_book_pdf_hattpaul-1951_237-247_

8/10/2019 _BOOK_PDF_HattPaul-1951_237-247_

1/11

A THEORY

O

LOCATION

OR ITIES

Edward Ullman

Periodically in the pas t century the location and distr ibution of cities and

se t t lements have been s tudied . Impor tant cont r ibut ions have been made

by individuals in many disciplines. Part ly because of the diversityand un-

co-ordinated na ture of the attack and par t ly because of the complexities

and variables involved, a sys temat ic theory has been slow to evolve, in

cont ras t

to the

advances

in the

field

of

industrial location.^

The first theoretical s tatement

of

modern impor t ance

was von

Thiinen's

Der isolierte Stoat,

init ial ly published

in 1826,

where in

he

pos tu la ted

an

entirely uniform land surface and showed tha t und er idea l condi t ions a

ci ty would develop in the center of this land area and concentric r ingsof

land use wo uld develop aro und the central ci ty. In 1841Kohl investigated

the re la t ion be tween c i t iesand the na tu ra l and cul tura l envi ronment , p ay

ing par t icular a t tent ion to the effect of t ranspor t routes on the location of

urban centers . - In 1894 Cooley admirably dem onst ra ted the channelizing

influence that t ransportat ion routes, part icularly rai l , would have on the

location and deve lopmen t of trade centers. He also called at tention to

break

in

t ranspor ta t ion

as a

city-builder just

as

Ratze l

had

earlier.

In 1927

flaig sought

to

de t e rmine

why

the re

was

such

a

large concen t ra t ion

of

p o p

ulat ion and m anufac tu r ing in the largest ci t ies.* Since concentrat ion occurs

where assembly of mater ia l is cheapes t , all business functions, except ex

t ract ion and transp ortat io n, ideally should be located in cit ies where trans

por ta t ion is least cost ly. Exceptions are provided by the processing of

per ishable goods ,as in sugar centrals ,and of large weight - los ing commod

ities,as in smelters. Haig's theoretical t reatment is of a dilferent ty pe from

Reprinted from

The

American Journal

of

Sociology,

Vol. 46 (May

1941),

pp.

853-64,

by permission

of the

author

and the

publisher. (C opyright,

1941, by The

American

Journal

of

Sociology.)

1.

Cf.

Tord Palander, Beitrdge

zur

Standorfstheorie (Uppsala, Sweden, 1935), or

E. M. Hoover, Jr., Location Theory

and the

Shoe

and

Leather Industries (Cambridge,

Mass., 1937 .

2. J. G.Kolil,

Der

Verkchr tind

die

Ansiedlungen

der

M enscJien

in

irerAbliangigkeit

vo n

der

Gestaldung

der

Erdoherflache

(2d ed.;

Leipzig, 1850).

3.

C. H.

Cooley,

The

Theory

of

Tran.sportation, Publications

of the

American Eco

nomic Association,

IX (May,

1894),

1-148.

4. R. M.

Haig, Toward

an

Understanding

of the

Metropolis: Some Speculations

Regarding the Economic Basis of Urban Concentration, Quarterly Journal

of

Eco

nomics, XL (1926), 179-208.

227


2/11

228 THE SPATIAL AN D TEMPORAL PATTERNS OF CITIES

those just ci ted but should b e inclu ded as an excellent exam ple of a con

cent ra t ion s tudy.

In 1927 Bo be ck show ed tha t Ge rma n geograp hers since 1899, fol lowing

Schli iter and others, ha d co ncerne d themselves largely with the in ternal

geo grap hy of ci ties, with th e patter n of land use and forms within t ire urba n

limits , in contrast to the problem of location and support of ci t ies. Such

preoccup at ion w i th in ternal urban s t ruc ture has a lso charac ter ized the recent

work of geographers in America and other countries. Bobeck insisted with

reason that such studies, valuable though they were, consti tuted only half

the f ie ld of urban geography and tha t there remained unanswered the

fund am ental g eograp hical ques tion W hat are the causes for the existence,

prese nt size, and characte r of a ci ty? Since the publicat io n of this art icle,

a number of urban studies in Germany and some in other countries have

dealt with such questions as the relat ions between ci ty and country.^

A theoretical framework for study of the distr ibution of set t lements is

provided by the work of Walter Christal ler .^ The essence of the theory

is that a certain amount of productive land supports an urban center . The

center exists because essential services must be performed for the surround

ing land. Thus the primary factor explaining Chicago is the productivi ty of

the Middle West; location at the southern end of Lake Michigan is a sec

ondary factor. If there were no Lake Michigan, the urban populat ion of the

M iddle W est w ould in al l prob abil i ty be just as large as it is now. j[deally,

the city should be in the center of a productive area.* The similarity of this

concept to von Thiinen's original proposit ion is evident .

