Central Place Theory Flashcards
Central Place Theory
A central place is a settlement that provides services and goods for people in the town and surrounding area (hinterland)
Walter christaller
Explains they way settlements are distributed according to their size
Stated settlement are distributed in a pattern according to their size
Threshold:
“The number of people required to keep a shop or service in business”
Some services have high thresholds e.g. hospitals
Low thresholds e.g village shop
Range:
” distance people are prepared to travel to use a service or buy a product”
Range determine the size of a towns hinterland
E.g from a park has a high range
Local DVD store has a small range
Frequency of demand:
“How often a product or service is needed”
Low order goods have a high frequency high
CPT explains why there are few large cities and a greater number of towns and many more villages
Villages offer many low-cost order and few medium order goods e.g hairdressers
People will not travel far to use these services so these settlements are usually closer together
