Spatial inequality
[3] Additionally, the spatial component of public infrastructure affects access to quality healthcare and education (key elements of human capital and worker productivity, which directly impacts economic well-being).
[4] Variation in both natural resource composition and quality of regional infrastructure are traditionally considered to be motivating factors for migration patterns between urban cities and rural areas.
[11] Such patterns permit greater economies of scale to be realized, as different economic activities become concentrated in regions that are best suited for such work,[11] and transportation costs can be reduced accordingly.
[13] Although employment in the northern regions of the nation is heavily reliant on the agricultural sector, there is limited access to irrigation and modern implements needed for efficient farming.
[13] Such unsustainable farming practices have led to natural resource depreciation over time, including lower quality of soil and higher rates of erosion, which in turn impacts the region's ability to continue engaging in future crop production.
[16] For instance, the spatial patterns of such environmental factors and hospital accessibility can impact public health outcomes, such as COVID-19 infection, spread, and mortality rates within a nation.
[9][14] An example of this phenomenon in the United States includes redlining - a racially discriminatory historical practice, which resulted in subprime mortgages becoming highly concentrated to specific neighborhoods and geographies.
[14] As different communities may not have similar comparative advantage due to variations in natural resource composition and abundance, foreign trade and globalization are thought to play a key role in influencing spatial inequality as well.
[5] In particular, economies undergoing rapid trade liberalization have been observed to actually have increases in poverty rates and income inequality, in spite of nation-wide benefits of economic growth being realized, as urban-rural gaps tend to widen.
[1] Additionally, migration patterns from rural to urban areas in developing nations are observed to be a labor market adjustment to an increasing shift in importance from agriculture to manufacturing.
[18] Typical econometric studies will then design and use regression models to analyze the effects of density, industry location, or related variables on regional differences in output or costs.
[5] In particular, an inherent difficulty in comparing urban and rural regions is the vast disparity in quality and variety of goods and services enjoyed by the typical household in either type of community.
