LAND USE
CONCEPTS AND
CLASSIFICATION
Unit 5
FOCAL POINTS
 Tragedy of the Commons
 Externalities
 Maximum sustainable yield
TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS (1)
 Certain societies land was viewed as public
 Easter island
 As population increases, common lands tend to be degraded
 Overgrazed, overharvested, and deforested
 Concept of Tragedy of the Commons was introduced by Garrett Hardin
in 1968
 Tragedy of the Commons – the tendency of a shared, limited
resource to become depleted because people act from self-interest for
short-term gain
 Hardin observed that when individuals share a common resource
without agreement, it is likely to become overused
EXTERNALITIES
 Tragedy of the Commons is a result of negative externalities
 Externality – the cost or benefit of a good or service that is not
included in the purchase price of that good or service
 If a farmer grazes too many sheep in a common pasture, the farmer is ultimately
doing more harm than good
 As long as the pasture supports grazing, the farmer sees no individual harm but the
cost is externalized to the other farmers
 If he is held accountable, then his cost will outweigh the benefit
 Prevent tragedy of the commons through privatization or regulation
MAXIMUM SUSTAINABLE YIELD (1)
 Maximum sustainable yield – the maximum amount of a renewable
resource that can be harvested without compromising the future
availability of that resource
MAXIMUM SUSTAINABLE YIELD (2)