are built for trade with the ports playing an important role in their development.These cities often have special economic zones that provide inexpensive access to markets.

Note how growth extends out from the port.

African cities are the fastest growing urban regions in the world.

The focus of the city is the colonial core.

Cities show both a colonial cbd and a traditional cbd.

1 2 3 4 5 6

Modeling the North American city1. Central business district (itself broken into theatre, financial, retail, etc.

2. Zone of transition: residential deterioration and encroachment by business. Includes light manufacturing

3. Closely spaced but adequate homes for blue collar workers.

4. Zone of better middle class residences

5. Suburban residences.

Ernest Burgess’s Concentric Zone Model

Depicts a dynamic city in which over time each zone encroaches on the next zone in the ring.

Density gradient

Age increases

“villages” like Fairfield and Cole’s Crossing

Based on the observation that home value increased with distance from the CBD

Homer Hoyt’s Sector Model

1: Central Business District

2: Factories, industry, transition zone

3: Middle class residential

5: High Class Residential

4: Low class residential

As areas developed and grew, the expanded in a “corridor.”

Periphery or Edge City Model

1: Central Business District

2. Suburban Residential

3. Shopping Mall

4. Industrial district

5. Office Park

6. Service Center

7. Airport Complex

8. Shopping and Employment Center

This model is often called the “tenement of the information age” because they are made up of many high density townhomes and apartments for those who work nearby.

City Transportation

The growth of cities is tied to the changing modes of transportation.

Then as now, the optimum time people want to spend getting to work is 45 minutes.

John Borchert summarized two centuries of American city growth based on changing modes of transportation. Ships to sea to rail to modern highways and planes.

Growth of cities due to changing modes ofTransportation.Foot transportation

Horse drawn street cars

Steam driven trains

Auto/ air travel

With each innovation, people were able to move further out of the city and stay within that 45 minute window.

The Von Thunen Model of Land Use

Based on transportation

GREEN REVOLUTION

Norman Borlaug – Texas A&M Univ.Genetically modified crops to produce more crops on less land.Worked well in India, East and Southeast Asia, Mexico

Negatives: expensive to buy the seeds, fertilizer, irrigation. Poor countries must still buy the technology from the “west.”

The types of crops involved (particularly wheat, corn, and rice) do not grow well in the climate and soil types found in some locations, most notably Africa.

Ester Boserup stated that even if population continued to increase, humans would find a way to increase food production, primarily through technology.

Ratzel’s students used this theory to justify German expansionist policies in the 1930’s.

Alfred Mahan developed his theory on power based on the success of the British Empire controlling the world’s seas for hundreds of year.

If a country controls access to the sea lanes, in peace or war, they dictate the ebb and flow of traffic.

The British colonies and its navy had a symbiotic relationship.

The colonies provided the British Navy with ports to refit and restock while they also provided the military might to maintain the colonies.

Mackinder's Heartland theory states that “he who controls the Heartland controls the world.”

Spykman developed the Rimland Theory. The focus of the Rimland is to contain the Heartland.

Nicholas Spykman theorized that the “heartland” was surrounded by the Rimland and the Rimland must contain the heartland in order not to upset the balance of power in the world.

When this was written in the 1930’s, Japan was conquering much of East Asia and Germany was threatening to upset the balance of power the British had maintained.

It was in the interest of this “containment” idea that the American government (who had their own sphere of influence that could be affected) must work to contain the disruptive forces.

This “containment” policy was later transferred to relate to the Soviet Union during the Cold War.