14

Central Place Theory

1. INTRODUCTION

The central place theory holds an important place in settlement geography

and
specially in urban geography because of space economy. Walter Christaller, the
propounder of central place theory has accepted settlement geography as a part of
economic geography as the factors behind the origin, development and determination
of settlements are fulfilled by cities. It is seen that in any region, the distribution
cities, their number and size is greatly valuable.
of
In early 1930s Walter Christaller, a famous
German economist made a deep
study of the settlements of South Germany. Chistraller submitted his dissertation on
the structure of settlements is in the southern
Germany in 1932 to the University of
Erlangen. His work was published in 1933. His work got greater recognition in 1940s
and 1950s in the United States and elsewhere. He found that
distribution of settlements one may find a regular
inspite of the even
pattern in them. There is definite
ordering principle that governs them. There is some sort of relationship between the
distribution, size and number of settlements and on the basis of this
deep study can be made of the settlements of a region. Christaller hasrelationship
a

laws as 'spatial economic

called these
geographical laws' or "The laws of
settlements'. These laws may be known as tendencies, as these lawsgeography
of
like physical
laws are not permanent and
complicated.
Christaller has called his settlement laws as 'central
basis of his analysis is 'central place theory' because the
place'. This theory of location of urban centres of
Christaller is completely based on the central functions and
services
performs for its surrounding areas. We can compare Christaller's centralwhich the city
with Von Thunen's 'theory of place theory
agricultural location' and Alfred Weber's 'theory of
industrial location'. Christaller was influenced
by locational theorists like J.G. Kohl,
Johann von Thunen, Alfred Weber, and also the
settlement geographer Robert
Gradmann.
2. MAIN FEATURES OF
CHRISTALLER'S THEORY
Christaller's central place theory is a normative model
which provides an
account of the size and distribution pattern of central places, and size and
service or tributary areas of settlements within a shape of
settlement system. Main features of
his central place theory is discussed below:
C e n t r a l

ory
P l a c eT h e o r

umptions of the Theory 173

)

Ass
Assur

an must be an
The
region
mu
isotropic plain with
. purchasing power.
a
homogeneous distribution of
and services
ces must be
The goods obtained
.
central place.
or
purchased from the nearest
nlimentary area of the central place must coincide
The complir

Anycentral place would not earn excess profits. the plain boundary.
4.
Consumer tends to travel minimum distance to obtain
Central Place and Central Function goods and ser
2) Central

central place' is commonly used in urban

The
difference of opinion
regarding geography but there is
considerable.

this term.
onsidere this term. To him "central place is focus ofMark Jefferson (1931) was
was
thefirst manifold activities for the
nding countryside .
rrounding countryside". Such centres according
to R.E. Dickinson are known as
gional centre
or regional capital. These activities which the
centre
egio,

