GEOGRAPHY, VON THÜNEN, AND TOBLER’S FIRST LAW: TRACING THE EVOLUTION OF A CONCEPT

Abstract

This article reviews Geography’s long intellectual engagement with the theory of von Thünen. It starts with the quantitative revolution, considering the original model in simple form and describing its extensions. Next comes an account of the critique precipitated by the cultural turn, which emphasized the model’s restrictive assumptions, formal abstractions, and inability to explain contemporary land uses. Although von Thünen disappeared from economic geography, his formulation of location rent remains fundamental to land system science and the Alonso model of urban form, both of which are then addressed. The article concludes by suggesting Tobler’s first law of geography be amended by reference to von Thünen’s concept of accessibility.

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