Much has been written in recent years about the role of landownership in British society and, particularly, in structuring the social relations of 'rural' areas. There has also been a growing interest in the way social processes are 'patterned' geographically and are themselves shaped by contingent spatial circumstances. This thesis has two basic aims First, to examine the changing role of landownership - specifically, the relationship between capital and land - in the processes of economic restructuring in three economic sectors: agriculture, housebuilding and manufacturing. Second, to evaluate marxist rent theory as an explanatory tool for understanding the capital-land relationship, and draw some conclusions on the extent to which this theory can be operationalised. Finally, we will consider whether the capital-land relation imparts a unique stamp on the social processes effective in one specific location, a stamp which gives it a distinctiveness as a 'locality'. Landownership is therefore used as a way of examining the links between spatial relations and social processes, of probing the relationship between 'general' changes at the level of the British nation state and changes in one concrete location. The thesis takes as its case study a parish in West Suffolk and considers the way the capital-land relation has changed since the mid-nineteenth century, continually drawing on an analysis of the changes in Britain as a whole. Conclusions are drawn on the utility of rent theory, on the nature of 'locality' and on the role of landownership in structuring the social relations of contemporary 'rural' areas.

From May 28, 1996, it was the beginning of a new era of internal transportation that Muzha line of Taipei Transit works. It must affect the original urban spatial structure when the new infrastructure was brought to the city. This paper bases on bid rent theory of Alonso, and research whether the spatial structure near the 47 Taipei transit stations were affected by Taipei Transit¡¦s working or not. On the other hand, there will discuss the cluster of the firms of competition with location quotient. This paper analysis the land price within 250 meters near the transit stations from 1984 to 2004, and there are 230,070 data. The part of the cluster research of firms, this paper focuses on the registered firms around the transit stations on April 2004. The research finds as following: 1. The average land price curve next to the transit station is a bid price curve. 2. The different types of transit station have different land price curve and characters. 3. The situation of firm cluster near different types of transit station is different.

Denna studie undersöker bakomliggande faktorer till lokaliseringsbeslut när kontorssektorn väljer att etablera sig utanför stadens centrum. Vi analyserar hur företagen resonerar och vilka faktorer som påverkar deras beslut. Tidigare forskning och teori talar för att ett centralt läge är det mest optimala för kontorssektorn, då det genererar agglomerationsfördelar. Därför är kontorssektorns betalningsvilja för mark också högst i centrala lägen. På ett icke-centralt läge som Hyllie, skulle företag som är beroende av billiga transporter som tillverkningsindustrin valt att lokalisera sig. Detta då de föredrar närheten till motorvägar över de centrala platserna. Studien är avgränsad till området Hyllie, vilken är lokaliserad i utkanten av Malmö och nära infrastrukturen. Hyllie var också en ödelagd åkermark när de första kontorsföretagens gjorde beslutet om att etablera sig där. Det fanns dock visioner och en framarbetad detaljplan som kommunen skapat tillsammans med marknadens aktörer, där Percy Nilssons engagemang troligen hade en stor inverkan. Därför har kommunen och Percy ingått som respondenter i studien för att även fördjupa författarnas inblick i områdets utveckling. Studien bygger på en kvalitativ ansats där empirisk data har insamlats genom både ostrukturerade- och semistrukturerade intervjuer med ett urval av anställda inom banksektorn. De banker som ingår i studiens urval är Nordea, Sparbanken Syd och Swedbank. Det valda teoretiska materialet har byggt grunden för intervjufrågor och även för analysen. Resultaten av studien visar på att de främsta faktorerna bakom lokaliseringsbeslutet i Hyllie var att platsen ansågs vara strategisk, erbjöd en bra kollektivtrafik samt gav tillgång till de människorna som skulle röra sig i området på grund av bland annat Emporia och arenan. / This study explores the underlying factors that affect location decisions when the office sector chooses to establish outside the city center. We analyze how companies are reasoning and the factors that influence their decisions. Previous research and theory suggest businesses in the office sector prefer central location, as they generate agglomeration advantages. Therefore, the office sector’s willingness to pay for land is highest at central locations. At a non-central location like Hyllie, should companies which rely on cheap transports of goods such as the manufacturing industry choose to locate. This because of that they prefer nearness to motorways over central locations. The essay focuses on the area Hyllie, which is located outside of Malmoe and close to the infrastructure. Hyllie was also a loamy field when the first office companies made the decision to establish there. However, there were visions and a zoning plan that were prepared by the municipality along with the market actors, where Percy Nilsson's involvement probably also had a great impact. Therefore, the municipality and Percy have been included as respondents in this study to deepen the authors' insight into the development of the area. The essay is based on a qualitative approach where the empirical data has been collected through both unstructured- and semi-structured interviews with a selection of employees in the banking sector. The banks that are included in the study's selection are Nordea, Sparbanken Syd and Swedbank. The selected theoretical material has been the basis for the interview-questions and also for the analysis. The result of the study shows that the main factors behind the location decision in Hyllie are that the place is perceived as a strategic location, offers a good public transport service and provides access to people who are in the area because of Emporia and the arena for instance.

