Walter Cristaller Central Place Theory

Why Cristaller?

Christaller was trying to explain the distribution of urban areas on the Northern European plain (in Germany)

Hinterland

How far will people travel to a city for the goods and services that city provides? The further people will travel, the larger the hinterland. Refers to economic reach ONLY!

town

Larger than a village, and has more degree of specialization (Ex: Fredericksburg, San Marcos

City

More specialization and a larger hinterland (economic reach); has suburbs (Ex: San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Dallas)

Rank Size Rule

The population of a city is inversely related to its ranking

Assumptions for the central Place theory

always works in the U.S. Midwest

Central Placce Theory

describes the spatial patterns of urban and outlying areas based on the flow of goods and services; this established a central place surrounded by a market area

Reach

how far a consumer will travel to obtain a good or service

Centrality

how influential is a city? How important is it economically and culturally on a global scale? (Overall influence)

Threshold

how many potential customers are needed to support a business

Lower Order Goods and Services

less costly have a smaller range (EX: Convenience Store)

Village

likely to offer several dozen services; limited specialization (EX: Hutto, TX)

Hamlet

provides some basic services to the people living there and those nearby (EX: Andice, TX, pop. 25)

Higher Order Goods and Services

relatively costly and have a larger range (EX: a concert stadium, a hospital)

Urban Hierarchy

type of living spaces and communities that vary in things due to population, specialization, variety of products increase with size

Central Place Theory doesn't work when....

● there are unitary systems of government ● they were former colonies ● Primate cities: where a large portion of the population lives in one city (Paris: 8x bigger next city; Rio 5xs; Mexico 7xs)