Testing the Von Thunen Theory in Uruguay

Abstract

rT HE first and basic model from which the majority of land-use theories have been derived was presented by Johann Heinrich Von Thiinen in Der Isolierte Staat in Beziehung auf Landwirtschaft und Nationalokonomie (Hamburg, 1826).1 Von Thiinen's primary objective was to determine the relationship between the intensities and types of agricultural production and the available markets. The physical and cultural complexities of the problem, however, led him to disregard the variations in a large number of environmental and social conditions. Instead, he made seven basic assumptions, which formed the core of the theory. The ideal site consisted of completely rational (optimizing) economic behavior, an isolated state, a single central city, settlement in villages away from the central city and a racially homogeneous population, uniform topography, uniform climate and soil fertility, and a relatively uniform and primitive transportation system.2