complimentary nentary area are known

area as central performs for its
funetion, wherever
these functions are
wn as central
perform. they are places. Thus, however, a central place is a
entre from which economic, social and other services are well
distributed.
enecialized function of cities Iike mining cannot be included within central Thus, place
hy Christaller dealt with settlement solely as centre for
retailing goods and
services. It is not necessary that a central place should lie at the centre of a
region.
Thus, there are following three characteristic features of central
places:
,1Jt should be a permanent human settlement.
2 t should have some central functions, and
3 It must command a complimentary area that surrounds it.
On these bases, hamlets, villages, market
places, towns and cities can also be
central places. Christaller has used the German word
Zentralen orte' for central
place. According to Robert Grademann, the chief characteristic of a central
10 be the centre of a
place is
region. Those centres which possess this quality are known as
central settlements or central
places(But according to Christaller, the centrality ofa
place is decided not because of its central
position in the region but due to its central
unctions. These are the central services which lead to the origin of hierarchy of
Cenres. The central
Eniral
place of highest order very big surrounding area. ls
serves a
functions are many in number and complicated. It also induces several small
d places of lesser
importancel In contrast to this there are central places or
order or market centres which serve a very small complimentary area and
their functions
too are
limited.)
ining the central place theory, Edward Ullman (1941, 836) writes: "AS a
King
hypothesis one assumes that normally the larger the city, the larger its
tributary
Ulary
rformin
area.
area Th
Thus there should be cities of varying size from small hamlet a
performing
or w
afe Simple function, such as providing a limited shopping and market
10r a
compos small contiguous area, up to large city with large tributary
a
Service areas of many smaller towns and providing more complex
a
area
 174
Settlement Geography
services, such as wholesaling, large-scale banking, specialized retail:
alike. Services performed purely for a surrounding area are termed 'centrol: h
med 'central funcion
by Christaller, and the settlements performing them 'central places An
An
using raw materials importing from outside the local region and shippino its
out of the local area would not constitute a central services". oducg
The aim of central places is not only to originate central
functions but al.
distribute them to the adjoining regions. Chief central functions or also to
services inel
trade, banking, repair, shops, state administration, cultural services include
like chue
temples, mosques, schools, colleges, theatres etc., professional and busin hurch,
organizations and transport and communication etc. iness
(3) Shape of Complimentary Area
Ideally, the complimentary or tributary area for each central place should be
circular with radial traffic routes converging at the centre. If three or more
tangenu
circles are inscribed in an area, there will exist some unserved
spaces. In the case of
overlapping circles, there will be competition in the overlapping areas. Christaller
eliminated this difficulty theoretically by using a
pattern of hexagons instead of
circles. Hexagons are figures most nearly
approximately circles that will use all the
space without unserved or overlapping areas.
best theoretical shapes are
According to Losch (1938) also, the
hexagons, the closest geometrical figures to circles which
will completely fill an area.

Unserved area Overlapping area

Central Place
Fig. 14.1 : Theoretical shape of complementary area.
Christaller has recognized typical-size settlements,
computed their average
population, their distance apart, and the size and population of their tributary area in
accordance with his hexagonal theory
(4) Threshold Population and the Range of a Good
The threshold population means the minimum number of population required in
a central place or town to support a function, service or provision of goods. This
term was used by Christaller while explaining his central place theory. Thus, it
expresses a minimum level of demand that is required to maintain a particular
function at any central place.
For example if in a region any village with population below 500 has no
 Place 7he'o
175
shold population for a
barber's shop
e r ' ss h o p .th
hee. is
harter
or
soarvice
maximum distance torecognized 500 people.
denotes the
which consumers are
g O o d

r a n g e
O1

to ehase an item to obtain a service offered

or

different from each by central place.

fravel

7he
various goods and services are a
to VariOus

willing

r a n g e s
O7

b a k e r y ima
other.
1anufactured at a central place is generally much For example
7he
the
r a n g eo f a

irculatiOn from that place. more than a

a l

Each good o r
.
or service has its two limi of range : (1)
upper limit or outer
a n d
( 2 )lowver
imit or inner limit. limit,
1) atically the upper
Theoretically
or outer limit ot
range of a good is the
1) radius of the sale of that good. maximum
robable Beyond this limit the sale price
D d is so high that the demand of the is good
of
inner limit of a
completely finished.
Tlhe lower or good the radius which
is
includes minimum
(2) niumber of required consumers 1or the profitable
supply of commodity, It
h e demarcated by minimum demand required for a
good or service.
Places
Hierarchy of Central
It is an accepted 1act that a hierarchy of central places does exist, The
ical class system implication is an integra part of the spatial model of central
hierarchica

introduced by Walter Christaller. It is the generic base and

places
single most
enificant statement of central place theory. "The models states that central places
helang to one or another of class subsets. Each class poSsesses specific group of
ntral functions and is characterized by a discrete population level of its centres.
Note that (1) classes are arranged one to another in a hierarchy such that the central
nlaces of functionally more complex classes possess all the
groups of functions of
less complex classes plus a group of function
of
differentiating them from the central
places less complex classes, and (2) discrete population levels of the central places
of each class are thought because the income which
entral place is brought into the centre
supports the populations of a
by the activities which provide goods and
services for surrounding consumers. Since the
central places of each class
discrete groups of possess
activities, they also tend to have discrete population levels" (Berry
and Garrison,
1967, 219-20).
all thecentral places of a
region are classified into 5 hierarchical groups in
SCending order starting from A to B, C, D and the
POduced E, number, and quantity range of
goods and services may be expressed in following manner (Table 14.)
Table 14.1
Hierarchy of Types of functions Quantity of Radius of
A
central places
functions range
Lowest atb 2 km.
Low atbtctd
C. Medium 5 km.
atbtctdtetf 6 10 km.
E. High
Highest atbtctdte+ftgth 8 20 km.
atbtctdte+ftg+htothers 8+ 40 km.
176
Settlement Geograph
It is quite clear from Table 14.1 that with increasing the size clase
places, the central functions or services become more and more
class of centra
Christaller, thus, calculated the population of central places, the distan
them and the area and populations of their tributary areas on the basis of ha
of hexagona
principle.

