1. Services and the Central Place Theory
Unit 7
Copeland
AP Human Geography

2. What is a service?
Services: activity performed that fulfills a human want or need in exchange for money
Usually a link b/t services and settlements
Why are services clustered in settlements?
Optimal location may be a specific place
“location, location, location”
Services must also reflect distribution of people
Not the only factor b/c areas w/most population would have most svcs
People in MDCs can afford to purchase services so most are located there
Globalization of services-increasingly uniform
How is local diversity preserved?

3. What are the types of Services?
Key Issue #1
What are the types of Services?

4. Types of services Consumer Services Business Services Public Services
Two types:
Retail service (about ¼ all consumer svcs jobs)
Personal service (about 1/5 all consumer svcs jobs)
Business Services
Purpose: to facilitate other businesses
Producer services: help people conduct business
Transportation and similar services: diffuse and distribute services
(½ transportation; other ½ information services)
Public Services
Provide security and protection for citizens and businesses

5. Types of Services cont. These distinctions are not absolute-why?
Why do geographers find them useful?
How have the number of employees changed?

6. Origin of Services Centered around settlements
Settlements at the core of services-Why?

7. Settlement Roots Hamlet Village Town City Metropolis Settlement Sizes
People have always been gregarious and cooperative. Communal dwellings within a village or hamlet have become the norm of human society. Settlements are often expressions of economic systems. Service occupations will generally lend to the growth of a settlement. The relative location of settlements could also lend to the growth of a settlement.
Settlement Sizes
Hamlet
Village
Town
City
Metropolis

8. A Hierarchy of Educational Services
City:
University
Town:
High School/Small College
Village:
Elementary
School
You have more elementary schools than high schools, more high schools than colleges. Elementary schools are closer to each other; colleges are farther apart from each other.
Hamlet:
No Schools

9. The Location of Urban Settlements and the Economic Base
Urban centers are functionally connected to other cities and to rural areas. In order for the urban center to provide services for itself and its surrounding communities, the city must be efficiently located.
What determines the location of a city?
Centrality
Physical characteristics
Resources
By a process of “circular and cumulative causation”, a successful urban unit must change with the times in order to remain an attractive destination to its occupants.
The Economic Base of a city includes those employees that are involved in the production of goods (basic sector) and those whose efforts are necessary to the future well-being of the urban unit itself (nonbasic sector). As settlements become larger, a greater proportion of the population is employed in nonbasic activities. The Multiplier Effect implies that as a city’s employment and population grow in the basic sector, the nonbasic sector will double that growth.

10. Functional Specialization of U.S. Cities
Most economically diversified cities…
-NYC, LA, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, ATL, St. Louis
The functions of modern cities include: manufacturing, retailing, wholesaling, transportation, public administration, housing, education.
The fastest growing urban areas in America…
Atlanta, Denver, Phoenix, Orlando, Dallas, San Antonio, Research Triangle of North Carolina

11. Why Are Consumer Services Distributed in a Regular Pattern?
Key Issue #2
Why Are Consumer Services Distributed in a Regular Pattern?

12. Central Place Theory Where are central places located? Why?
Central place theory explains how services are distributed and why there is a regular pattern of settlement
First proposed by Walter Christaller (1933)
Attempted to develop a model to predict how and where central places in cities would be spatially and functionally distributed

13. The Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania is a portion of the Great Valley of the Appalachians. Broad valley floor, agricultural, settled in the early-to-mid 1700s. Note the regularity of spacing between urban centers -- towns. Local lore has it that the distances between towns evolved because it was the distance someone could travel in a day.

14. Swing a circle 5.5 miles around Greencastle; that’s the area that serves the farmers surrounding the town. Why 5.5 mi? Farmers could travel that far into town, have time to do their business, and return home before nightfall.

15. It’s about 11 miles between Greencastle and Chambersburg
It’s about 11 miles between Greencastle and Chambersburg. Chambersburg is the county seat of Franklin Co.

16. It’s 11 miles between Chambersburg and Shippensburg.

17. It’s 11 miles between Shippensburg and Newville.

18. It’s 11 miles between Newville and Carlisle
It’s 11 miles between Newville and Carlisle. Carlisle is the county seat of Cumberland Co.

