Contemporary Modifications to the Land Rent Theory

In most contemporary cities, notably in North America, the land rent theory is still valid, but requires a set of modifications:

• The downtown area is not necessarily to most accessible location. The rapid extension of metropolitan areas involves new locations far from the CBD, notably in suburbia (E). This has favored the emergence of sub-centers (D) having a concentration of retailing, commercial, distribution and industrial activities, mainly aimed at servicing a growing population.
• Improvements in transportation and telecommunications have made several activities far more tolerant to distance, but still dependent on accessibility. The urban land use pattern thus tends to be far less coherent, more specialized and dispersed.
• A significant share of the land, notably nearby central areas, is captured and not available on the real estate markets. Governments, institutions, parks, industries and transport infrastructures occupy a large part of most central areas and this ownership can last for several decades (if not several centuries for historical landmarks). This caused an imbalance in the price fixing mechanism in central areas with less land available (thus higher prices) that has favored urban sprawl.

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