CHANGES IN ACTIVITY PATTERNS AND URBAN FORMS: AN ANALYTICAL APPROACH FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

This study develops an analytical understanding of the changing activity patterns and urban growth trends that have accompanied the improved standard of living in different regions.;The impact of a rising wage rate has been analyzed on a long term open city equilibrium model. The analysis leads to the conclusion that rents and housing density vary in the short term and long term equilibrium. The travel time savings resulting from transport improvements disappear in a relatively short time due to the nonlinear increase in demand for reducing travel time. Therefore growth of a second employment/business center is inevitable.;The effect of an improved standard of living has been analysed on the broad categories of activities and the demand for residential space. The thesis underlying the standard utility maximizing methodology is that ' time is the ultimate scarce resource ' whose allocation among different activities must be optimized. The implication of the relationship thus arrived at is that low income people facing high cost of travel per unit of time compared to the consumption cost per unit of time tend to increase their travel time and high income people facing high cost of consumption or leisure activities as compared to travel cost tend to reduce their travel time.