The Development Process and the Consequent Demand for Land

Abstract

Since the basis of any development decision must be founded in the concepts of consumer demand or assessments of societal need, one of the fundamental considerations in analysing the development process is to consider the relationship between demand, need and recreation development. In simple terms demand is concerned with the willingness and ability to pay for a desired good or service. In this context, need is represented by a collective demand by the state, financed largely through tax revenues, for goods and services deemed essential for the wellbeing of the community served. The initial problem for developers, therefore, is to assess or forecast demand prior to development. However as Lichfield states, with respect to developers:

Their problem differs according to whether the demand is individual or collective, direct or derived; and to whether they are building in speculation for unknown customers, or by contract for known customers (1956, 60).

Consumers are said to have a direct demand for facilities when the goods produced yield consumption services; that is to say, when the consumer requires access to the building or facility in order to consume the goods produced. In addition to common buildings for which there is a direct demand, like houses and schools, many recreation developments fall into this category. Such developments would include sports halls, swimming pools and cinemas. There is a derived consumer demand, conversely, for buildings or facilities yielding producers’ goods, where the consumer is not interested in the building, but in the output of that building. The most common examples of these buildings are factories, offices and warehouses. Whilst few of these types of building could be classified as recreation developments, many are necessary to support recreation activities, such as sports equipment factories (see Chapter 3 and Lichfield 1956).