Apparent ly many scholars have approached the scheme in the i r th ink

ing. Bobeck claims he presente d the rudime nts of such an explanation in

1927. The work of a number of American rural sociologists shows apprecia

t ion for some of Christal lcr 's prel iminary assumptions, even though done

before or without knowledge of Christal lcr 's work and performed with a

different end in view. Galpin 's epochal study of trade areas in Walworth

5 . Mans Bobeck , Gru ndf ra gcn de r S tad t Ge ogra ph ic , Geographischer Anzeiger,

X X V I I I ( 1 9 2 7 ) , 2 1 3 - 2 4 .

6 . A s ec t ion o f the In te rn a t iona l G oograp l i i c a l Congres s a t Am s te rdam in 1938 d ea l t

wi th Fun c t ion a l Re la t ions be tw een C i ty and Co un t ry . T h e pape rs a re pub l i s hed in

Vol . II of the Comptes rendus (L e id en : E . J . B r i l l, 193 8) . A recen t Amer ican s tudy i s

C . D . Ha r r i s , Salt Lake City: A Regional Capital (P h . D . d i s s . . Un ive rs i ty of Ch icago ,

1 9 4 0 ) .

Pe r t inen t a ls o i s R . E . D ick ins on , T he M e t ropo l i t an Reg ions o f the Un i ted

Sta te s , Geographical Review, X X I V ( 1 9 3 4 ) ,

2 7 8 -9 1 .

7 . Die zentralen Orte in Siiddetit. ichland (J en a , 1935 ) ; a l so a pape r (no t i t l e ) in

Comptes rendus du Congres internationale de geographie Amsterdam (1 93 8) , 11, 123-37 .

8 . T l i is does no t dc ny j th e impo r tanc e o f ga te wa y cen te rs s uch a s Om al ia and

Kansas City , c i t ies located between contras t ing areas in order to secure exchange benefi ts .

The logica l growth of c i t ies a t such locat ions does not des troy the theory to be presented

( c / .

R. D. McKenzie 's excel lent discuss ion in The Metropolitan Commun itij [Ne w York ,

1 9 3 3 ] , pp. 4 ff . ) .

9 . Cf . Pe t r i e ' s s t a t em en t abou t anc ien t E g yp t and Mes op o tam ia : I t ha s been

no t i ced be fo re how remarkab ly s imi la r the d i s t ances a re be tween the ea r ly non ie cap i t a l s

o f the De l t a ( twen ty -one mi le s on an ave rage ) and the ea r ly c i t i e s o f Mes opo tamia

(ave rag ing twen ty mi le s apa r t ) . Some phys ica l c aus e s eems to l imi t the p r imi t ive ru le


3/11

A THEORY OF LOC ATIO N FOR CITIES 229

Co unty , W isconsin, pub lished in 1915, wa s the first contribution . Since then

important studies bearing on the problem have been made by others.^**

These studies are confined primari ly to smaller t rade centers but give a

wealth of information on distr ibution of set t lements which independently

substantiates many of Christal ler 's basic premises.

As a working hypothesis one assumes that normally the larger the ci ty,

the larger i ts t r ibutary area. Thus there should be ci t ies of varying size

ranging from a small hamlet performing a few simple functions, such as

providing a l imited shopping and market center for a small contiguous area,

up to a large ci ty with a large tr ibutary area composed of the service areas

of many smaller towns and providing more complex services, such as whole-

sahng, large-scale banking, special ized retai l ing, and the l ike. Services per

formed pure ly for a surrou ndin g area are term ed centra l functions by

Chr is ta lle r , and the se t t lements per forming them cent ra l p laces . An indus

try using raw materials imported from outside the local region and shipping

its products out of the local area would not consti tute a central service

Ideally, each central place would have a circular tr ibutary area, as in

von Thiinen's proposit ion, and the ci ty would be in the center . However,

if three or moi-e tangent circles are inscribed in an area, unserved spaces

will exist ; the best theoretical shapes are hexagons, the closest geometrical

fi^gures to circles which will completely fill an area (Fig. 1).^^

Christal ler has recognized typical-size set t lements, computed their aver

age populat ion, their distance apart , and the size and populat ion of their

tr ibutary areas in accordance with his hexagonal theory as Table 1 shows.

