CENTRAL PLACE ANALYSIS

Abstract

Central place analysis is a collection of theoretical and empirical attempts, originated from the Central Place Theory by Christaller (1933) and Losch (1940), aiming to explain the spatial coordination of the provision of goods and services. The goods and services whose production is subject to scale economies are called central goods, and they are supplied from central places, typically towns and cities. The degree of scale economies associated with each central good determines the hinterland size of each central place. The central places supplying the goods associated with larger scale economies are called higher-order central places. The theory predicts the spatial coordination of central places leading to the hierarchy principle which asserts that each central place supplies all goods provided in lower-order central places, and the spacing-out property that central places of a given order are equally spaced.