ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the effect that changing transportation cost has upon the spatial structure of the ideal city. It evaluates what is the effect upon urban spatial structure following a change in the transportation cost component k of the households' budget constraint. A change in income can result in land having an increase, no change, or decrease in price, and the manner in which households respond to the change in price depends upon the households' relative spatial location. In the United States, the post Second World War era was also noted for nominally inexpensive gasoline prices and the introduction of the interstate highway system. The interstate highways that transected cities, followed by the construction of outer belts, allowed quick commuting from the central city to distant suburbia. A commuter who could drive 50 miles an hour, and was willing to allocate one half-hour each way to work, could live 25 miles from work.