He also states that the number of central places fol lows a norm from largest

in this way. Is i t not the l imit of centra l s torage of gra in , which is the essent ia l form of

ea r ly cap i t a l ? Supp l i e s cou ld be cen t ra l i s ed up to t en mi le s away ; beyond tha t the cos t

o f t rans po r t mad e it be t t e r wor th whi le to have a nea re r ce n t re (W . M. F l inde rs P c t r i e ,

SocUil Life in Ancient Egypt [L on don , 1923 ; re i s s ued , 193 2] , pp . 3 - 4 ) .

10.

C . J . Ga lp in ,

Social Anatomy of an Anricultural Comm unity

(Uni \ -e r s i ty o f Wis

cons in Agr icu l tu ra l E xpe r imen t S ta t ion Res ea rch Bu l l . 34 [1915] ) , and the re s tudy by

J . H. Kolb and R. A. Poison, Trends in Toion-Country Relations (Univ e rs i ty o f Wis co n

s in Agr icu l tu ra l E xpe r i men t S ta t ion Res ea rch Bu l l. 117 [19 33 ] ) ; B . L . McKin , Village

Service Agencies of New York State, 1925 (Cor ne l l Un ive r s i ty Agr icu l tu ra l E xp e r ime n t

S ta t ion Bu l l . 493 [1929] ) , and Rural Population of New Y ork, 1 8 5 5 - 1 9 2 5 ( C o r n e l l U n i

ve rs i ty Agr icu l tu ra l E xp e r im en t S ta t ion Memoi r 11(3 [1 92 8] ) ; Dw igh t Sande rs on , The

Rural Community (N ew York, 19 32 ) , e s p . pp . 488-5 14 , wh ich con ta ins re fe rences to

many s tud ie s by Sande rs on and h i s a s s oc ia te s ; Ca r le C . Z immerman ,

Farm Trade Cen

ters in Minnesota, 1905-29 (Un ive rs i ty of Minnes o ta Agr icu l tu ra l E xpe r im en t S ta t ion

B u l l . 2 6 9 [ 1 9 3 0 ] ) ; T . L y n n S m i t h , Farm Trade Centers in Louisiana 1905 to 1931

(L ou i s i ana S ta te Unive rs i ty Bu l l . 234 [1933] ) ; Pau l H . L and i s , South Dakota Town-

Country Trade Relations, 1901-1931 (So u th Dak o ta Agr icu l tu ra l E xp e r im en t S ta t ion

B u l l . 2 7 4 [ 1 9 3 2 ] ) . a n d The Growth and Decline of South Dakota T rade Centers, 1901-

1933 ( B u l l . 2 7 9 [ 1 9 3 8 ] ) , a n d Washington Farm Trade Centers, 1900-1935 ( S t a t e C o l -

l ego o f W as h in g ton A gr icu l tu ra l E xpe r im en t S ta t ion Bu l l. 360 [19 38 ] ) . O the r s tud ie s

a re l i s t ed in s ubs equen t foo tno te s .

1 1 .

See Aug us t L os ch , T h e Na tu re of the E cono mic Reg ions ,

Southern Economic

Journal, V ( 1 9 3 8 ) , 7 3 . G a l p i n (op. cit.) tho ugh t in term s of s ix t r ib utar y-ar ea c ire les

around each center . See a lso Kolb and Poison, op. cit., p p .

3 0 -4 1 .


4/11

230

THE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAl PATTERNS OF CITIES

FIG.

1. Theoretica l shape of tributary areas. Circles leave unserved spaces, hexagons do no t.

Small hexagons are service areas for smalle r places, la rge hexagons do tted lines) represent

service areas for next higher rank central places.

to smallest in the following order 1:2:6:18:54, etc.^^

All these f igures are computeHTJnThe basis 'oTSouth Germany, but Chris-

tal ler claims them to be typical for most of Germany and western Europe.

