The Von Thünen Model
The Von Thünen model of agricultural land use was
created by farmer and amateur economist J.H. Von
Thünen of Germany. He believed farmers were
‘economic men.”
His model was created before industrialization and is
based on the following 6 limiting assumptions:
Von Thunen’s assumptions…
• 1. The city is located centrally within an
"Isolated State" which is self sufficient and
has no external influences.
2. The Isolated State is surrounded by an unoccupied
wilderness.
3. The land of the State is completely flat and has no
rivers or mountains to interrupt the terrain.
• 4. The soil quality and climate are consistent
throughout the State.
5. Farmers in the Isolated State transport their
own goods to market via oxcart, across land,
directly to the central city. Therefore, there are
no roads.
6. Farmers act to maximize profits.
The first von Thunen model
postulates that the intensity of
production of a particular crop
declines with distance from the
market since transport costs
increase with distance from the
market and the locational rent is
therefore lower.
Farming—which demands costly
inputs—is only profitable where
locational rent is high to cover
costs, so intensive farming takes
place only near the city.
Von Thünen's second model is concerned with land use patterns.
Transport costs vary with the bulkiness and perishability of the
product.
Product A is costly to transport but has a high market price and is
therefore farmed near the city.
Product B sells for less but has lower transport costs. At a certain
distance, B becomes more profitable than A because of its lower
transport costs.
Eventually, product C, with still lower transport costs, becomes the
most profitable product. The changing pattern of the most
profitable produce is therefore seen as a series of land use rings
around the city.
This phenomenon may be illustrated by a graph showing the
varying locational rent of three products, the most profitable
product at each point, and the land use pattern which results.
Use your handout
Place each
“product”
where you think
it would go and
explain why.
In no particular
order, you products
and locations are :
Your group will locate each of the following in the
ring that you think will maximize its efficiency.
Explain your reasoning for each of your choices.
a. Intensive
agriculture/dairy
b. Livestock
Ranching
c. City
d. Forest Resources
e. Grain Farming
In an Isolated State with the foregoing statements
being true, Von Thünen hypothesized that the following
pattern would develop:
• There are four rings of
agricultural activity
surrounding the city.
Central City
Intensive farming/dairy
Managed forest
Extensive field crops
(grains)
Ranching/grazing
–Dairying and
intensive farming
occur in the ring
closest to the city.
Since vegetables,
fruit, milk and other
dairy products must
get to market quickly,
they would be
produced close to the
city (remember, we
don't have refrigerated
oxcarts!)
• Forest resources
(Timber and firewood)
would be produced for
fuel and building
materials in the second
zone.
Before industrialization (and
coal power), wood (forest)
was a very important fuel for
heating and cooking. Wood
is very heavy and difficult to
transport so it is located as
close to the city as possible.
Central City
Intensive farming/dairy
Managed forest
Extensive field crops
(grains)
Ranching/grazing
• The third zone
consists of
extensive fields
crops such as
grains for bread.
Since grains last longer
than dairy products and are
much lighter than fuel,
reducing transport costs,
they can be located further
from the city.
Central City
Intensive farming/ dairy
Managed forest
Extensive field crops
(grains)
Ranching/grazing
• Ranching (livestock
farming) is located in
the final ring
surrounding the central
city.
–Animals can be raised
far from the city because
they are selftransporting. Animals
can walk to the central
city for sale or for
butchering.
Central City Fruits and vegs.
Intensive farming/dairy
Managed forest
/Grazing
Extensive
field crops
Dairy
(grains)
Ranching/grazing
• Beyond the fourth
ring lies the
unoccupied
wilderness, which is
too great a distance
from the central city
for any type of
agricultural product.
Central City
Intensive farming/dairy
Managed forest
Extensive field crops
(grains)
Ranching/grazing
The Von Thünen model is an
excellent illustration of the
balance between land costs
and transportation costs.
This is also the basis for the “bid
rent” theory.
• As one gets closer to a city, the price of
land increases.
• The farmers of the Isolated State balance the
costs of transportation, land, and profit and
produce the most cost-effective product for
market.
The gradient is related to
the marginal cost of
distance from the center
of the activity.
The friction of distance
has an important
impact on the rent
gradient because with
no friction all locations
would be perfect.
Retailing would have
the highest marginal
cost, housing the
lowest.
The bid rent curve function – a combination of land prices and
distances among with the individual (or firm) is indifferent. It describe
the prices a household (or firm) would be willing to pay for
accessibility.
Von Thunen
demonstration
• Remember, in the real world, things don't
happen as they would in a model.
tonpost.com/business/china-faces-demographic-shift-as-population-ages/2012/01/24/gIQAL
Von Thunen’s View on Land
Use Using Bid Rent Theory
The Von Thünen Model
…applying von Thunen’s
basic assumptions
…von Thunen’s model with
Variations in climate factored
in--the north is colder than the
South.
United States Urban Centers
% Lacking Supermarket
Access
Darker region
represents
50%
or more lack
a of
supermarket
Market gardens are close to urban centers.
Not required to be
near the market
Agricultural landscape
• In the Eastern Hemisphere fragmented farms are
the rule
– Farmers live in farm villages or hamlets
– Fields are situated at varying distances and directions
from the settlement
– One farm can consist of one hundred or more separate
parcels of land
– In Asia and southern Europe individual plots may be
roughly rectangular
– Narrow strips are most common in Western and central
Europe