62 Economic dimensions and socio-cultural patterns
Rural and urban interactions emphasize the importance of spatial pattern
in an economic model (Hall2002). Just as in development economics, they are
another key to understanding urban region economics (Ray1998). Two direc-
tional resource flows characterize the rural and urban relationship (though, as
noted in Chapter1,thetermruraldoes not fit well in most urban regions). The
traditional transfers are of rural agricultural products to the city, and of urban
industrial and service products back to the rural area.
In today’s urban region, resource transfers and people movements may be
massive and spatially quite complex. Commuters jam highways and rail lines
entering and leaving some cities, especially in industrialized nations. Air and
waterpollutants, diverse species, and much more move between rural and urban.
Furthermore lateral movement and transfer is increasingly prevalent, especially
around cities with external ring roads commonly present across Europe (Chapter
7). Therefore, in addition to agricultural economics, major transfers in the urban
region emphasize transportation economics, solid-waste and sewage-treatment
economics, public-health economics, and more.
These movements and transfers bringland economicsinto focus (Cheshire1988,
Fainstein and Campbell 1996, Ray1998). Some people own land and some rent.
Land value helps determine ownership, as well as ongoing housing cost for
both owners and renters. But land prices or value also affect the size of area
owned, an indicator of the amount of agricultural and other products from the
land, at least for production that is proportional to land area. Analogously, land
prices help determine whether outward urbanization is compact development
or sprawl on large house lots.
In general, land value decreases with distance from city. However, the highly
patchy pattern of diverse communities and greenspaces in the urban region cre-
ates a complex land-value patchwork, which is superimposed on the distance-
from-city gradient. In a rapidly growing region, land values rise markedly in
anticipation of growth. Also, corruption may act to artificially inflate land
prices. Usually the patchwork is highly dynamic with rapid land-price changes
in patches around the region appearing in a seemingly uncoordinated manner.
Zoning by government and the public puts some limits to uncontrolled devel-
opment, but often becomes eroded in effectiveness over time.
Municipalities in an urban region sometimes invest in transportation infras-
tructure to meet existing demand for resource or people transport (Gomez-
Ibanez1999,Formanet al.2003). Alternatively, transportation investment is
designed to stimulate development opportunities, which, without serious plan-
ning and protection, often have major environmental degradation and economic
effects. Municipalities or private interests also invest in industrial and commer-
cial development, which normally provides a significant boost in income to the