Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Basic theory
- 2 Locational choice of the household
- 3 Equilibrium land use and optimal land use: single household type
- 4 Equilibrium land use and optimal land use: multiple household types
- 5 Urban aggregates and city sizes
- Part II Extensions with externalities
- Appendixes
- References
- Author index
- Subject index
3 - Equilibrium land use and optimal land use: single household type
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Basic theory
- 2 Locational choice of the household
- 3 Equilibrium land use and optimal land use: single household type
- 4 Equilibrium land use and optimal land use: multiple household types
- 5 Urban aggregates and city sizes
- Part II Extensions with externalities
- Appendixes
- References
- Author index
- Subject index
Summary
Introduction
We have already examined how an individual household chooses a location in the city. Every household will take the market rent curve as given and seek the most desirable location, without concern for others. The next question that naturally arises concerns the overall balance of demand and supply for land, taking account of all the households' and landowners' decisions. Specifically, is consistency among decisions assured? What land use patterns are generated in the context of an urban land market?
These questions lead to two concepts: equilibrium and optimal land use. The concept of competitive equilibrium land use refers to the situation in which the decisions of all individuals made under a given land rent curve are mutually consistent; in particular, equality between demand and supply for land is achieved everywhere. However, the fact that an urban land market is in equilibrium does not necessarily imply that the resulting spatial structure is desirable. Therefore, it is also important to define optimal allocations of land within a monocentric framework and to study the relationships between equilibrium and optimal land use.
This chapter begins to explore these two concepts. It deals with a simple case in which all households are assumed to be identical. It also introduces the boundary rent curve, which will be a useful tool in much of the subsequent analysis. The chapter begins by introducing an alternative expression of bid rent functions that is more convenient for the purposes of this chapter.
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- Chapter
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- Urban Economic TheoryLand Use and City Size, pp. 50 - 96Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1989
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