Studien undersöker de faktorer som ligger bakom spelutvecklingsföretagens val vid etablering i de centrala delarna av Malmö. Analys har gjorts på hur spelutvecklingsföretagen resonerar kring deras beslut samt vilka faktorer de grundar sin lokalisering på. Enligt tidigare studier är det vanligt att kontorssektorn lokaliserar sig centralt då företaget kan dra nytta av de agglomerationsfördelar som generellt skapas genom kluster. Vid en nyttomaximerad verksamhet blir betalningsviljan högre på dessa platser. Andra studier har däremot visat att spelutvecklingsföretag har möjligheten att placera sig utanför städerna eftersom de inte har samma karaktärsdrag som den karakteristiska kontorssektorn. Den här studien är avgränsad inom spelutvecklingsindustrin i Malmö, vilket inte inkluderar online gambling. Malmö är en välkänd spelhubb världen över och det sker många internationella rekryteringar. Staden erbjuder bra kommunikationer både regionalt men också internationellt då Köpenhamns flygplats bara ligger 20 minuter från Malmös centralstation. Det empiriska materialet är insamlat via semistrukturerade intervjuer gjorda med representanter från både Massive Entertainment och Avalanche Studios. Studien bygger på en kvalitativ ansats men också textanalys då vi granskat spelutvecklingsföretagens internethemsidor. Grunden för studien har byggts upp med hjälp av teoretiskt material. Resultatet av studien visar att spelföretag beaktar medarbetarnas närhet till arbetsplatsen som en av de viktigaste faktorerna vid placering av deras kontor. Det är viktigt att kontorsplaceringen förenklar gång- och cykelavstånd till och från de stora kommunikationspunkterna. En annan orsak till att både Massive och Avalanche etablerade sig i Malmö var att man ville vara en del i stadens gemenskap. De flesta spelutvecklingsföretagen i Malmö är beroende av varandra därför att de delar samma typ av arbetskraft, kompetens och genom närhet till varandra underlättas stora sammankomster och samarbeten. / The study examines the underlying factors behind game development companies choices when establishing in the central parts of Malmö. The analysis has been based on how game development companies reason about their decision as well as which factors they found their localisation on. According to previous studies it is common that the office sector often choose to localise centrally because the company can benefit from the agglomeration economies that are generally created through clusters. By having a utility maximized business the willingness-to-pay increases in these places. However previous studies have shown that game development companies have the opportunity to locate outside of the cities since they do not have the same characteristics as the common office sector.This study is limited to the game development industry in Malmo, which do not include online gambling. Malmo is a well-known gaming hub worldwide and there is frequent international recruitment. The city offers good communications both regionally and internationally, since Copenhagen Airport is only 20 minutes away from Malmo centralstation.The empirical material is gathered through semi-structured interviews made with representatives from both Massive Entertainment and Avalanche Studios. The study is founded on a qualitative approach but also text analysis by examining game development companies websites. The foundation of the study has been based on theoretical material. The results of the study show that the game development companies take their employees commute into consideration as one of the most important factors for the placement of their office. It is of importance that the office placement simplifies with easy access to and from the workplace by foot and cycling as well as the main commuting routes. Another reason why both Massive and Avalanche established themselves in Malmo was because they wanted to be part of the city's community. Most game development companies in Malmo are dependent on each other because they are sharing the same type of workforce and competence, and through proximity to each other, large gatherings and collaborations are facilitated.