19. It’s 11 miles between Carlisle and Mechanicsburg
It’s 11 miles between Carlisle and Mechanicsburg. But look how close Harrisburg is to Mechanicsburg. Then consider the impact of the river on travel time. Harrisburg grew up around a ferry-crossing of the Susquehanna. And, 11 miles south of Mechanicsburg is another central place town: Dillsburg (not on this map). Try following the pattern into Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia.

20. Shapes of Hinterlands Are circles the best way to label central place?
No, reason why, is that circles must overlap or leave certain areas un-served.
Hence, Christaller chose perfectly fitted…

21. A central place network
A central place network. Whatever you do, don’t start teaching CPT with this diagram! But,by the end of your coverage of CPT, students should be able to look at this diagram, explain it, and critique it. Source: Rubenstein, 9th ed, p410

22. The trade area is green because the primary economic activity is farming: at the level of the hamlet, only farming. Let’s put a trade area around the surrounding settlements, too. Farmers were not self-sufficient; they would need to purchase such things as gunpowder, salt, iron implements, and glass.

23. What happens when you use a circle to define trade areas
What happens when you use a circle to define trade areas? Unserved consumers living in the white areas. You can’t have unserved areas.

24. Push the circle together
Push the circle together. But, you can’t have market areas (circles) overlapping either: black lenses between circles. If we bisect each lens we resolve the conflict. These bisections give us the only geometric shape that resolves the conflict: a hexagon. With a hexagon, all areas are served and there is no overlap,

25. The only geometric shape that resolves this conflict is the hexagon
The only geometric shape that resolves this conflict is the hexagon. Think about why a square or a triangle would not be better. (Hint: distant corners)

26. Christaller Critiqed
While many urban geographers doubted the relevance of the model, many economic geographers, especially in the United States, confirmed Christaller’s theory. It is particularly applicable in agricultural areas that have a uniform distribution of consumers and purchasing power.

28. Each central place function has a:
Threshold: the minimum number of people needed to support a central place function
With fewer customers a store cannot afford to stay in business.
Range: the maximum distance beyond which a person will not travel to purchase a good or service
Beyond a certain distance people cannot afford the travel costs.
Christaller’s definition of Range of a Good: “the farthest distance the dispersed population is willing to go in order to buy a good offered at a place – a central place.” (Bastian, p. 22)

29. Central Place Theory cont.
Set of assumptions:
Surface of the area would be flat and have no physical barriers
Soil fertility would be uniform
Population and purchasing power evenly distributed
Uniform transportation which would allow for direct travel from each settlement to the other
Goods and services could be sold in all directions out to a certain distance
Calculated the ideal model and then compared it to the real world
In cities, central places would be nested, so the largest central place would provide services to smaller places
Smaller places would provide services to even smaller places

30. Central Place Theory cont.
Christaller postulated:
cites would be regularly spaced w/central places where the same product was sold at relatively the same price and was a standard distance apart
Each city has a complementary region in which they have a monopoly on the sale of certain goods
Market Area of a Service
Market area/hinterland
How is a market area established?
Christaller chose hexagons-Why?

31. Central Place Theory cont.
Size of Market Area
To determine, need info about its range and threshold
Range of Service
How far you are willing to go for a service
Determined by observation of consumer behavior
Threshold of Service
Minimum number of people required to support the service (generate a profit)
How potential consumers are counted depends on the product

32. Central Place Theory cont.
Central Places Today
Geographer, Larry Ford says central place theory still has a place today. As people migrate…
Sunbelt phenomenon-movement of millions of Americans from North and Northeast to South and southwest and vice versa
Result of government economic and social policies
Some cities would respond by increasing services while others would not.
However, the Central Place Theory will always be relevant in a capitalist society. Why?

33. CENTRAL PLACE THEORY More small places than big places
Ratio of big places to small places relatively constant
PLACE
Big places farther apart than small places
THEORY
What did Christaller observe? How did he explain it? These are some of Christaller’s observations. Empiricism usually culminates in a set of generalizations. Christaller noted these patterns on the landscape. But why? We need a theoretical framework for the purpose of explanation. From these observations a theory evolved to explain them.