The settlements are classified on the basis of spacing each larger unit in a

Iiexagon of next-order size, so that the distance between simil iar~centers

in the table above increases by the y 3 over the prec edin g smaller catego iy

(in Fig. 1, e.g., the distance from A to B is

y/S

t imes the distance from

A to C ). Th e ini t ial distanc e f igure of 7 km. bet we en the smallest centers

is chosen because 4-5 km., approximately the distance one can walk in one

hour, appears to be a normal service-area l imit for the smallest centers.

Thus ,

in a hexagonal scheme, these centers are about 7 km. apart . Chris-

tal ler 's maps indicate that such centers are spaced close to this norm in

South Germany. In the larger categories the norms for distance apart and

size of centers appear to be true averages; but variat ions from the norm are

the rule, al though wide discrepancies are not common in the eastern por

t ion of South Germany, which is less highly industr ial ized than the Rhine-

Ruhr areas in the west . The number of central places of each rank varies

rather widely from the normal order of expectancy.

TABLE ;

Central Place

Market hamlet {Marktort)

Township center Amtsort)

County seat {Kteissiadt)

District city {Bezirksstodt)

Small state capital {Gaustadt)

Provincial head city iProyinzhauptstadt)

Regional capitol city Landeshauptstadt)

To

Distance

Apart

Km.)

7

12

21

36

62

108

186

wns

Population

800

1 500

3 500

9 000

27 000

90 000

300 000

Tribute

Size

Sq. Km.)

45

135

400

1 200

3 600

10 800

32 400

ify

Areas

Population

2 700

8 100

24 000

75 000

225 000

675 000

2 025 000

12 . Barnes and Robinson present some interesting maps showing the average dis

tance apart of farmhouses in the driftless area of the Middle West and in southern

Ontario. Farmhouses might well be regarded as the smallest settlement units in a central-

place scheme, although they might not be in the same numbered sequence (James A.

Barnes and Arthur H. Robinson, A New Method for the Representation of Dispersed

Rural Population,

Geographical Review,

XXX [1940], 134-37).


5/11

A THEORY OF LOC ATIO N FOR CITIES 231

The theoretkal ideal appears to be most nearly approached in poor,

thinly settled farm districtsareas which are most nearly self-contamed. In

some other sections of Germany industr ial concentrat ion seems to be a more

important explanation, al though elements of the central-place type of dis

tr ibution are present . Christal ler points out that Cologne is real ly the com

mercial center for the Ruhr industrial district even though it is outside the

Ruhr area. Even in mountain areas central i ty is a more important factor

than topography in f ixing the distr ibution of set t lements. Christal ler s tates

that one cannot claim that a certain ci ty is where i t is because of a certain

riverthat would be tantamount to saying that i f there were no r ivers there

would be no ci t ies.

Populat ion alone is not a true measure of the central importance of a

ci ty; a large mining, industr ial , or other special ized-function town might

have a small t r ibutary area and exercise few central functions. In addit ion

to populat ion, therefore, Christal ler uses an index based on number of tele

phones in proport ion to the average number per thousand inhabitants in

South Germany, weighted further by the telephone density of the local

subregion. A rich area such as the Palat inate supports more telephones in

proport ion to populat ion than a poor area in the Bavarian Alps; therefore,

the same number of telephones in a Palat inate town would not give i t the

same central s ignificance as in the Alps. He claims that telephones, s ince

they are used for business, are a reliable index of centrality. Such a thesis

would not be valid for most of the United States, where telephones are as

common in homes as in commercial and professional quarters.

Some better measures of central i ty could be devised, even if only the

number of out-of-town telephone calls per town. Better st i l l would be some

measure of actual central services performed. I t would be tedious and diff i

cult to compute the amount, or percentage, of business in each town drawn

from outside the ci ty, but some short cuts might be devised, l i one knew the

average number of customers required to support certain special ized func

tions in various regions, then the excess of these functions over the normal

required for the urban populat ion would be an index of central i ty. ' ' ' In

several s tates rural sociologists and others have computed the average num

ber of certain functions for towns of a given size. With one or two excep

t ions only small towns have been analyzed. Retai l t rade has received most

at tention, but professional and other services have also been examined.

