A. Several economic, demographic, technological, and policy factors influence land use dynamics. According to land rent theory, allocation among competing uses on a fixed land base is determined by the associated land rents, which vary according to land quality and location.
Land is allocated to the use with the highest return.
As relative rents change over time, land use would shift between uses. For example, land has shifted into crop production from other uses in response to rising commodity prices. However, land-use changes are gradual due to conversion costs. Between 1945 and 2000, the U.S. population doubled from 133 million to 281 million people. In 2000, there were 106 million households, a quarter of which were one-person households.