Professional Documents
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Extended Essay
May 2017
Geography
This investigation involved examining how land values change with distance
from the central business district - A study on a 9 km transect line of a section of the
was taken and 7 different areas were marked on the line that were 1.5 kilometres
apart. The transect line was located in Gurgaon (Gurugram), a satellite town that
neighbours the capital city, New Delhi. In each location of the transect line, a
questionnaire was used to find out information about the cost and size of 5
residential properties and 5 commercial properties. The aim of the investigation was
to examine the effect of distance from central Delhi on the value of land. Moreover,
another objective was to determine whether William Alonso’s Bid Rent Function
value decreased with distance from central Delhi and the value of commercial
property was more expensive than residential property nearer to central Delhi. Thus,
Alonso’s theory worked in this situation. However, Alonso’s theory made too many
assumptions, which in actuality was not the case. Furthermore, Alonso’s theory
could not explain certain situations, like why some big companies choose to locate
their outlets further away from city centres. Therefore, I concluded that the theory is
outdated and cannot perfectly fit a real life situation. When looking at the validity of
components include the unreliability of the questionnaire and the lack of scope of the
transect line.
2
Table of Contents:
Page 1 Abstract
Page 12 - 19 Analysis
Page 22 - 23 Bibliography
Page 24 - 27 Appendices
3
The Delhi-Gurgaon expressway connects New Delhi, the capital city of India,
to Gurgaon, a neighbouring satellite town. The expressway is 27.7 km long and was
fully completed in 2008. This road was used as a toll road, and travellers commuting
between Delhi and Gurgaon were taxed an amount of 20 Rupees when the project
was under the control of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and DSC
Limited. However, the toll gate on this expressway was dismantled in 2014 after the
project was taken over by IDFC Limited. Experiencing over 200,000 commuters
daily, this road is a 6 to 8-lane expressway that is a part of NH-48, which connects
Source: Self-Made
4
Gurgaon is located 30 kilometres south of the national capital, New Delhi, and
Delhi's four major satellite towns and is a part of the National Capital Region with
The area has been experiencing rapid development and construction ever
since it was a farming village 25 years ago. With a population of over 2 million,
Gurgaon is a commercial and financial hub for the state of Haryana as the area
houses a multitude of apartment towers, luxury shopping malls, golf courses and
(Yardley).
Table 1: Table Showing Per Capita Income for Delhi NCR & India
Income of Delhi
NCR (₹)
Income of India
(₹)
The table above shows how GDP per capita has been steadily increasing in
both Delhi NCR as well as India. However, per capita income of Delhi NCR is higher
and has been increasing at a more rapid rate than that of India. Delhi NCR has the
3rd highest per capita income in India, after Chandigarh and Mumbai. Thus, these
economy.
The increase of economic activity in Gurgaon has also enabled the growth of
the real estate sector in this area. Heavy investment from companies, such as DLF,
Gurgaon has increased the demand for housing, resulting in an upwards trend of
The aim of this study is to investigate how the price of real estate on a 9 km
the central business district of Delhi, which is Connaught Place (Press Trust of
India). I also intend to investigate if there is a difference in the value of real estate
Moreover, I aim to identify and explain whether or not Alonso’s Bid Rent Theory
applies to this situation. For these aims, my research question is to examine how
land values change with distance from the central business district - A study
Expressway everyday to reach my school in Delhi, this topic personally carries a lot
of relevance as well as interest for me. Additionally, I believe that the topic of land
such as Gurgaon and New Delhi, the price of land is always changing, which affects
Alonso’s theory is one that was built on Von Thünen’s agricultural model of
land use, which involved a single market surrounded by farmland. The assumptions
of this model are that farmers surrounding the market will produce crops with the
highest value (highest rent), which will result in them receiving the highest net profit,
and that transportation costs are lower when rent is high. Both theories use the
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concept of concentric circles. This shows that there are multiple theories that exist
William Alonso was an American economist and his work and research is
credited to have created the study of urban economics. Alonso published a book
based on his dissertation, named Location and Land Use, in 1964, which contains
his take on the Bid Rent Function Theory. This theory states that the value and
demand of land will decrease as you move further away from the city centre.
Moreover, the price and demand for residential, industrial and commercial land will
decrease with distance from the central business district (CBD) at different rates
(Watkins).
