Central Place Theory

1. Central Place Theory Limitations

2. The isotrophic plain and even population distribution are unrealistic. • isotrophic surfaces = too idealistic. • the regular pattern of hexagons??? • Variations in relief, population distribution, topography and transport facilities. • Consider the time / background: 1933 + agricultural-based economy.

3. In reality, transportation, accessibility and mobility are changing. • road network patterns • change in transport technology • high population mobility  large-scale specialization of urban functions, e.g. shopping centres and light industries. • Urban expansion / urban sprawl • overlapping hinterlands are common.

4. Megabox, Kowloon Bay • Wide range of goods and services • Demand larger threshold but population density in Kowloon Bay cannot meet the threshold • Improved accessibility can solve this problem • MegaBox發展商，聯同信和、旭日、萬泰合共四大財團，計劃合資興建一條「超級天橋」連接九龍灣    站至MegaBox，並可直通各發展商在區內的工廠商廈，有關藍圖已獲政府批准，最快年底動工興建。(Ming Po, 5 August 2007) • Provision shuttle bus to various public housing estates, MTR Station, at road junction  enlarge the threshold (size of the hinterland)

5. The concepts of centrality and hexagonal shapes of market areas are inflexible. • urban centres develop at a coastal location, NOT centre of the plain. • Some market areas are truncated / confined by political boundaries, producing smaller central places than theoretical

6. Assumptions of supplier and consumer behaviour are unrealistic. • The organization of retailing has changed. Both multiple stores and independent stores occur today. A head store can afford its branch to lose business for a short period while anticipating an expanding threshold market in future. • Consumers become more mobile

7. Consider the range of goods, threshold population, order of central place

8. Multi-purpose shopping • multi-purpose shopping = buy low-ordered goods + high-ordered goods at the same time • Increased automobile ownership and customers’ mobility enable in one single trip especially in weekends and holidays. • This often results in the low-order centres being by-passed for low-order goods, thus leading to their decline. • The presence of a large urban centre discourages / eliminates the growth of smaller centres. • Christaller’s concept of hierarchy may not be valid. A continuous sequence of settlements is more likely than the Christaller’s stepped hierarchy.

9. Out-of-town shopping • out-of-town shopping malls = factory outlets in Japan, hypermarkets, large-scale retail stores • provide a full range of goods / services • common in suburbs / edges of large cities • Made possible with the development of infrastructure

10. Online shopping • online order and credit payment can now be done through TVs and the Internet, and by mail order or phone order. • Example: E-bay, Amazon.com…etc • Retail shop location can be via electronic device. • Logistics development helps the flow and delivery of goods and minimize storage and wastage of goods.

11. Periodic markets • Very common in areas with insufficient threshold population to support a permanent market place. • Only open at weekends or holidays / a regular day in a week • Very common in LDCs like China • Flea markets are also common in HK.

12. Conclusion • suppliers can no longer command spatial monopoly over their sphere of influence  market areas become overlapped and competition begins. • some towns consist of more functions relative to their population size due to online shopping. • Competition is not only spatial, because suppliers now attract consumers by lower price, better quality, great variety of goods offered, and services provided.

13. CPT ignores the influence of local resources and other functions of towns • other functions: some are specialized, such as ports, mining towns, manufacturing towns, tourist towns (Queenstown, NZ), university towns (Oxford, Cambridge, UK) • some centres are planned towns. • some settlements’ location has a chance element and their distribution can be quite sporadic. • there will not be any competition amongst these settlements.

14. CPT ignores the influence of local resources and other functions of towns • Manufacturing industry  large urban settlements • Example: in England, the textile towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire have grown up where coal is the major locating factor.

15. CPT ignores the influence of local resources and other functions of towns • Industrial agglomeration also creates industrial towns and regions. • These large industrial-urban agglomerations cannot be simply explained by a pattern of market centres based upon Christaller’s spatial principles.

16. CPT ignores government / institutional influence. • may influence the location of new towns. • Example: Canberra, Australia • national government’s central administrative offices may not be distributed according to Christaller’s principles.

17. CPT ignores historic factor and chance factor. • Urban settlements have grown up as a result of a historical process. Therefore, they are in different technological situations. • Moreover, there are examples of historical accidents in settlement development based on whim (a sudden idea) or local initiative, like Morris at Oxford and Boeing at Seattle.

18. In reality, there are changes over time. • it is not very clear how his central place system would evolve. • CPT is a static theory since it takes on account of the following: • how different orders of settlements come into being. • How orders will change with population increase, technological improvement and time. • Changes in society and the economy are not taken into account.