1. The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography
Chapter 12: Services
The Cultural Landscape:
An Introduction to Human Geography

2. Services Service = any activity that fulfills human wants/needs
Services are located in settlements
Location is important for profitability
Affluent regions = more services
Local diversity is evident in provision of services

3. Where Did Services Originate?
3types of services
Consumer services
44% of U.S. jobs
Business services
24% of U.S. jobs
Public services
17% of U.S. jobs
All U.S. employment growth = services sector
Figure 12-2

4. Percentage of GDP from Services, 2005
Figure 12-1

5. Where Did Services Originate?
Services in early urban settlements
Services in ancient cities
Earliest urban settlements: Ur, Athens, Rome
Services in medieval cities
Largest settlements = Asia

6. Where Are Contemporary Services Located?
Services in rural settlements
50% of world’s population lives in rural settlements
2 types
Clustered rural settlements
Circular or linear
Clustered settlements
Dispersed rural settlements
U.S.
Great Britain

7. Rural Settlement Patterns
Figure 12-10

8. Where Are Contemporary Services Located?
Services in urban settlements
Differences between urban & rural settlements
Large size
High density
Social heterogeneity
Increasing % of people in cities
Increasing # of people in cities

9. Percentage of Population Living in Urban Settlements
Figure 12-14

10. Urban Settlements With Populations of at Least 3 Million
Figure 12-15

11. Why Are Consumer Services Distributed in a Regular Pattern?
Central place theory
Walter Christaller (1930s)
Central place has market area (hinterland)
Size of market area
Range
Threshold
Figure 12-17

12. Market Areas, Range, & Threshold
Figure 12-18

13. Why Are Consumer Services Distributed in a Regular Pattern?
Market-area analysis
Location profitability
Compute range
Compute threshold
Draw market area
Optimal location within market
Minimizes distance to service for highest # of people
Best location in linear & nonlinear settlements: gravity model
Figure 12-20

14. Why Are Consumer Services Distributed in a Regular Pattern?
Figure 12-21
Hierarchy of services & settlements
Nesting
Market areas in MDCs = series of hexagons of various sizes

15. Why Are Consumer Services Distributed in a Regular Pattern?
Hierarchy of services & settlements
Rank-size distribution of settlements
Primate city rule
Primate cities
Figure 12-23

16. Why Do Business Services Cluster in Large Settlements?
Hierarchy of business services
Services in world cities
Business: services clustered due to Industrial Revolution
Figure 12-25

17. Why Do Business Services Cluster in Large Settlements?
Hierarchy of business services
Services in world cities
Consumer: retail services with extensive market areas
Public: world cities may be center of national or international political power

18. Why Do Business Services Cluster in Large Settlements?
4 levels of business services
World Cities
Dominant
Major
Secondary
Command & Control Centers
Specialized Producer-Service Centers
Dependent Centers

19. Why Do Business Services Cluster in Large Settlements?
Business services in LDCs
Offshore financial services
2 functions:
Taxes
Privacy
Back offices
LDCs attractive because:
Low wages
Ability to speak English

20. Why Do Business Services Cluster in Large Settlements?
Economic base of settlements
2 types:
Basic industries
Nonbasic industries
Specialization of cities in different services
Distribution of talent

21. Economic Base of U.S. Cities
Figure 12-28

22. Figure 12-29
Geography of Talent

23. The End.