GPLACE K PLACE
(SMALL STATE CAPITAL) BPLACE
APLACE M PLACE
(DISTRICT CITY)(cOUNTY SEAT) (ToWNSHIP CENTRE)MARKET
AMLES

(B) Transport Principle (K=4) (C) Administrative Principle (K=7)

R
Fig. 14.2: Christaller's Central Place System.
 ory

all the central places of 177

classified
lassitieang
Christaller
ler classified

Southern Germany in
in ascending order (from smallest to
order
biggest). 7
chicelroand the regional capital city the biggest of The
Oups
hieranchical
the s m a l l e s t a n d
market hamlet
all.
nel classes
hieranchica
of places
central
serially: are
1. Market Christaller's 77
2. Township
hnty seat, 4. District city, 5. Small state capital, 6. Provincial
e n t r e , 3 .C o u n

capital
city.
Regional

nd 7.
Table 14.2
ofCentral Places in Southern Germany (after
D i s t r i b u t i o n

Towns
Christaller).
Tributary areas
Central place Distance Population Size (sq. Population
apart (km.) km.)
7 800 45
Market hamlet
2,700
Township centre 12 1,500 135 8,100
21 3,500 400
County seat 24,000
Distreit city 36 9,000 1,200 75,000
Small state capital 62 27,000 3,600 225,000
Provincial head city 108 90,000 10,800 675,000
Regional capital city 186 300,000 32,400 20,25,000
Sources Edward Ulman (1941): A Theory of Location for Cities, American Journal of
Sociology, Vo. 46.

All the figures illustrated in Table 14.2 are computed on the basis of South
Gemany, but Christaller claimed them to be typical for most of Germany and
wEstern Europe. The central places are classified on the basis of spacing each larger
n t in a
hexagonal system of next-order size so that the distance berween Sia
res increases by the 3 over the preceding smaller class. Thus, Market centres
are a distance of 7 km. while Township centres are 12 km. apart. The

Hlbetween two similar centres of equal rank is greater by v3 times than the
distance een places of the preceding smaller category. For example, avera
aCe between two Market hamlets is 7 km. Distance between Township cen
b e 7x 3 =12 km. In this wav, distance between two Couny
12x
seat is
3=21between two district city is 21x 3 =36 km; between two Small state
capital is 36x 3 =62 km. and so on. Christaller also states that the number of central
ital is
places follows a
T:2:6:18: 54:nor
:2:6:19.Om(k=3 system) from largest to smallest in he following order
162 : 486 etc.
t is quite
areas of n t from Table 14.2 that areal size and population of tributary
central pla increase 3 times from lower to higher order centres.
Thus,
classes wo o
butary areas from first (lowest) to seventh (biggest) hierarchical
10,800 km,
serially 45 km, 135 km, 400 km., 1200 km., 3,600 km.,
178 Settlement Geography
and 32,400 kin. Similarly, the population of these
tributary areas would he. would be serialy
225,000, 675,000 and 202,5000.
2,700, 8,100, 24,000, 75,000,
Telephone as a Mcasure of Centrality
(6) For the measurement of centrality of central places of South Germany in 1o

