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Von Thnens Agriculture Location TheoryJohann Heinrich von Thnen(24 June 1783 22 September 1850),

was a land owner , a prominent 19th century economist and a native ofMecklenburg-Strelitzin northern Germany.

He contributed highly significant concepts and techniques to economic theory like his first volume of his treatise Isolated State in 1826 which has the same fundamental principles as that of Ricardo.

von Thunens Model of Agricultural Land Use -Cost of land vs. cost of transporting goods in the market.

Sometimes mentioned to as a Father of Location Theorists.

Von Thunens Model ofAgricultural Land UseFirst Location TheoryIn his theory of "The Isolated State", he started out from Adam Smith's idea of "economic man": that the farmer is expected to maximize his profit ("economic rent") from his farmland.Concentrating in optimal use of the land surfaces and the transport costs, removal of other factors results in a homogeneous and isolated state: A concentric model

CityFarm LandsTransportationThe Model is described as the equation..L = Y(P-C) YDF

Contains Six Assumptions

There is only one market available, self-sufficient with no outside influence. All farmers are market oriented, producing goods for sale. (Not subsistence.)The physical environment is uniform; there are no rivers or mountains. All points at equal distances from the market have equal access to the market. All farmers act to maximize profits.The dietary preferences of the population are those of Germanic Europeans. Land rent The main concept is land rent or land value, which will decrease as one gets farther away from central markets. Rent is highest in the closest proximity to urban markets. Thus, agricultural products that have intensive land use, have high transportation costs and were in great demand would be located close to urban markets

Distance from the cityPreservation of food (MAJOR CONCEPT)Amount of space

Weaknesses and criticism

The model was developed in an isolated state and did not take into consideration differences in sites (local physical conditions). It can be modified by relaxing some of the conditions set forth by Thunen:differential transportation costs. Example: boats are the cheapest mode of transportation.variations in topographysoil fertilitychanges in demand or price of the commodity