1. Central Place Theory

2. Central Place Theory: developed by Walter Christaller; views urban settlements as centers for the distribution of economic goods and services to surrounding nonurban populations

3. Threshold
The minimum population size required to profitably maintain a service is the threshold population.
Factors affecting a fall in the threshold population are
A decrease in population
Change in tastes
Introduction of substitutes

4. Range
Range refers to the distance people are willing to travel to receive a good or service
A higher order good or service will have a much higher range than a lower order good and service
A higher order good or service is something that is considered to be rare or unique (a university), whereas a lower order good or service is fairly common (McDonald’s)

5. Central Place Theory
Central Places-hierarchy is based on population, function & services.
Economic reach-how functions & services attract customers from areas beyond the urban limits.
Centrality-the central position & ability to attract customers to a village, town or city.
Range of Sale-the distance people are willing to travel to buy goods or services
As transportation improvements made longer trips for services possible and practical, many small hamlets, villages and towns declined in North America for example.

6. Central Place Theory
Christaller tried to determine the degree of centrality of various places.
He created a model to show how central places in the urban hierarchy are spatially distributed.
He assumed:
No physical barriers
Soil and surface of equal quality
Even distribution of population
Uniform transportation system
Although no area on earth is isotropic (same in all directions) Christaller’s model has proven useful in planning new cities-in polder land in the Netherlands, Brazil’s Amazonia development

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

8. Hexagonal Hinterlands
Christaller’s urban model showed that each central place had a complementary hinterland.
The hexagonal model solves the overlap problem that circles would have.
Nesting arrangement-region within a region-each larger complementary region is centered on a higher order urban place
Black lines=hamlet hinterland
Red lines=village hinterland
Blue lines=town hinterland
Green lines=city hinterland
Christaller’s model confirmed that the general map pattern is not an accident, but the function of specific economic forces that create a regular rank-size pattern

9. Bid Rent
The price paid to rent or purchase urban land is a reflection of its utility or usefulness.
Utility is a product of accessibility to customers & workers or for residents to jobs and amenities.
Poorest households occupy the more accessible locations near city centers in the US and the wealthiest live in the farthest suburbs-in most of the world it is the opposite-the wealthiest live near the city center and the poorest live in slums, favelas or barrios on the outskirts of the city.