Source: Self-Made
8
sales, retail outlets will prefer to be located nearer the CBD of a city. Therefore, they
are willing to pay the most for areas closer to the city centre. Industries also desire a
central location in order to reduce the cost of transportation of their finished good into
markets, however they also require large spaces of land to set up factories, which
can be found further away from the city centre. All households will attempt to occupy
Wealthier households that do not require accessibility to the centre may purchase
larger houses on the fringe of a city, whereas poorer households may locate nearer
1. The further away the area on the transect line is from central Delhi, the price
2. Land that is used for commercial purposes will generally be more expensive
than residential areas nearer to the city centre on the transect line.
expressway passes through 7 areas at 1.5 kilometre intervals, which have been
identified on the map below. Out of the 7 areas on the transect line, Ambience Island
is the closest to Connaught Place, whereas Institutional Area is the furthest. I used a
questionnaire to find out information regarding the size and cost of land about 5
houses/flats and 5 shops in each area. When picking the house or shop, I chose
random samples. I ensured that all the houses/flats and shops were between 2000
and 5000 square feet. The benefits of using a questionnaire are that it offers a quick
and simple way to gain relevant qualitative and quantitative data. Moreover, it is
cost-effective and practical. The strengths of using a transect line are its simplicity,
inexpensive nature and its ability to cover a great distance of land in a linear fashion.
Additionally, a transect line allows one to easily visualise the changes that are
Map 2: Transect Line From Institutional Area to Ambience Island along the
Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway
Source: Self-Made
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Source: Self-Made
with maximising their own level of satisfaction, resulting in them only consuming the
goods and services which they desire. An individual will utilise his/her income in the
gain access to services in the city centre as well as cut the costs, difficulty and time
of commuting to work. The high demand for these areas will result in more expensive
land prices. This explains why the average rent prices for houses and flats in areas
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such as Ambience Island and DLF Cyber City are much higher than outlying areas,
On the other hand, residing closer to the city centre may cut commuting costs
but may increase the costs of rent, thus reducing the leftover income available to
spend on goods and services. In addition, conditions may be more crowded in areas
nearer the city centre. Therefore, individuals may choose to reside further away from
the city in order to increase their living space and reduce the amount of income they
pay for rent, which will enable them to increase their expenditure on goods and
services.
balance between the opposing forces. They desire a location that is accessible to the
city centre but do not want to pay the high rent that housing in central areas entail
Wealthier individuals may choose to reside closer to the city as they can
afford to do so. This may explain why there is the development of luxury and
expensive housing nearer to the city centre, like the Caitriona complex in Ambience
these areas offer quick and easy access to Delhi via the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway.
Since a rational individual would also prefer to live in ample living space rather
than crowded conditions (1964 Alonso 26), they may also purchase a greater
quantity of cheaper land further away from the city centre rather than lesser land
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nearer to the CBD. This explains why richer individuals reside in these outlying
areas, where they can purchase a greater amount of land at a cheaper price, instead
of within the city. The process of counterurbanisation may be occurring, which may
explain why an individual living in a house in Institutional area pays ₹55,000 of rent
per month, which is a higher amount than some areas in LIG Colony, despite the fact
that it is further away from the CBD (see appendix). Moreover, I observed that the
housing in LIG Colony was generally more spacious than in Ambience Island or DLF
Cyber City.
The Bid Rent Theory states that land prices fall with distance from the
CBD, where all employment is available. According to the data I collected, the
average price of housing generally declined with distance from central Delhi. For
example, the average rent in DLF Cyber City was ₹248,000, whereas the average
rent for housing in Institutional Area, an area located further from the CBD, was
estate does decrease in value with distance from the city centre. However, rapid
growth and economic activity in Gurgaon has led to an increase in the availability of
jobs in this satellite town. Gurgaon, being a financial and commercial hub, offers
firms have chosen to locate in this area, along with its proximity to the national
capital. Therefore, the theory fails to take into account the fact that development
allows individuals to work outside the city centre or from their houses, due to
individuals to reside here, thus increasing the demand for real estate in this area.
