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# Improvement of the Country

## Definition

The process by which rural lands become more productive and valuable through
cultivation, infrastructure development, and better management, driven by urban
commercial wealth that creates markets for agricultural produce and funds land
purchases and improvements by wealthy merchants seeking to become country
gentlemen.

## Source Chapter

Book III, Chapter 4

## Context

The ultimate outcome that Smith argues results from the commerce of towns,
describing how three mechanisms work together to transform rural areas from
states of war and dependency into ordered, productive, and prosperous regions.

## Economic Domain

Production

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