A-Level Geography Seminar Central Place Theory: The Theory, its limitations and Applications Dr Jianfa Shen Department of Geography and Resource Management The Chinese University of Hong Kong Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography

Central place theory: Basic concepts Developed by Walter Christaller in 1933 “Central Places in southern Germany”. It is a deductive theory to explain the number, location, size, spacing and functions of settlements in terms of the services they performed for surrounding hinterlands. Central place: a service center, a settlement providing a range of goods and services to the surrounding areas. Centrality: the functions or services provided by central place. The higher the centrality of a central place is, the more the variety of services and the higher the order of services it provides. Hinterlands: the market areas covered by the services of central places that may include smaller central places. The higher the centrality of a central place is, the larger the hinterland. Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography

Assumption of idealized landscape An uniform transportation surface, the relative accessibility between any two points is a direct function of their distance. Population is evenly distributed. The goods and services are only provided in central places Each point has an equal chance of receiving a central place Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography

Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography Service ranges Upper limit of the range: the maximum distance (r) a consumer will travel to a center to obtain goods, the maximum area to be served from a center will be a circular region of radius r. Lower limit of the range: the minimum radius (r’) of a circular service area with sufficient population (threshold population) to generate sufficient demands to make the central place economically viable to provide the service. Example: Key maker services Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography

Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography Service ranges Lower-order service Smaller upper limit and lower limit Smaller market area Low-order center Higher-order service Larger upper limit and lower limit Larger market area High-order center The size of market area will be between the lower and upper limits Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography

Market areas: Circle or square? Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography

Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography Market areas: Hexagon? Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography

Deriving the highest-order central places The upper limit of the highest order services is used to obtain the area for central places ranked ‘B’ to meet marketing principle a ; Each central place serves a circular area with radius ‘r’ and the distance between any two central places is 2r; but some areas are not served; To meet marketing principle b, a modified structure of overlapping circles is necessary. Assume consumers go to the nearest central place, exclusive regular hexagonal areas are obtained as the service areas for B centers. Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography

Deriving the lower-order central places For goods and services with a smaller upper limit of range (e), some areas cannot be served by B centers, thus lower-order K centers are needed; To be most competitive with B centers, these K centers will be located in the center of areas not served with maximum distance to all B centers; These K centers are also the corners of the hexagonal areas of B centers; Each B center service area will cover three K center service areas, this was called k=3 framework. Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography

Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography Central Place Theory K=3 Marketing principle K=4 Transport principle K=7 Administration principle Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography

Contributions of central place theory It defines the ideal pattern of central places and explains why an urban hierarchy may exist in the reality. A small number of high-order centers serve large hinterland; Many low-order centers serve small hinterland. It provides a basis for planning the size and spacing of centers in newly-developing areas. Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography

Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography Limitations An uniform transportation surface, the relative accessibility between any two points is a direct function of their distance. In reality, there are transport routes and natural barriers like rivers and coastal lines. Accessibility is different over space Population is evenly distributed. In reality, population density is uneven. Other than services, population is also related to manufacturing activities. Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography

Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography Limitations Each point has an equal chance of receiving a central place Physical conditions, historical legacy and government policy may favour particular locations. Above factors will distort the ideal size, location and spacing of central places. Highest-order center offers all the low-order services Some low-order service may not be offered in highest-order center The centers of the same order will offer same range of services The services offered by the centers of the same order may be different Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography

Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography Limitations Discrete distribution of the size of central places Number of central places by order in K=3 system 1, 2, 6, 18, 54, 162, 486, … Real urban system is the result of SPACIAL PROCESSES and the Physical, Historical conditions and Policies. Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography

Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography Applications The impact of increased population density or increased income of population Consumer expenditure will increase Further high-order services will be required Increase the potential number of levels of hierarchy Increase the degree of functional specialization of the highest-order center Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography

Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography Applications The impact of improved transportation on central place system Population mobility increased People are willing to travel longer to obtain services Market area of a central place will expand Restructuring of central places, some have to be closed. Dr Shen Jianfa CUHK Geography