Von Thunen Model in Different Areas
The Difference Between Germany and the United States The Von Thünen Model was originally made and applied to Northern Germany. If this model were to be applied to the United States with New York City as the agricultural market, the rings would look rather odd in shape. This is because the United States is not as circular as Germany, New York City is toward the edge of the agricultural area rather than the center, and the Von Thünen Model does not take into account the variations in terrain as one moves from Northern Germany to an area such as the United States. Germany is a country that is a shape that can be easily extended in rings from a center point. The United States, however, is a longer shape, and it has many areas that extend outward or inward, and even territories that are not connected to the Continental United States. With these complications in the location of the agriculture throughout the United States, it is easy to see why the Von Thünen Model cannot apply to the United States without the rings and levels of the model looking irregular in size, but mainly in the shape. New York City is on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, on the east side of the United States. When all agricultural activities must revolve around a point, and that point is on the perimeter of those activities, they are forced to rearrange the way they are organized and the distance they are from the agricultural market. With a bigger country and the agricultural market being at one end, the distance between each different type of ring or agriculture and the central, or side, agricultural market increases. The United States is much larger than Northern Germany, which is the area the Von Thünen Model was based off of, and encompasses more land. In all of this land, there are many different types of terrain, and many more hills and mountains than there are in Northern Germany. There are many problems involved with the terrain and with the positioning of certain types of
Cited: Talbot, Rebecca Tirrell. "How to live simply and peacefully in the city." Patrol Magazine. http://www.patrolmag.com/city/1453/the-new-simple-life (accessed March 17, 2009).