Central Place Theory

Exercise 1. Draw a circle and put an X at the center. 2. The X is Chicago. What Services does Chicago offer that you do not find out in the suburbs. 3. Draw a slightly smaller x on the circle surrounding the city. Imagine that is Schaumburg. What does that suburb offer? 4. Draw a small dot next to Chicago. This is Lincolnwood. What does this suburb offer in terms of services?

Walter Christaller’s central-place theory He set out to design a theory that would explain the distribution of urban settlements in Southern Germany He noted that all central places tended to be spaced apart so that each had a monopoly on providing certain services Model was created in 1933 and based off of MDCs Note that this is pre-suburbs. Means that the city is still the center of most activities. So this theory is based off of an MDC at a time when cities services were still very centralized.

What is a Central Place? Central Space- A central place is a market center for the exchange of goods and services by people attracted from the surrounding area. The central place is so called because it is centrally located to maximize accessibility from the surrounding region. Central places compete against each other to serve as markets for goods and services.

Relates to Development In order for it to work, you have people who money to pay for the services a city and other locations offer (large middle class) The model also assumes even transportation around a city which, amongst other things, means good infrastructure.

Relevant Terms Threshold — size of population required to make provision of the service economically feasible Range – average maximum distance people will travel to purchase a good or service Hinterlands — large tributary trade areas associated with central places that offer many services

How far are you willing to travel for gas?

Art Institute Why is the Art institute in Chicago?

Walter Christaller’s central-place theory Crucial to his theory is the fact that different goods and services vary both in threshold and range Larger number of people required to support a research hospital or major league team than a gasoline station, post office, or grocery store People are willing to travel farther to consult a heart specialist than to buy a loaf of bread or mail a letter

Millennium Park and Maggie Daley Park Whys is this giant, silver bean located at the center of Chicago? Why put these parks here? Why not Des Plaines?

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Walter Christaller’s central-place theory Because range of central goods and services varies, tertiary centers are arranged in an orderly hierarchy First order places offer all services associated with central places, and that have large hinterlands The lowest order places do not offer more than a post office, service station, or café. Between the two extremes are central places of various degrees of importance Each high-ranked central place offers all goods and services of next lower ranked place, plus at least one or two more

One regional metropolis may contain thousands of smaller central places in its hinterland The theory points out that to prevent spheres of influence overlapping or having gaps, the best shape was a hexagon.

How It Works 1.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. 2.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. 3.As a settlement increases in size, the range and number of its functions will increase. 4.As a settlement increases in size, the number of higher-order services will also increase, i.e. a greater degree of specialization occurs in the services.

Hexagons The breaking point is where the consumer is equidistant from two/more similar services i.e. where the consumer is equally far from two or more centers.

Large Smaller Hexagons

Naturally Occurring This pattern should naturally happen. America?

Other Regions of MDCs How about Europe?

Theory in LDCs Does not apply as well. How does the following image show -uneven development -former colonization -primate cities

Africa Using the following picture, list off all of the reasons for how Africa differs from the MDC region of Europe.

Walter Christaller’s central-place theory Many other factors affect the spatial distribution of central places Assumptions must be made to construct a theoretical model that integrates different components of culture Christaller made a number of assumptions such as: an isotropic (all flat) surface an evenly distributed population evenly distributed resources similiar purchasing power of all consumers

More Assumptions An unbounded isotropic (all flat), homogeneous, unbounded limitless surface (abstract space) An evenly distributed population Distance decay is relevant All people offering services are rational and look to maximize profits first Consumers are of the same income level and same shopping behavior (large middle class) Consumers visit the nearest central places that provide the function which they demand. They minimize the distance to be travelled Transportation systems are equal in all directions

Income is Not Evenly Distributed

Assumes well-developed and evenly distributed infrastructure Assumed as many demands for transport as possible would be met with minimum expenditure for construction and maintenance of transportation facilities Any high-ranking places would then be on straight-line routes between important central places Main Point: Roads would be prevalent and connect the hinterlands to the central places.

Border Issues? Borders tend to separate people and retard movement of goods and services Central places in border regions lose rank and size because market areas are politically cut in two Important central places are pushed away from borders, which distorts the hexagonal pattern

Transportation - Roads

Walter Christaller’s central-place theory He thought market factors would be the greater force in rural countries He also thought transportation would be stronger in densely settled industrialized countries with more central places and more demand for long-distance transportation

Works Well with Rank – Size Rule In 1949, George Zipf devised his theory of rank- size rule to explain the size cities in a country. He explained that the second and subsequently smaller cities should represent a proportion of the largest city. For example, if the largest city in a country contained one million citizens, Zipf stated that the second city would contain one-half as many as the first, or 500,000.

Explain How would this affect cities after the first 5 or 6? Does the country have many cities of equal size spread out over space? What would be the opposite of this? How does this or does this go along with Central Place Theory?

Primate City A primate city is the leading city in its country or region, disproportionately larger than any others in the urban hierarchy. A 'primate city distribution' has one very large city with many much smaller cities and towns, and no intermediate-sized urban centers, in contrast to the linear 'rank-size distribution'. Primate Cities are often a sign that there are fewer cities and that they are not evenly distributed over a country.

Primate Cities Primate cities in the developing world are largely a relic of their colonial history when European colonizers concentrated all economic, transportation, and trade actively in one place, leaving the infrastructure in place after decolonization.

Many LDC’s tend to follow the primate city rule which though for the economy of one part of the city may be good but the economy of the other part of the city may be bad as a result of, uneven development due to the primate city rule (in some cases). Not all countries have primate cities, but in those that do, the rest of the country depends on it for cultural, economic, political, and major transportation needs.