The preservation of agricultural land, especially that which lies close to cities (in the so-called urban fringe), is a concern in many jurisdictions around the world. Agricultural land values change dramatically as farmland is located nearer to urban areas and development pressure has increased on these lands as urban populations have expanded. In British Columbia, Canada, a provincial-wide zoning system forbids the development or non-agricultural use of land without special permission. This system is explicitly designed to protect the capability of the land to produce food in the future, but it also implicitly protects the positive spillovers from agricultural land such as environmental services and open space. Three empirical papers comprise the original research in this dissertation. They seek to answer related questions about agricultural land values in the urban fringe. First, a statistical investigation is conducted into the factors that are associated with successful applications for exclusion from the agricultural zoning system. This study finds that a measure of distance (metres from the main highway) is highly significantly correlated with a parcel’s chances of being excluded. Next, a paper examines the trend of hobby farmers springing up in the urban fringe. Two different models seek to illuminate common trends in the types of parcels that hobby farmers choose, and the price that hobby farmers pay for the land, respectively. This study finds that hobby farmers seem to be very selective about the parcels they choose, likely trying to take advantage of favourable taxation rates for agricultural producers in place in the province. Lastly, a study seeks to understand how residential parcels’ values are influenced by the nearness to and view of agricultural land. Agricultural land in the study does not appear to exhibit an open space premium, though this could be influenced by uncertainty about the future use of the land. All the empirical work in this dissertation utilizes geographic information systems (GIS) technology that allows the calculation of distances to features of interest. Hedonic pricing models and binary choice models are the main statistical tools used.

The preservation of agricultural land, especially that which lies close to cities (in the so-called urban fringe), is a concern in many jurisdictions around the world. Agricultural land values change dramatically as farmland is located nearer to urban areas and development pressure has increased on these lands as urban populations have expanded. In British Columbia, Canada, a provincial-wide zoning system forbids the development or non-agricultural use of land without special permission. This system is explicitly designed to protect the capability of the land to produce food in the future, but it also implicitly protects the positive spillovers from agricultural land such as environmental services and open space. Three empirical papers comprise the original research in this dissertation. They seek to answer related questions about agricultural land values in the urban fringe. First, a statistical investigation is conducted into the factors that are associated with successful applications for exclusion from the agricultural zoning system. This study finds that a measure of distance (metres from the main highway) is highly significantly correlated with a parcel’s chances of being excluded. Next, a paper examines the trend of hobby farmers springing up in the urban fringe. Two different models seek to illuminate common trends in the types of parcels that hobby farmers choose, and the price that hobby farmers pay for the land, respectively. This study finds that hobby farmers seem to be very selective about the parcels they choose, likely trying to take advantage of favourable taxation rates for agricultural producers in place in the province. Lastly, a study seeks to understand how residential parcels’ values are influenced by the nearness to and view of agricultural land. Agricultural land in the study does not appear to exhibit an open space premium, though this could be influenced by uncertainty about the future use of the land. All the empirical work in this dissertation utilizes geographic information systems (GIS) technology that allows the calculation of distances to features of interest. Hedonic pricing models and binary choice models are the main statistical tools used.