Von Thünen Model: Agricultural Land Use

• Market gardening and milk production necessitate quick market access due to the perishability of vegetables, dairy, and fruit.
• Firewood and lumber production are essential for fuel, but their weight and transportation difficulties pose challenges.
• Crop farming, especially with grains using systems like the Three-Field System, benefits from grains being lighter than fuel with longer shelf life.
• Livestock farming involves animals transporting themselves to market for slaughter.

Von Thünen Theory

• Farmers aim to maximize profits based on land use and transport costs.
• Transport cost is dependent on distance, product bulk, and perishability.
• Cultivation is only worthwhile within certain distances from the city
• Beyond that cost of land gets too high, or transport costs increase, or there is a more profitable product.

Weaknesses and Criticism of the Model

• The model assumes an isolated state.
• It disregards differences in local physical conditions, differential transportation costs, variations in topography, soil fertility, changes in demand or price, and government policies.
• Modern refrigerators allow perishable products to be transported longer distances.
• The theory remains relevant by illustrating the balance between land cost and transportation costs.

Bid Rent Theory

• Land is scarce so rent is more expensive in an urban area.
• The closer one is to the city, the more expensive it is to be there.

Weber's Least Cost Industrial Location Model

• Industries locate to minimize costs in transportation, labor, and agglomeration.
• Minimizing costs in three categories: Transportation, Labour, and Agglomeration

Least Cost Theory

• Weight-losing industries locate near raw materials to minimize transportation costs.
• Weight-gaining industries locate closer to the market to reduce costs.

Industry Classifications

• Primary industries extract raw materials: farming, fishing, forestry, mining.
• Secondary industries process and manufacture primary products: steel, shipbuilding, furniture making, and construction.
• Tertiary industries provide services: health, education, government, retailing, and transport.
• Quaternary industries provide information and expertise: micro-electronics and R&D.

Types of Industry

• Heavy industries use heavy, bulky raw products and produce heavy, bulky goods.
• Light industries use light, small raw materials with light, small finished products.
• Fixed industries have limited location choices due to reliance on heavy raw materials.
• Footloose industries can locate in many places due to light, easily transported raw materials.

Sector Classifications

• Formal industries are capital intensive, use advanced technology, and employ workers regularly.
• Informal industries are labor intensive, use simple technology, and involve self-employment or casual employment.

Industrial Agglomeration: Advantages and Disadvantages

• Advantages include shared resources, labor pool, innovation/knowledge sharing, lower transaction costs, and consumer attraction.
• Disadvantages include high resource demand, pollution, labor shortages/wage inflation, industry-specific crises, and scarcity of space.

Factors Involved in Deciding Industrial Location

• Physical factors such as proximity to raw materials, climate, availability of resources, and suitable land are crucial.
• Human factors include the availability of skilled labor, labor costs, living standards, and political stability.
• Economic factors are proximity to markets, land costs, access to finance, government policies, and the overall economic environment.

Development, Dependency, and Trade

• Rich industrialized countries are metropoles; poor, less industrialized countries are satellites.
• During the 1960s and 1970s most colonies won political independence but are still, even today, dependent on the metropoles.
• Metropoles control the economies of satellites, creating a trade imbalance.

The Rostow Model - The Stages of Economic Growth

• Rostow's model suggests countries develop through five linear stages.
• Traditional Society: Subsistence farming, limited technology, and barter trade.
• Pre-conditions for Take Off: Emergence of surpluses, transport infrastructure, commercialized agriculture, and entrepreneurship.
• Take off: Increased industrialization, rural-urban migration, and new political/social institutions.
• The Drive to Maturity: Diversified growth, technological innovation, and economic development spreads.
• High Mass Consumption: Expansion of tertiary industry and production of durable consumer goods.

The Rostow Model - Criticisms

• Outdated (1960) and oversimplified
• Model assumes same starting level and resources for all countries.
• The model underestimates the extent to which the development of some countries in the past was at the expense of others through colonization and imperialism.

Transportation

• Trains: Suitable for long-distance transport of heavy primary/secondary goods.
• Ships: Ships give transportation for goods without strict time limits.
• Airplane: For high-value or urgent goods despite small cargo capacity.
• Truck: For finished products being transported easily to market over short distances.
• Transportation costs vary by country, distance, goods, speed, capacity, and accessibility.