摘要：The customary starting point for studying land rent theory is the featureless plain extending in ail directions, devoid of both man-made structures and such natural barriers as rivers and mountains. Populated by people of identical tastes and productive capabilities, land use patterns quickly emerge from considering transportation costs, income distribution, and other elements. The major theorems of land rent theory are typically derived by appeal to sorne notion of spatial equilibrium and the interaction of production and consumption activities. Furthermore, in ail but the most simple examinations, the task proceeds through combining calculus-based mathematics and intermediate microeconomics theory. This situation is far from satisfactory because, for whatever reason, the belief is held that city and regional planning practitioners would prefer to eschew mathematical modeling and economic theory. Similarly, land rent theorists are thought needlessly abstract by treating land use patterns simply as increasingly complex extensions of the classic problem of locating ice cream vendors along an even beach in order to maximize sales.
