Different places on the earth’s surface are suited to different economic activities causing goods and services to be exchanged between them. Exchange is, of course, the essence of the economic process. You have already seen that accessibility is very important. Locations for economic activities are chosen with a conscious attempt to maximize accessibility and utility. Utility is the value or usefulness of goods and services. Gas stations are certainly a tertiary activity that dominates the urban landscape.
Different areas on the earth differ in productivity, accessibility, and the goods and services produced differ in demand. Most economic activities are not spread evenly over the earth’s surface, but this is not to say that they are random. Regularity does occur and by studying these regularities in terms of economic geography we are able to explain, in part, the spatial distribution of economics. Also, remember, utility is the core concept through which economic behavior can be understood.
The value of a commodity’s usefulness is what the farmer attempts to maximize by choosing a particular location or crop. When we try to understand the function of tertiary activities, we must consider what the industrialist seeks to maximize when choosing the location of a factory; what the store owner seeks when choosing a commercial building. When we look at gas stations here, utility represents an attempt to achieve maximum profit from the sale of gasoline and auto services. The concept of supply and demand is very important to this type of economic process. Supply is the amount of goods and services people are willing to supply for different levels of utility (money). Demand is the amount of these goods and services that individuals are willing to purchase. Both suppliers and consumers are going to maximize utility and accessibility is the key.
The subdivision of economic geography that we are centering on when analyzing the distribution of gas stations is called marketing geography, seeking to explain the location of retail and wholesale establishments. This is explained in terms of human behavior with special emphasis on economic behavior. This exercise presents a location problem for marketing geography. You are again hired, this time as a marketing geography specialist, to determine where a new gas station should be located and the entrepreneur is depending on you to determine where this venture will be most viable.
Figure 5.03-1 illustrates the present location of gas stations, restaurants, and manufacturing plants. The numbers designate intersections and daily traffic flow.
Obviously, the gas station placement is not random or we would not be concerned with it. So, we want to develop an hypothesis to explain their distribution and speculate on where another gas station may be successful.
One hypothesis you may first think of is that gas stations seem to cluster together. This would seem a valid starting point since many intersections have more than one gas station. (Keep in mind that this is only a suggestion. You are the marketing geographer who will ultimately determine where the new station will go and it is your prerogative to locate it anywhere on the map as long as you can justify placement with logical economic reasons.)
You will again be working with variables and here the dependent variable is the gas station. You will try to determine the independent variable that contributes to the successfulness of the gas station location. Tradition dictates that the independent variable be referred to as the X variable and the dependent variable as the Y variable. You will first test hypotheses to see if one or more could be valid and, therefore, reasons to base your decision. The hypotheses you will be working with on the following scatter diagrams follow:
1) The distribution of gas stations (dependent variable) varies directly with the distribution of traffic flow (independent variable).
2) The distribution of gas stations varies directly with the distribution of restaurants.
3) The distribution of gas stations varies directly with manufacturing.
Using Figures 5.03-2, 5.03-3, and 5.03-4, answer the following questions
1. From the scatter diagram and the data presented, does our hypothesis seem valid? why or why not? (elaborate and be specific)
2. From the scatter diagrams and the data presented, does our hypothesis seem valid? Why or why not? (Elaborate and be specific)
3. From the scatter diagram and the data processed, does our hypothesis seem valid? Why or why not? (Elaborate and be specific)
4. Now that you have studied the map and have come to some conclusions based on the hypotheses presented, it is time for you to make your recommendation. Choose only one specific site (notice I said site not intersection because you may recommend any place on the map, but be specific. Don’t just say intersection 8; be sure to say north-side, south-side, etc. Be VERY specific!) Do not choose more than one possibility since the station will be built based on your recommendation only. Because you are the expert, no one else will review the variables. Be sure to state all your reasons for choosing this site. This part of assignment should be 1-2 pages in length.
Checklist to ensure potential full credit on this and all research-based labs:
Did you include a cover page?
Did you meet the minimum length requirements?
Did you cite your research in the paper correctly?
Is your bibliography correctly formatted?
Did you answer the questions correctly?
Is it obvious that you have read the required readings to date (including the introduction to this module, the textbook reading and the introduction above) before completing this lab?
Did you follow the instructions for saving your document?