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Companies, such as DLF, have invested heavily in the residential sector in this area
in order to meet increases in demand. Although these areas are further away from
the centre of Delhi, they are still experiencing a rise in value above areas that are
Poorer individuals in Delhi would rather reside in places nearer to the CBD
despite higher land prices instead of living in cheaper areas further away. This is not
because they have the purchasing power to afford expensive land, but rather
individual can spend on goods and services and to decrease the costs of
commuting, he/she would reside in a smaller and crowded area nearer the centre of
the city (1960 Alonso 156). Contrarily, the data from transect line shows that higher
rent is paid in areas closer to the city for luxury housing, like in Ambience Island,
indicating that higher income earners reside here. However, this may be due to the
fact that the transect line is located at a distance from the city centre. Economically
disadvantaged neighbourhoods exist within the city centre in real life, for example,
Alonso’s theory does not take into account other factors that can affect locational
The graph of figure 7 displays how the revenue and costs of a firm are
affected with distance from the city centre, which is represented by the letter t.
Revenue decreases as a firm locates itself further away from the centre of a city as
the products of the business becomes less accessible to consumers. Therefore, the
number of sales they make reduces. Rent will also decrease as a firm moves further
away from a city centre as land becomes cheaper. Contrarily, the operating costs
that a firm incurs will increase with distance from the CBD. This is because being
located further away will result in higher transportation costs due to an increased
centrally located.
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increasing revenue and cutting costs. (1964 Alonso 46). Being located nearer to
the city centre will enable the business to increase sales and cut some of its
operating costs, which makes businessmen more willing to pay higher rent. In this
Shops that are located closer to the city generally pay more rent than those
located further away. Shops in Ambience Island pay above ₹500,000 a month,
whereas shops in Institutional Area do not pay above ₹20,000. This supports my first
hypothesis as the value of real estate decreases with distance from the city centre.
generally more expensive than residential property in the same area. For example,
the average rent for housing in Sarhol is ₹142,000, whereas the average rent for
shops in Sarhol is ₹264,000 (see appendix). Additionally, the steeper gradient of the
curve showing average shop rent in Graph 1 also supports this hypothesis.
The type of shop also varies depending on the distance from the centre of
Delhi. For example, shops such as Samsung and Krispy Kreme are found at DLF
Cyber City, which is closer to the CBD. In Saini Khera Village, shops such as Food
Hut are present. This is because multinational companies, like Samsung, can afford
to locate their retail outlets in expensive locations, whereas local and small business
do not have the monetary means to do so. Moreover, Samsung has a larger sphere
of influence than local firms, like Shree Ram Power Tools. Thus, customers are more
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willing to travel a greater distance in order to purchase goods or services from this
company.
The Bid Rent Theory operates under the assumption that all business is
conducted at the centre of a city (1964 Alonso 18), which is the most accessible and
is where firms desire to be located. However, Alonso’s theory fails to take into
consideration the fact that business districts may exist outside of the centre of the
city. For example, a shopping centre exists in Sarhol that offers a range of goods
and services as well as employment. Moreover, Alonso’s theory neglects the fact
that local and small businesses may not desire to be located centrally as the majority
of their customer base resides on the outskirts of the city and would not be willing to
travel to the centre of the city to purchase goods from the firm. Furthermore, Big
Bazaar, being a large company, is more likely to locate its retail outlets further away
from the centre of the city. This is because these hypermarkets have a smaller
sphere of influence and thus should be located nearer to customers. This contradicts
Alonso’s theory as the firm does not prioritise a central location even though it can
afford to do so. In addition, other factors exist that may influence the demand of
businesses for specific locations. For example, firms may make locational decisions
based on the behaviour of their rivals rather than the distance from the city centre.
Additionally, the role of government intervention and taxation, which Alonso omits,
The distance decay model is another theory that has significance in this
investigation. It states that as the distance between two entities increases, the
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interaction between these them will decrease, thus showing a negative relationship.
distance from the CBD, land prices are falling, also presenting a negative
relationship (Codrington 531). On the other hand, the distance decay model also has
similar flaws to Alonso’s theory. For example, the distance decay model does not
consider the effect of business districts out of the city centre on the value of land.
between the rental values for houses and shops and the distance from the CBD of
Delhi. Moreover, the rental value for shops was higher than that for houses in areas
nearer the city on the transect line. The differences in the rate of decrease for the
gradients in Graph 1. The gradient of the line that represents the average rent for
shops is much steeper than the line that represents the average rent for houses.
parts of Alonso’s Bid Rent Theory. For example, Alonso’s theory assumes that all
employment, goods and services are only accessible at the city centre. The
presence of commercial hubs, like DLF Cyber City, in areas away from the centre of
Delhi contradict this. Moreover, the theory does not explain why some retail outlets
choose to locate further away from the CBD, even if they can afford to locate within
it. Therefore, I can conclude that Alonso’s theory can be considered outdated and
hypotheses, there are various components that may have caused inaccuracy in this
investigation.