These studies do not tel l us actually what populat ion supports each service,

since the services are supported both by town and by surrounding rural

populat ion, but they do provide norms of function expectancy which would

be just as useful .

13 . In Iowa, e.g., almost all towns of more than 450 inhabitants have banks, half of

the towns of 250-300, and 20 per cent of the towns of 100-150 (according to calcula

tions made by the author from population estimates in

Rand McNalli/s Commercial Atlas

for 1937).

14.

See particularly the thorough study by B. L. Melvin, Village Service Agencies,

New York State 1925;

C. R. Hoffer,

A Study of Town-Country Relationships

(Michigan


6/11


A suggestive indicator of centrality is provided by tlie maps which

Dickinson has made for per capita wholesale sales of cities in the United

States. ' ' On this basis centers are distribu ted rathe r evenly in acc ord anc e

with regional population density. Schlicr has computed the centrality of

cities in Ge rma ny on the basis of census return s for cen tral occ upa tion s. '

Refinement of some of our census returns is desirable before this can be

done ent i re ly sat isfactor i ly in the United States , but the method is probably

the most promising in prospect .

Another measure of central i ty would be the number of automobiles

enter ing a town, making sure that suburban movements were not included.

Figures could be secured i f the s ta te-wide highway planning surveys in

forty-six states were extended to gather such statistics.

The central-place scheme may be dis tor ted by local factors , pr imari ly

industr ia l concentrat ion or main t ransport routes . Chris ta l ler notes that

t ransporta t ion is not an areal ly operat ing pr inciple , as the supplying of cen

tral goods implies, but is a linearly working factor. In many cases central

places are s t rung at short intervals a long an important t ransport route^ahd

their t r ibutary areas do not approximate the ideal c ircular or hexagonal

shape but are e longated at r ight angles to the main t ransport l ine . '^ In some

areas the reverse of this normal expectancy is true, In most of Illinois, maps

depict ing t r ibutary areas show them to be e longated paral le l to the main

transport routes, not at right angles to them.^' ' The combination of nearly

uniform land and competitive railways pecuTiaf to the state results in main

Agricultural Experiment Station Special Bull. 181 [1928]) (data on number of retail

stores and professions per town); H. B. Price and C. R. Hoffer,

Services of Rural Trade

Centers in Distrilnition of Farm Supplies

(Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station

Bull. 249 [1938]); William J. Reilly,

Methods for the Study of Retail Relationships

( Bu reau of Business Researcli Mo nog raph s, No . 4, University of Texas Bull. 294 4

[1929]), p. 26; J. H. Kolb, Seruice

Institutions of Town and Country

(Wisconsin Agri

cultural Expe riment Station Research Bull. 66 [19 25] ) (tow n size in relation to sup

port of institutions); Smith,

op. cit.,

pp. 32-40; Paul H. Landis,

South Dakota Town-

Country Trade Relations, 1901-1931, p. 20 (population per business enterprise), and

pp. 24-25 (functions per town size); Zimmerman,

op. cit.,

pp. 16 and 51 ff.

For a criticism of population estimates of unincorporated hamlets used in many of

these studies see Glenn T. Trew artha , The Un incorpo rated Ha mle t: An Analysis of

Data Sources (pape r presented December 28 at Baton Rouge meetings. Association

of American Geographers; forthcoming, probably, in March number of

Rural Sociology,

Vol. VI [1941]).

15. Op. cit.,

pp.

280-81.

16 . Otto Schlier, Die zentralen Orte des Deu tschen Reich s, Zeitschrift der Gesell-

schaft filr Erdkunde zu Berlin

(1937), pp. 161-70. See also map constrticted from

Schlier's figures in R. E. Dickinson's valuable article, Th e Econom ic Regions of

Germany, Ceograp/iicaZ

Review,

XXVIII (1938), 619. For use of census figures in the

United States see Harris,

op. cit.,

pp. 3-12.

17 . For an illustration of this type of tributary area in the ridge and valley section

of east Tennessee see H. V. Miller, Effects of Reservoir Construction on Local Eco

nomic Units,

Economic Geography,

XV (1939), 242-49.

18 . See, e.g.,

Marketing Atlas of the United States

(New York: International Maga

zine Co., Inc.) or A

Study of Natural Areas of Trade in the United Slates

(Washing

ton, D.C.: U.S. National Recovery Administration, 1935).