Christaller gave great importance to the number of th1933

telephones saying at it
between central place and its tributary are
represents the greatest connection .To
service, the biggest is the central place. In addition .
him the denser the telephone to
used an index called as telephone index based
population, therefore, Christaller on
number of telephones in proportion to the average number per 1000 inhabitants
South Germany, weighted further by the telephone density of the local sub region
(Ullman, 1967, 205). According to the number of telephones, he calculated the
formula:
centrality of various central places using the following
Zz = Tz- Ez (Tg/Eg)

where
Zz = Centrality of a place,
Tz = Number of telephone in the place,

Ez = Population of that place,

Tg =
Number of telephones in the surrounding areas,
Eg Population ofthe surrounding region.
Objections to Christaller's Telephone Index
Christaller claims that telephones, since they are used for business, are reliable
index of centrality. But such thesis would not be valid for most of the United States
where telephones are as common in homes as in commercial and professional
quarters (Ullman, 1967, 205). The telephone index used by Christaller is highly
criticized.
Telephone index might be significant at that time when Christaller did this work
(1933), but it is no longer valid now. Telephones are now more increasing in rural
areas also and they are now more common in non-central activities rather than in
business activities.
Other Measures of Centrality
(1) Centrality of a place may be measured considering the actual presence of
goods, services and institutions at that place. This methods was used by
R.E. Dickinson (1947) in his study of East Anglia. A.E. Smailes (1944)
used this method in England and Wales, John E. Brush (1953) in South-
Western Wisconsin. Kolb in deciding the hierarchy of town in Wisconsin
used institutions like high school, public library and hospitals as the basis

of centrality measurement.
(2) Measuring the extent of and the people which come from the
area
neighbouring areas to the central places for various services and needs,
H.E. Bracey (1952) used this method in Southern England.
Central Place1heory

(3) thod is the

nother meth 179
measuring
tivities which prevail between cities
of the
and theircentripetal and centrifugal
(4) dward Ulman (1967) suggested that
if one
tributary areas.
Istomers required to knew the
Cust
support certain average number of
regions, then the excess of these specialized
functions over the functions in various
urban populationwould be an index of
centrality.
normal required for the
(6) cOuntingthe number of
automobiles
decide the centrality of this place. which enter the
city can also
Principles of Hierarchy Determination
ino to Christaller, central
lternative principles known asplaces
and their
() market
tributory areas are controlled
administrative principle.
and (3) adminis principle, (2) transport
principle.
for all the
According to him, there exists
stant k value ierarchies of a region which is a
definite and
definite known as 'k' value.
exists a defin, mathematical ratio between
central places There
hierarchic classes which is constant in
context of all the
of two successive
ratio is known as value. Christaller's
constantratio hierarchical orders. This
theory
and his hierarchical class is called fixed k' hierarchy.
is known as 'fixed
k' theory
Market Principle: This is also known as
and commercial centres are
supply principle. Maket places
governed mainly by this principle.
principle, the central places of lower hierarchy are located on According to this
the apex of
tributary area of just higher central place. Thus one third of 6 small hexagonal
their tributary areas come under the tributary area of its central places and
According to market principBe, the number, distribution andhigher order central place.
settlements in a hexagonal system is determined k 3 hierarchical order of the
by rule.
=

The central place theory of Christaller is

explained on the basis of market
principle (k =3 rule). There is one centre only in the
of central places in each hierarchical group highest to highest
order and the numbers
lowest would be 1,2.6, 18, 54,
162, 436.

Market Principles (K=3) Transport Principles (K=4) Administrative Principles (K=7)

Fig. 14.3:
parison of Christaller's Market, Transport and Administrative Principles.
According to Christaller, the average distance between two market hamlets
V3timesof lowest order) in Southern Germany was 7km. This distance increases
3 times with
increas
township centresncreasing
com hierarchical classes. Thus, the distance berween two
Comes to be 7x 3 =12km, between two county seats 12x 3 =21km
 Settlement Geograpy
and so on. The areal size and population of tributary areas of central places
inrease thre times from lower to higher onder centres (vide Table 14.2). The area of
mbutary areas of central places from first to seventh increasing 3 times successive
isfound serialty 1:3:9:27:81:243 729

MARKET PRINCIPLE

Layout Nesting Transport routes

TRANSPORT PRINCIPLE

Layout Nestng Transport routes

ADMINISTRATIVE PRINCIPLE

Layout Nesting Transport routes

Fig. 14.4 Heragonal Layout unier Christaller's AMarke Trasport and Administratie
Principles
Central
P l a c eT h e o r y
181