One of the main issues regarding the method of the investigation was the use
of the questionnaire and its reliability and accuracy. Members of a household might
have been reluctant to release information regarding the amount of rent they pay per
month as this is a personal piece of information. Therefore, they may have given
untruthful answers by giving a higher or lower amount than the figure that they
actually pay. This issue may reduce the accuracy of the investigation and thus
impact the validity of the results. In order to help alleviate the effects of this problem,
I could have taken information from more houses and shops in each area than only
5. In addition, house/shop owners may have also given untruthful answers about the
size of the land as the house/shop may not have been between 2000 and 5000
square feet. In order to make my results more valid, I could have made quick
measurements in the house/shop in order to gain a more accurate idea about its
dimensions.
The questionnaire only consisted of 2 brief questions about how much rent
the person pays and whether the size of the house/shop is between 2000 and 5000
was collected and I could have added more relevant questions to it in order to gain a
better insight into the price of the accommodation. For example, possible questions
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that I could have added include whether the rental agreement is formal or not, how
many people live in the house, whether all members of the household contribute to
monthly payments and whether the individual pays for utilities or if they are payed for
by the landlord. Furthermore, I could have reduced the range I used with the size of
the house/shop.
Another issue involved with the experiment was the use of the transect line.
The transect line only covered 9 kilometres of land. In order to increase the reliability
of the investigation, I could have increased the length of the transect line in such a
way that it extends to areas in Delhi or used more transect lines in different areas.
Moreover, I could have decreased the length of the interval from 1.5 kilometre to 1
kilometre in order to increase the number of areas of study. One other issue was that
the area of study did not contain a significant amount of agricultural or industrial land
and therefore could not be included in the investigation, despite the fact that these
two land uses are an important part of Alonso’s theory. In order to solve this issue, I
could have chosen a different transect line that passes through land that is used for
theory and complex urban processes. Most importantly, it has developed my ability
a local area.
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Bibliography:
Alonso, William. A Theory of the Urban Land Market (Papers in Regional Science).
United States of America: Wiley-Blackwell, 1960. Print.
Alonso, William. Location and Land Use: Toward a General Theory of Land Rent.
United States of America: Harvard University Press, 1964. Print.
Codrington, Stephen. Planet Geography. Australia: Solid Star Press, 2013. Print.
Melancon, Nicole, “In the Background: Life in a Delhi Slum.” The Huffington Post.
The Huffington Post, 29 May 2013. Web. 15 July 2016.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/in-the-background-life-in-delhi-slum_b_3343823>
Press Trust of India, “Connaught Place World's 7th Costliest Office Destination.”
NDTV. NDTV, 15 June 2016. Web. 16 June 2016.
<http://www.ndtv.com/delhi-news/connaught-place-worlds-7th-costliest-office-destina
tion-1419336>
Sinha, Prabhakar, “Gurgaon registering the fastest growth in realty in the country.”
The Economic Times. The Economic Times, 15 August 2012. Web. 3 June 2016.
<http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-08-15/news/33216701_1_three-
new-commercial-sectors-residential-sectors-and-three-new-gurgaon>
Watkins, Thayer, “Alonso’s Bid Rent Function Theory.” San José State University.
Economics Department. Web. 5 July 2016.
<http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/alonso.htm>
Yardley, Jim, “The Gurgaon story: A mirror to India's growth.” NDTV. NDTV, 9 June
2011. Web. 3 June 2016.
<http://www.ndtv.com/gurgaon-news/the-gurgaon-story-a-mirror-to-indias-growth-45
8043>
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2 20,000
3 28,000
4 55,000
5 32,000
5 (LivMore) 12,500
2 37,000
3 62,000
4 55,000
5 110,000
4 (Subway) 25,000
2 95,000
3 90,000
4 115,000
5 85,000
2 125,000
3 130,000
4 100,000
5 70,000
4 (Machan) 120,000
5 (Roots) 100,000
25
2 150,000
3 170,000
4 165,000
5 145,000
2 (Bata) 250,000
3 (Speedo) 220,000
2 300,000
3 220,000
4 270,000
5 200,000
2 320,000
3 340,000
4 300,000
5 350,000
2 (Aldo) 650,000
3 (Claire’s) 500,000
4 (Mango) 700,000