316-121 Regional and Urban Economic Development

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Objectives:

On completion of this subject students should be able to:

• identify broad groups of factors influencing economic decision making in a manufacturing context (for example, the role of transport costs);

• understand space-cost curves and space-revenue curves and other theoretical locational principles, such as agglomeration economies;

• identify the various components of processing costs and their influence on the location of economic activities;

• analyse the von Thunen model of agricultural location;

• understand central place theory as a basis for the partial explanation of the spatial organisation of a region;

• explain urban spatial structure in terms of the bid - rent model.

Content:

A brief introduction to regional and urban economics, consisting of: theories of the location of economic activity and spatial diffusion processes; urban economics; central place theory, urban hierarchies, urbanisation trends in Australia; the internal structure of the city and the impact of technological change on urban development; regional economics; theories of regional economic growth and especially the relationship between growth and the composition of economic activity. Topics illustrated by Australian case studies.

Assessment:

Prescribed Texts:

• Lloyd P E and Dicken P, Location in Space: A Theoretical Approach to Economic Geography, 3rd ed. Harper.