2 ) T r a n s p
art
o r t
Principle :
principle
It is one of the
introduced by major
taller
2) explaining the central place theory. It is also known as traffic principle.
aller number, distribution and hierarchical
sport principle,
the
regional system is determined by k = 4 rule. Accordingorder of
cording to transp
to this
the settlements
xagonal arrangement of settlements each central place of lower
he hexagonal arra
orinciple, in the
nciple, at the
the mid
mid point of the straight line or road which joints two central
locatedat
order. Thus, the tributary areas of 4 centres of lower order
o r d e r

fhigher (6/2+1)
places
hTghe
the
tributary areas of the central place of higher order, and thus,
tributar
in
included
4. According to transport principle, the number of central places
are
videtherule
1:3:12:48:192:768 etc.
lowest would serially
be
provide to low
fromdministrative Principle: According to this rule 6 central places of lower
from
highest

3 )A d m i n i s
G) Aated with within the hexagonal boundary of the tributary area of the central
located

order aaioher
order
re order. Thus, each central place includes in it tributary area of 7
orde:
of higher
place places(6+1):following the k =7 rule. According to administrative principle,
place
central from highest to lowers comes to be 1:7:49: 343: 2401
places
number
of central
the
16807, etc.
CHRISTALLER'S CENTRAL PLACE THEORY
CRITICISM OF
have greatly criticized the central place theory of Christaller
geographers
Many the evidences and methods
Some have even doubted
arrangement.
and its hexagonal purely theoretical deductive
model.
Some have called it a
which Christaller has used. follows
are as
Some considerable
criticism of this theory various
that the central place theory may be disrupted by
1. Some critics say intensive agriculture, soil productivity,
local factors such as topography,
transportation routes etc.
directions from the centre of
the central
in all not radiate
2. Transport route do service areas may be elongated
or town as said
in this theory. Thus, the
place
rather than hexagonal. their
typical size settlements and
for determining
3. Christaller's criteria counts of settlements
do not fit actual frequency
normal number apparently deductive norms
well as some less rigidly
in may almost uniform regions
as

(Ullman, 1967, 207-8) unsatisfactory. He

that Christaller's proof is
4. Hans Bobeck (1938) claims and England live
in
of Germany
that two-thirds of the population are real
central
Stated one-third of these cities in
Germany
Cities and that only
places. to regions which are
be applied only
Cnristaller's central place theory can
the central places
are
valley and ridges
plain areas. But in regions of deep railways, rivers,
situations of roads, railways,
not symmetrical. Similarly,
ndustrialization etc. greatly influence the central placetneOy
had been also criticized because c
he hexagonal pattern of Christaller this theory has been
and rives and so
linear pattern along rail-road
ected
called purely theoretical. hierarcny
central place ranking and
7. 1 that the
ne geographers think
 182 Settlement Geography
can not be applied to all regions. The formula of k = 3 can not be applied in

all regions.
8. Christaller's central place theory is based on unreal assumptions, so that this
theory does not appear practical.
9. The telephone index used by Christaller is highly criticized because it is no
long valid and useful criteria now.
4. LOSCH'S MODIFICATION
August Losch (1906-1945) eminent German economist who created
was an
significant theoretical extension of the Christaller model. In his book ( 'Die
Raumliche Ordnung der
Wirtschaft,)published
shortly before his death, lhe
presented the ways in which spatial demand cones are derived and verified the
optimal hexagonal shapes of complimentary areas where the population served was
uniformly distributed. His main contribution was to extend the notion of Christallers
fixed K hierarchies.
Losch accepted all the hexagonal networks
presented by Christaller and
extended them to higher orders by
superimposing them on a
common central place
which is the hub of the
settlement system. He considered it as a single most
important city which dominates the trade and many other services in the whole of the
surrounding area." Each of the networks was then rotated about this common central
city until as many as possible of the higher-order services considered in the same
centres. Such an arrangement insures that the sum of the minimal
distances between
settlements is small and that not only shipments, but transport lines, are reduced to a
minimum." (Haggett, P., 1975, 375).