34. Market-Area Analysis
Used to determine if a market’s location will be profitable
Profitability of a Location
Calculate the range and threshold
Optimal Location Within a Market
Where in the market should the service be located to maximize profit?
Linear
Nonlinear Settlement

35. Hierarchy of Services and Settlements
Small settlements are limited to consumer services w/small thresholds b/c they do not have the people to support a lot of services
Larger settlements can support both
Yellow pages of a large city vs. that of a small city
Why travel when you can get it right here?

36. Hierarchy of Settlements and Services cont.
Nesting of Services and Settlements
Central place theory-MDCs would be hexagons unless interrupted by physical boundaries
Hamlets, villages, towns, cities
Rank-Size Distribution of Settlements
Ranking settlements based on largest to smallest population produces a regular pattern or hierarchy
Rank-size rule
When plotted, makes a fairly straight line
What happens if it is not a straight line when plotted?
Primate city rule; country’s largest city is called the primate city

37. Hierarchy of Settlements and Services cont.
Rank-Size Distribution of Settlements cont.
Followed by many MDCs, few LDCs
How does rank-size distribution have an impact on the quality of life for its inhabitants?
Periodic Markets
Collection of individual venders who come together to offer goods and services in a location on specified days
Mostly provided in LDCs (bazaar) or rural MDCs
Mainly mobile
Frequency varies by culture

38. Central Place Functions Categories of like services found in a central place
Grocery Stores
Gas Stations
Jewelry Stores
Book Stores
Hair Stylists
Auto Dealerships
Houses of Worship
Schools
Doctors
Dentists
Museums
Concert Halls
To find out how the layers of central places evolve, we need to look at the settlements and what they are providing. Examples of the types of goods and services provided in a central place.

39. Higher-Order Functions Higher-Order Central Places
Provision of higher-order goods and services
Trade in goods and services that are more valuable and infrequently demanded
Because the goods and services are more valuable, people are willing to travel farther to shop.
Higher-order goods and services are available in higher-order central places.
Some characteristics of higher-order goods and services.

40. Lower-Order Functions Lower-Order Central Places
Provision of lower-order goods and services
Trade in goods and services that are less valuable and frequently demanded.
Because the goods and services are less valuable, people are willing to travel only short distances to shop.
Lower-order goods and services are available in lower-order central places.
Some characteristics of lower-order goods and services.

41. Would you travel farther to buy a new car or the week’s groceries?
Would you travel farther to see your family physician or a heart specialist?
To see a heart specialist
Become aware of how far you are willing to travel to make a purchase. Private sector and public sector goods and services are both accounted for in CPT.
Would you travel farther to go to elementary school or to go to high school?
To go to high school

42. Regional Shopping Mall
Stock Exchange
Sports Stadium
Regional Shopping Mall
Major Department Store
Income Tax Service
Hierarchical arrangement of a sampling of central place services. This is a 7-order hierarchy. Christaller found 7 levels to the hierarchy of central places in southern Germany.
Convenience Store
Gas Station

43. Major League Baseball team locations 1950 and 2000

44. National Basketball Association team locations 1950 and 2000

45. National Football League team locations 1950 and 2010

46. National Hockey League team locations 1950 and 2011

47. Geography of Sports Teams
Answer the following questions… *What helps to define a range of influence for a sports team in America? *In recent years, has America seen less and less fan loyalty to local teams? In your opinion, why?

48. Why don’t we ever see a perfect central place hierarchy?
Consumer behavior is determined by more than economic considerations.
The automobile has made long-distance travel popular (cheap and easy).
People make multiple-purpose shopping trips, often bypassing the smallest places.
The Internet has made it unnecessary to have customers nearby.
We need to bring the theory back to reality. There are lots of others, too.

49. The Practical Value of Central Place Theory
Become a city planner or developer
We need to bring the theory back to reality.