7/11

A THEORY OF LOCA TION FOR CITIES 233

rai lways running nearly paral lel and close to one another between major

centers.

J n j n ^ h l y indus t r ia lized areas the centra l -p lace scheme is genera l ly so

distorted by industr ial concentrat ion in response to resources and transpor-

_tatioiTIt5at.it may be said to have little significance as an explanation for

urban location and distr ibution, al though some features of a central-place

scheme may be present , as in the case of Cologne and t l ie Ruhr.

In addit ion to distort ion, the type of scheme prevail ing in various regions

is susceptIEIe~to m any influences. Pro duc tivity of the soil, ' ty pe of agricul

ture and intensity of cult ivation, topography, governmental orgiinization,

are all obvious modifiers. In the United States, for example, what is the

effect on distribution of settlements caused by the sectional layout of the

land and the regular size of counties in many states? In parts of Latin

Am erica ma ny centers are kno wn as Sund ay towns ; their chief functions

appear to be purely social, to act as religious and recreational centers for

holidayshence the nam e Sund ay town. - He re social rathe r than eco

nomic services are the primary support of towns, and we should accord

ingly expect a system of central places with fewer and smaller centers, be

cause fewer functions are performed and people can travel farther more

readily than commodit ies. These underlying differences do not destroy the

value of the theory; rather they provide variat ions of interest to study for

themselves and for purposes of comparison with other regions.

The system of central places is not static or fixed; rather it is subject to

change and development with changing condit ions.^^ Improvements in

transportat ion have had noticeable effects . The provision of good automo

bile roads al ters buying and marketing practices, appears to make the

smallest centers smaller and the larger centers larger, and generally al ters

trade areas.-- Since good roads are spread more uniformly over the land

1 9 . Cf .

the emphas i s o f Sombar t , Adam Smi th , and o the r economis t s on the neces

s i ty of surplus produce of land in order to support c i t ies . Fert i le land ordinari ly

p rod uces mo re s u rp lus and cons equen t ly more u rb an popu la t ion , a l though the town

. . . . m a y n o t a lw a y s d e r iv e it s w h o l e s u b si s t en c e fr o m t h e c o u n t ry i n i ts n e i g h b o r

hood . . . . (A dam Smi th , The Wealth of Nations [ M o d e r n L i b r a r y e d i t io n ; N e w

York , 1937] p . 357 ; Werne r Sombar t ,

Der moderne Kapitalismus

[zwe i te , neug ea rbe i t e t e

Auf lage ; Mu nich an d L e ipz ig , 1916] , I , 130-3 1) .

2 0 .

F or an accoun t o f s uch s e t t l emen ts in Braz i l s ee P ie r re De f fon ta ines , Rap por t s

fonc t ionne l s en t re l e s agg lomera t ions u rba ines e t ru ra le s : un example en pays de co lon i

sa t ion, le Bres i l , Comptes rendus du Congres intemationale de geographie Amsterdam

( 1 9 3 8 ) , I I , 1 3 9 - 4 4 .

2 1 .

T he e f fec t s o f booms , d rough t s , and o the r fac to rs on t rade -cen te r d i s t r ibu t ion

by decades a re b rough t ou t in L and i s ' s tud ie s fo r Sou th Dako ta and Was h ing ton . Z im

me rm an and Smi th a ls o s how the chang ing cha rac te r of t rade - cen te r d i s t r ibu t ion ( s ee

n. 10 of t l i is pa pe r for ref ere nce s) . Melv in ca lls a t ten t ion to a vi l lage popul a t io n shif t

l ag ;

in pe r iods o f depre s s ed ag r icu l tu re v i l l ages in New York dec l ined in popu la t ion

approx ima te ly a decade a f t e r the s u r round ing ru ra l popu la t ion had dec reas ed (B . L .

Me lv in , Rural Population of New York, 1855-1925, p . 1 2 0 ) .