Dre
Kauanlcho
Orclrunq

Fig. 14.5: Central Place System ofLosch.

 e m t r aP
l l a c eT h e o r y
183

rstand the process

To understand
in ddescribing
escri his
L o s c h
in
system, one can
ndopted by
d
place the
that the fixed
cenira imaging

by
work is drawn on a map and
K= network
awn on
an overlay
K 4network is
paper.
The
o f transparent t racing
tracng
rent K-4 networkis
Overlay map o f
through the a)
the K=3 map
K=

inted
to ral place. hen the
c o m m o n c e n t r a l

many major places

ma
rotated,
is
K=3, and the K=4
verlay map
both
the For example,
if
on
to coincide.
made school system anda
are K=3
e have a system,
we try to rotate
hospital and
K=4 the high school
the
overlay so that
both coincide in (b)
doctor's hospital
the locations
rather than being
the same Losch went on to
between two
split stillhigher KK
add the K=7 and to
the map, always trying
networks to
services as possible to
as many
get same locations."
in the
overlap
(Hagget, P, 1975,
375).
Losch too used
the ...
Although
unit and the
same basic hexagonal
K concept as used by
same
he evolved a
Christaller, but
considerably different hierarchy.
consists of
"Christaller's hierarchy
several fixed tiers in which all places
in a particular tier have the same size
and function and all higher-order C)
places perform all the functions of the Landscape.
Fig. 14.6: The Loschian
smaller central places, In contrasts the or
continuous sequence
far less rigid.)It consists of a nearly
SCn1an hierarchy fs size need not have
the
settlements of the same
LrEs rather than distinct tiers. So settlements may be either a K=/
cenural

unction (e.g. a centre serving seven

and larger
both a K=3 and K=4
central place coincide),
Centre where
nI smaller central places." (Hagget, t.
TOeednot perform all the functions of the Losch is illustrared
in

central presented by
P/6). Different hierarchies of places
Fig. 14.5.
with distance
Fig. 14.6(a) ill change
4 ) illustrates that the central place system may
184
Settlement Geography
away from the common central hub or point and may be arranged like aa cart
cart
with alternating sectors; city-rich sectors and city-poor sectors. In the figure twheel
sectors are shown. Six with many production sites called city-rich figure twe ve
six with few production sites called sector, and othe
city-poor sectors. Fig. 14.6(b) shows the Cent.
places with the largest number of functions. Fig. 14.6(¢) illustrates an ntral
a pair of enlargememt
adjacent sectors to show the underling regular hexagonal pattern it tof
of the dot is proportional to the number of (The sia
functions.
Losch's settlement system model
model and is based
represents a logical extension of the Christalle
on the hexagonal areal
same unit.
Hence it also suffers from
same rigidity as Christaller, but it produces relationship between the size the
function of central places that is continuous and
rather than stepped.
REFERENCES
Berry, B.J.L. and Garrison, W.L. (1967: "The Functional Bases of
the Central Place
Hierarchy" in Mayer H.M. and Kohn, C.F. (eds.): Readings in Urban
Geography, Central Book Depot., Allahabad.
Bracey, H.E. (1952): Social Provision in Rural Wiltshire, London.
Brush, John E. (1953): "The Hierarchy of Central Places in
Geographical Review, 43, 380-402. South-Western Wisconsin",
Christaller, W. (1933) : Die Zentralen Orte in
translation by Baskin, C.W. Suddeutschland, Fishcher, Jena. English
Prentice Hall, Englewood
(1966): Central Places in Southern
Germamy
Clifi, New Jersey.
Dickinson, R.E. (1932) "The Distribution and
Settlements in East Anglia," Functions of the Smaller Urban
Geography, 7, 19-31.
Haggett, P. (1975): Geography -A Modern
New York. Synthesis, Harper and Row, Publishers,
Jefferson, M. (1931) : "The Distribution of
Civilization", Geographical Review,World
21.
City Folk: A Study in Comparative
Losch, A. (1938) "The Nature of the Economic
Journal, 5. Regions'", Southern Economic
Smailes, A.E. (1944): "The Urban Hierarchy in
51. England and Wales," Geography, 29, 41-
Ulman, E (1941): "A Theory of Location for Cities," American
835-64. Also published in Mayer H.M. and Journal of Sociology,
Kohn,
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Readings in