INDUSTRIAL LOCATION THEORY

This chapter discusses the industrial location theory. The tendency for industries to come together and for certain industries to have typical locations is the combined result of thousands of individual decisions, and represents a common response to certain attractions. The decisions are taken within the framework of a set of conditions which limits the range of activity of manufacturers in some directions, and encourages it in others. The conditions constitute the physical, economic, social, and political environments as a set of variables affecting the location of industry. The importance of these factors affecting the location of industry varies from industry to industry, from area to area, and from time to time. The basic problem to be solved is whether or not these variables can be ordered into some sort of theoretical framework that will help to explain present distributions, and also help in the choice of sites for industrial growth that will develop successfully in the future.