50. How could central place theory help you to choose a location for:
A new hospital?
A new high school?
A new mall?
A new café?
A new Publix? Kroger?
A new Starbucks?
A new Chick-fil-a?
A new baseball team?
Each of these needs a big enough customer base in order to operate profitably. Are there unserved areas of the metropolitan region?

51. Key Issue #3
Why Do Businesses Locate in Large Settlements? (Rank-size rule & hierarchy of world cities)

52. Ancient World Cities
Originally people clustered in agricultural villages
egalitarian society
main activity: agriculture
This changed as cities were formed
people generated personal wealth
began to trade over long distances
formation of stratified classes
engaged in a diversity of economic activities

53. Ancient World Cities cont.
Agricultural surplus and social stratification enabled the formation of cities-Why?
advances in technology
leadership class was formed to control the surplus and technology used to create it
king or priest/king centralized political power
in turn, demanded labor to create agricultural surplus which would help him/her retain political power
Leadership class controlled all of the society’s resources
since everyone did not participate in farming, could focus on other pursuits such as philosophy and religion
writing and recordkeeping arose from these activities
Examples: Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece

54. Medieval World Cities
renewed urban life as feudalism spawned urban settlements
largest urban settlements served as power centers
usually fortified by walls
What were believed to be the 5 most populous cities in 900 A.D.?

55. Modern World Cities Business Services in World Cities
Consumer Services in World Cities
Public Services in World Cities

56. Hierarchy of Business Services
4 levels of cities that play a role in business services
1) World Cities
Why are they closely integrated into the global economic system?
London, New York, Tokyo
largest city of their main area
most important stock exchanges located there
Chicago, Los Angeles, Frankfurt, Paris
also included: Sao Paulo and Singapore
where many major banks or other corporations may have their headquarters
What cities make up the third tier?

57. Hierarchy of Business Services cont.
2) Command and Control Centers
second level of cities
Transnational services, headquarters of multinational corporations, dominate worldwide commerce
What are some command/control center cities?
3) Specialized Producer-Service Centers
third level of cities
offer more narrow and highly specialized variety of services
What are some examples?
4) Dependent Centers
fourth-level cities
unskilled jobs; their economic health depends on the decisions of the other cities

58. Economic Base of Settlements cont.
Specialization of Cities in Different Services
Basic industries originally referred to manufacturing
Those specializing in public services are dispersed all over the country-why?
Distribution of Talent
Those with talent are not uniformly dispersed
Why do some cities have a larger number of talented individuals than others?
Richard Florida-what did his research about talent determine?

59. Why Do Services Cluster Downtown?
Key Issue #4
Why Do Services Cluster Downtown?

60. Central Business District (CBD)
Consumer and business services located in CBDs because of their accessibility
Retail Services in the CBD
Retail Services w/High Threshold
Accessible to a large number of people
Rents here were usually highest
Recently, most have disappeared for the suburbs
Retail Services w/ High Range
Very specialized shop; customers patronize it infrequently
Prefer central locations
Have also moved to suburban shopping malls
How can they still survive in CBDs?

61. Central Business District (CBD) cont.
Retail Services Serving Downtown Workers
Cater to those who work in the downtown area
Limited hours
Many of these are expanding-Why?
How have cities attempted to revitalize retailing in CBDs and older neighborhoods?
Producer Services
Cluster in the center for accessibility
Facilitates communication
Helps to establish sense of trust
Also allows businesses to employ people from all different neighborhoods
Can find employees they need in a CBD

62. Central Business District (CBD) cont.
High Land Costs in the CBD
Accessibility produces competition for land
As a result, extremely expensive
2 characteristics emerge as a result:
Land is used more intensely at the center than elsewhere in the city
Some activities are excluded from the center because it is so expensive
Intensive Land Use
“underground city”
Use of more space above and below ground
Skyscrapers
Building up instead of out
Vertical geography-explain.

63. Central Business District (CBD) cont.
Activities Excluded from the CBD
Manufacturing
Requires too much space
Suitable land usually located in the suburbs
Lack of residents
Most individuals cannot afford the rent in CBDs
Where is this problem especially critical?
What are the push/pull factors for leaving CBDs?