central-place theory

central-place theory, in geography, an element of location theory (q.v.) concerning the size and distribution of central places (settlements) within a system. Central-place theory attempts to illustrate how settlements locate in relation to one another, the amount of market area a central place can control, and why some central places function as hamlets, villages, towns, or cities.

The German geographer Walter Christaller introduced central-place theory in his book entitled Central Places in Southern Germany (1933). The primary purpose of a settlement or market town, according to central-place theory, is the provision of goods and services for the surrounding market area. Such towns are centrally located and may be called central places. Settlements that provide more goods and services than do other places are called higher-order central places. Lower-order central places have small market areas and provide goods and services that are purchased more frequently than higher-order goods and services. Higher-order places are more widely distributed and fewer in number than lower-order places.

Christaller’s theory assumes that central places are distributed over a uniform plane of constant population density and purchasing power. Movement across the plane is uniformly easy in any direction, transportation costs vary linearly, and consumers act rationally to minimize transportation costs by visiting the nearest location offering the desired good or service.

The determining factor in the location of any central place is the threshold, which comprises the smallest market area necessary for the goods and services to be economically viable. Once a threshold has been established, the central place will seek to expand its market area until the range—i.e., the maximum distance consumers will travel to purchase goods and services—is reached.

Since the threshold and range define the market area of a central place, market areas for a group of central places offering the same order of goods and services will each extend an equal distance in all directions in circular fashion.

The German economist August Lösch expanded on Christaller’s work in his book The Spatial Organization of the Economy (1940). Unlike Christaller, whose system of central places began with the highest-order, Lösch began with a system of lowest-order (self-sufficient) farms, which were regularly distributed in a triangular-hexagonal pattern. From this smallest scale of economic activity, Lösch mathematically derived several central-place systems, including the three systems of Christaller. Lösch’s systems of central places allowed for specialized places. He also illustrated how some central places develop into richer areas than others.

Edward Ullman introduced central-place theory to American scholars in 1941. Since then geographers have sought to test its validity. Iowa and Wisconsin have been two areas of empirical research that have come closest to meeting Christaller’s theoretical assumptions.