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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central place theory | 1/4 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_place_theory | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T16:01:41.400198+00:00 | kb-cron |
Central place theory is an urban geographical theory that seeks to explain the number, size and range of market services in a commercial system or human settlements in a residential system. Introduced in 1933 it aims to illustrate how settlements locate in relation to one another, considering the size and distribution of 'central places.' The theory was first analysed by German geographer Walter Christaller, who asserted that settlements simply functioned as 'central places' providing economic services to surrounding areas. Christaller explained that a large number of small settlements will be situated relatively close to one another for efficiency, and because people don't want to travel far for everyday needs, like getting bread from a bakery. But people would travel further for more expensive and infrequent purchases or specialised goods and services which would be located in larger settlements that are farther apart.
== Building the theory == To develop the theory, Christaller made the following simplifying assumptions: All areas have:
an unbounded isotropic (all flat), homogeneous, limitless surface (abstract space) an evenly distributed population all settlements are equidistant and exist in a triangular lattice pattern evenly distributed resources distance decay mechanism perfect competition and all sellers are economic people maximising their profits consumers are of the same income level and same shopping behaviour all consumers have a similar purchasing power and demand for goods and services. Consumers visit the nearest central places that provide the function which they demand. They minimise the distance to be travelled no provider of goods or services is able to earn excess profit (each supplier has a monopoly over a hinterland) Therefore, the trade areas of these central places who provide a particular good or service must all be of equal size
there is only one type of transport and this would be equally easy in all directions transport cost is directly proportional to distance travelled The theory then relied on two concepts: threshold and range.
Threshold is the minimum market (population or income) needed to bring about the selling of a particular good or service. Range is the maximum distance consumers are prepared to travel to acquire goods - at some point the cost or inconvenience will outweigh the need for the good. The result of these consumer preferences is that a system of centres of various sizes will emerge. Each centre will supply particular types of goods forming levels of hierarchy. In the functional hierarchies, generalisations can be made regarding the spacing, size and function of settlements.
The larger the settlements are in size, the fewer in number they will be, i.e. there are many small villages, but few large cities. The larger the settlements grow in size, the greater the distance between them, i.e. villages are usually found close together, while cities are spaced much further apart. As a settlement increases in size, the range and number of its functions will increase . As a settlement increases in size, the number of higher-order services will also increase, i.e. a greater degree of specialisation occurs in the services. The higher the order of the goods and services (more durable, valuable and variable), the larger the range of the goods and services, the longer the distance people are willing to travel to acquire them. Although, higher goods can increase the price of lower goods or knock off versions of the higher goods. At the base of the hierarchy pyramid are shopping centres, newsagents etc. which sell low order goods. These centres are small. At the top of the pyramid are centres selling high order goods. These centres are large. Examples for low order goods and services are: newspaper stalls, groceries, bakeries and post offices. Examples for high order goods and services include jewelry, large shopping malls and arcades. They are supported by a much larger threshold population and demand.
== Predictions == He deduced that settlements would tend to form in a triangular/hexagonal lattice, as it is the most efficient pattern to serve areas without any overlap. In the orderly arrangement of an urban hierarchy, seven different principal orders of settlement have been identified by Christaller, providing different groups of goods and services. Settlement are regularly spaced - equidistant spacing between same order centres, with larger centres farther apart than smaller centres. Settlements have hexagonal market areas, and are most efficient in number and functions. The different layouts predicted by Christaller have K-values which show how much the sphere of influence of the central places takes in — the central place itself counts as 1 and each portion of a satellite counts as its portion:
=== K = 3 marketing principle ===
According to the marketing principle K = 3, the market area of a higher-order place (node) occupies one-third of the market area of each of the consecutive lower size place (node) that lies on its neighbour; the lower size nodes (6 in numbers and second larger circles) are located at the corner of a largest hexagon around low value the high-order settlement. Each high-order settlement gets one-third of each satellite settlement (which are 6 in total), thus K = 1 + 6 × 1⁄3 = 3. However, in this K = 3 marketing network the distance traveled is minimised.
=== K = 4 transporting/traffic principle ===