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H4/12/12

Distribution of Services

(Ch. 12.3 – pp. 387-394)

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I. Central Place Theory– proposed by Walter Christaller (Ger.) in 1930s– developed further by August Losch (Ger.) &

Brian Berry (U.S.) in 1950s• central place is market center• each has a market area (or hinterland)

– the area surrounding a service from which customers come– similar to nodal theory– usually use hexagons

» 171 functional regions in U.S. (Doxiadis & Berry)

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Central Place Theory

Figure 12-17

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“Daily Urban Systems”

Figure 12-16

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I. Central Place Theory– Size of a market area depends on 2 factors– 1. Range - maximum distance people will travel for

service– short distance for everyday items– longer distance for specialty items

• often determined in time rather than distance• often irregular shapes due to traveling time

– 2. Threshold - minimum # of people needed to support service

• must count potential customers• product determines how many are counted

– differences b/w specialty & everyday items– specific features based on age, ethnicity, gender, income, etc.

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Market Areas, Range, and Threshold for Kroger Supermarkets

Figure 12-18

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II. Market-Area Analysis– A. Profitability of a Location

• Compute the range• Compute the threshold• Draw the market area

– B. Optimal Location within a Market• minimize distance to service for largest # of people

– Best location in a linear settlement» gravity model - optimal location related to # of

people in area & inversely related to distance one must travel

» must factor in apartment buildings– Best location in a nonlinear settlement

» must try several options and run numbers

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Optimal Location for a Pizza-Delivery Service - Linear Settlement

Figure 12-20

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III. Hierarchy of Services and Settlements– Overview

• larger settlements provide more services - why?• will only travel far for specialty items & or great sales

– A. Nesting• Market areas in MDCs = a series of hexagons of

various sizes– variations based on different market sizes– Christaller noted regular patterns – Berry found similar patterns in U.S. Midwest

• scale of services produces separate ranges, thresholds

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Central Place Theory

Figure 12-21

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III. Hierarchy of Services and Settlements– B. Rank-size Distribution of Settlements

• 1. rank-size rule - each city is smaller than largest by degrees (nth largest is 1/n pop. of rank-size city)

– ex: L.A. 1/2 size of NYC, Chi. 1/3 size of NYC, etc.

• rank size often relates to more even distribution of wealth and is more common in MDCs

• 2. primate city rule - no regular pattern, largest city is more than 2x bigger than 2nd largest city

– ex: Denmark, U.K., Romania

• often occurs in LDCs w/ extremely large cities w/ services separated from rural areas & smaller cities

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Rank-Size Distribution in theUnited States and Indonesia

Figure 12-23

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III. Hierarchy of Services and Settlements– C. Periodic markets

• more common w/ lower end services• often collection of services together• will move around areas• more common in urban LDCs or rural MDCs

– sometimes related to specialty items» ex: flea markets, farmers’ market

• often follow local religious or cultural customs– ex: Muslim (rotate w/ rest on Friday), China (10 day lunar),

Korea (15-day lunar), Africa (local ethnic rules)

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