The von Thunen model of agricultural land use

In 1826, the German landowner Johann Heinrich von Thunen described how farmland would be used around a single market city. In his model, farmers choose what to produce based on the cost of transporting goods to market and how quickly they spoil, so land use forms rings around the city. The innermost ring holds intensive farming and dairy, perishable goods that must reach the market quickly; the next ring, in his day, was forest for firewood and timber, which was heavy and costly to move; next came grains and field crops, which keep well and cost less to ship; and the outer ring was ranching and livestock, since animals could walk to market. Beyond that lay wilderness. The model assumes flat, uniform land, one market, no rivers or roads, and farmers who seek the most profit, so real landscapes differ, and refrigeration and modern transportation have changed the pattern. Still, the idea that land use intensity and land value fall with distance from a market helps explain real agricultural patterns around cities today.

This explanation is AI-generated and can occasionally be wrong. 🚩 Report