COMMODITY PRODUCTION AND THE DYNAMICS OF LAND-USE DIFFERENTIATION

The Sraffa model of production, prices and distribution, and the von Thunen model of land use can be combined into a single model of commodity production and land use. Incorporating Sraffa's concept of the switching of technologies of production means that where there are different methods of production possible for a single crop, or association of crops, production density may diminish in a step function to the outer margin of the land use zone. In reality, in the city or the rural areas, the land use system is typified by a pattern of ongoing the uncompleted land use conversions as various technical innovations diffuse throughout the system. -John Tarrant