1972 volume 4(2) pages 163 – 181
doi:10.1068/a040163

Cite as:
Amson J C, 1972, "The dependence of population distribution on location costs" Environment and Planning 4(2) 163 – 181
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The dependence of population distribution on location costs

J C Amson

Received 25 October 1971

Abstract. Part of a household's constrained budget is assumed to be comprised of a general cost of location. By using a simple generalisation of Muth's economic theory of the spatial pattern of urban housing, the population density distribution in a plane city is shown to be dependent on the distribution of this generalised cost of location. If housing demand is elastic, then this dependence is shown to be exponential, a conclusion which agrees with a familiar result obtained by maximising the entropy of a population system subject to a cost constraint. If the housing demand is less or more elastic, then the dependence is binomial. Implications of the theory are discussed and illustrations given.

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