Central Place Theory

1. Central Place Theory Walter Christaller, 1933

2. *Central Place Theory • *Walter Christaller, a German geographer • In 1933, he wrote his doctoral dissertation in geography entitled, The Central Places of Southern Germany. • In it, he proposed CPT!

4. Central Place Theory • Urban hierarchy is based on the functions available in a city • Is also related to population as well as functions and services • Functions and services attract people from the urban areas as well as the hinterlands • Every urban center has an economic reach • Central places compete with each other to provide goods and services

5. Central Place Theory: Some Basic ideas • *Central places (CP’s) are nodes for the distribution of economic goods and services to surroundingnonurban populations • C.P.’s compete against each other; this competition creates patterns of settlement. • Each settlement has a market area, the region from which customers are drawn. • *Hexagons rather than circles are used to indicate market areas.

6. Central Place Theory Cont’d • Settlements occurrences: • *Small- more frequently and close • Small thresh. & range • *Large- less frequently and far apart. • Large thresh. & range • The good or service provided in a central place has an order (high or low) based on how specialized it is.

7. *Size of Market Area • Range- the maximum distance people are willing to drive to use a service • Threshold- the minimum number of people needed to support the service (customer base)

8. Central Place Theory • Economic reach is a measure of centrality • Centrality is crucial to the development of urban places and their service areas • Hinterland refers to the area surrounding a service from which consumers are drawn

9. Central Place Theory • Christaller attempted to design a model that would show how and where central places in the urban hierarchy would be functionally and spatially distributed

10. Central Place Theory: Five Assumptions • The surface of the ideal region would be flat and have no physical barriers • Soil fertility would be universal • Population, purchasing power evenly distributed • Uniform transport network that permitted direct travel from each settlement to the other • Constant maximum distance or range for the sale of any good or service produced in a town prevailed in all directions from the town center

11. To calculate the degree of centrality: • Central goods and services are those provided only at a central place • Range of sale was the distance people would be willing to travel to acquire goods and services • Model evolved consisting of perfectly fitted hexagonal regions

12. Hierarchy of Settlements • Hamlet: fewest goods and services available • Village: includes the region of the hamlet and some additional goods and services • Town: includes the region of the village and hamlet and provides some additional goods and services • City: includes the region of the village, hamlet and town and provides additional goods and services

13. Distinct Rules • The larger the settlement, the less there are of them and the farther apart they are • The less there are of a settlement, the larger the hinterland, or sphere of influence, of its goods and services • Places of the same size will be spaced the same distance apart

14. Central Place Theory Hamlet Village Town City

15. C = city T = town V = village H = hamlet Hexagonal Hinterlands

16. Central Place Theory: Relevance • This is a model, not reality • Use of hexagons explain hierarchy and interconnectedness of places • Originally applied to Germany • Found to be applicable in China and the Midwestern US

17. What are the advantages of central place theory? • Physical barriers, resource distributions, etc. create modifications of the spatial pattern. (REAL World, BUT…) • *Provides a description of the relationship between a central place- “higher order” & tributary areas- “lower order” places. • *Does a good job of describing. • Spatial pattern of urbanization • Location of trade & service activity

18. Conclusions 1. Towns of the same size are evenly spaced because they are in the center of liked-sized market areas. Larger towns will be farther apart because their market areas are larger. 2. Distribution of cities, towns, & villages in a region is related to trade areas, pop. size, and distance

19. Rank Size Rule • *Holds that in a model urban hierarchy, the pop of a city or town will be inversely proportional to its rank in the hierarchy • For example, if the largest city has 12 million people, the 2nd largest = 6 million (1/2); 3rd largest = 4 million (1/3); • Rank size rule does not apply to all countries, esp. countries w/one dominant city, e.g., France, England, Japan, Mexico, etc.

20. Primate City Rule • *largest settlement has more than twice as many people as the second-ranking settlement. • Examples: Paris, France; London, United Kingdom; Mexico City, Mexico, etc.

21. Rank Size Practice • 1st- Choose a Primate city. Determine if the R/S is accurate with at least 3 other cities in that area. (don’t only choose South) • 2nd- Determine if the spacing of the cities of your choosing is in line with the model. • 3rd- share your findings with someone else