Schedule: M W F; __-__ _M; Room ____________

Text:

Barlowe, R. E. 1986.
Land resource economics: the economics of real estate. 4th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

This is the third of a three-course sequence in economic geogrpahy. It is intended to pick up where its prerequisite, Geog. 361. Areal Organization of Economic Activity leaves off. Specifically, the primary focus is on the third of the three fundamental questions raised in the preceding course, "How intensively should production activities be undertaken at particular sites?" Of course, the other two mentioned in a single-paragraph description of that course (similar to this statement) are handled too, but here the prinicple concern is the geography of production intensity. Like its predecessors, this course deals with resources, especially those that are easily associated with land, its characterists, tracts and their locations.

The purpose of the course is to look at the economic landscape through the eyes of producers, rather than simply as a melange of artifacts from a complex social construct that has been operating over a long period of time. Considerable time is committed to developing notions of economies of increasing scale, of production functions and of alternative production objectives. Optimizing decisions are then considered in light of how they play out on hypothetical landscapes, and patterns are compared with what can be seen in the real world--including rationalizing the continuing trends toward suburbanization of manufacturing on the one hand, and of international shifts away from developed nations toward the third world on the other. Finally, impacts of institutional concerns and actions with regard to land and its uses are developed, including real estate markets, means of land-use control, public policies and actions, and impacts of regulation and taxation environments on entrepreneurs' decisions.

The first of the three-course economic geography sequence is Introduction to Economic Geography;

C. E. Tiedemann; Fall 1996

The Geography of Production Intensity
Source: C. E. Tiedemann; graphic by R. Brod, UIC Cartographic Laboratory

Course Outline:

PART ONE: LAND AND LAND RESOURCES

I. Land as a Resource, Ch. 1

II. Physical Supplies of Land, Ch. 2

III. Population Pressures, Ch. 3

IV. Demand for Land and Land Resources, Ch. 4

V. Land Resource Ownership and Availability, Ch. 12

First exam (ca. beginning of sixth week)

A file of previously used questions will be made available about two weeks before the exam

PART TWO: A GEOGRAPHY OF PRODUCTION INTENSITY

VI. Input/Output Relationships Affecting Land Use Ch. 5

VII. Economic Returns to Land Use, Ch. 6

VIII. Land-Resource Decisions, Ch. 7

IX. Land-Resource Conservation, Ch. 8

X. Location Factors Affecting Land-Use Decisions, Ch. 9

Second exam (ca. beginning of eleventh week)

A file of previously used questions will be made available about two weeks before the exam

PART THREE: INSTITUTIONAL INFLUENCES ON LAND USE

XI. Land and Land-Resource Valuation, Ch. 10

XII. Land as an Economic Tool, Ch. 14, 15

XIII. Land-Use Planning and Control, Ch. 17 and 18

XIV. Taxation/Spending Effects on Land-Use Decisions, Ch. 16

XV. Indirect Effects of Governmental Regulations on Land-Use, Lecture

PART FOUR: WHERE TO GO FROM HERE

XVI. Some Current Research Questions, Lecture

Third exam (at the scheduled final exam time)

A file of previously used questions will be made available about two weeks before the exam

The three hour exams are made up of questions requiring short, essay responses. Typically there will be more questions than you are required to answer, thus allowing you to select those with which you are least uncomfortable. For many questions, brief answers can be bolstered considerably by including a diagram--in which all key elements are correctly identified, of course. The exams are not cumulative.

Graduate students are required to submit a short discussion paper in addition to taking all exams. Undergraduates may submit a paper for extra credit. A general topic will be assigned at or about the time of the first exam, and consultation vis-a-vis specifics of or variations on the assigned topic or even alternative ones is required. In-class presentations of papers is expected. The written paper is to be submitted one week prior to the last day of regular class meetings.

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