THEORETICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FACILITY DENSITY AND POPULATION DENSITY DETERMINED BY MINIMIZING TRAVEL COST OF USERS

Abstract

This paper derives a precise form of the relationship between facility density and population density from the general assumption that facilities locations are determined in such a way as to minimize the travel distance of users. Models generally lead to an exponential function with an exponent, and especially, the 'minisum' standard derives that facility density is proportional to population density raised to the two-thirds power. After the application of this theoretical relationship to empirical relations, it is found that some public facilities confirm the result. The exponent of public facilities tends to be smaller than that of retail stores.