2 2 . Mos t s tud ie s ind ica te tha t on ly the ve ry s ma l le s t hamle t s (unde r 250 popu la t ion)

and c ros s roads s to re s have dec l ined in s i ze o r number . T he l a rge r s ma l l p laces have he ld

the i r own ( s ee L and i s fo r Was h ing ton ,

op. cit.,

p . 37 , and h i s

South Dakota Town-

Country Trade Relations 1901-1931, p p . 3 4 - 3 6 ) . Z i m m e r m a n i n 1 9 3 0 (op. cit., p . 41 )


8/11


than rai lways, their provis ion seems to make the dis t r ibut ion of centers cor

respond mo re closely to the no rm al scheme.^^

Chris ta l ler may be gui l ty of c la iming too great an appl icat ion of his

scheme. His cr i ter ia for determining typical-s ize set t lements and their

normal number apparent ly do not f i t actual f requency counts of set t lements

in many almost uniform regions as well as some less rigidly deductive

norms.^*

Bobeck in a later article claims that Christaller 's proof is unsatisfactory.^^

He s ta tes that two-thirds of the populat ion of Germany and England l ive

in cities and that only one-third of these cities in Germany are real central

places . The bulk are pr imari ly industr ia l towns or vi l lages inhabi ted solely

by farmers. He also declares that exceptions in the rest of the world are

common, such as the purely rural dis t r ic ts of the Tonkin Delta of Indo-

China, c i t ies based on energet ic entrepreneuria l act ivi ty , as some I ta l ian

ci t ies , and world commercial ports such as London, Rotterdam, and Singa

pore. Many of these object ions are val id; one wishes that Chris ta l ler had

bet ter quant i ta t ive data and were less vague in places . Bobeck admits , how

ever , that the central-place theory has value and appl ies in some areas .

The central-place theory probably provides as val id an interpretat ion of

set t lement dis t r ibut ion over the land as the concentr ic-zone theory does

for land use within cities. Neither theory is to be thought of as a rigid frame

work fitt ing all location facts at a given moment. Some, expecting too much,

would je t t ison the concentr ic-zone theory; others , real iz ing that i t is an

investigative hypothesis of merit , regard it as a useful tool for comparative

analysis.

n o tes t h a t c ro ss ro ad s s t o res a r e d i sap p ear in g an d a re b e in g r ep l aced b y sm al l v i l l ag es .

He s t a t es fu r t l i e r: I t is ev id en t t h a t c l a im s o f su b s t an t i a l co r r e l a t i o n b e tw een th e ap

p earan ce an d g ro wth o f t h e l a rg er t r ad in g cen t e r an d t h e d i sap p earan ce o f t h e p r im ary

cen t e r a r e m o re o r l e s s u n fo u n d ed . Al th o u g h th e re a re m in o r r e l a t i o n sh ip s , t h e m ain

ch an g e h as b een a d iv i s io n o f l ab o r b e tween th e two ty p es o f cen t e r s r a th e r t h an t h e

co m p le t e o b l i t e r a t i o n o f t h e sm al l e r i n f av o r of t h e l a rg er (p . 3 2 ) .

For fur ther ev idences of effect o f au tomobi le on smal l cen ters see R. V. Mitchel l ,

Trends in Rural Retailing in llllinois 1926 to i9 3 8 (Un iv er s i t y o f I l li n o i s Bu reau o f

Bu s in ess Research Bu l l . , Se r . 5 9 [1 9 3 9 ] ) , p p . 3 1 ff., an d San d e r so n , op. cit., p . 564 , as

wel l as o ther s tud ies ci ted above.

2 3 .

Sm i th (op. cit., p . 5 4 ) s t a t es : Th e re h as b ee n a t en d en cy fo r cen t e r s of v a r io u s

s i zes t o d i s t r i b u t e t h em se lv es m o re u n i fo rm ly wi th r eg ard t o t h e a rea , p o p u la t i o n , an d

resources of the s tate . Or the changes seem to be in the d i rect ion of a more eff icien t

p a t t e rn o f ru ra l o rg an i za t i o n . Th i s r ed i s t r i b u t i o n o f cen t e r s i n co n ju n c t io n wi th im p ro v ed

m eth o d s of co m m u n ica t i o n an d t r an sp o r t a t i o n h as p l aced each f am i ly in f r eq u en t c o n

t ac t wi t l i s ev era l t r ad e cen t e r s

In co n t r as t , Melv in (Rural Population of New York, 1855-1925, p . 9 0 ) , w r i t i n g

ab o u t New Yo rk S t a t e b e fo re t h e au to m o b i l e h ad h ad m u ch e f fec t, s t a t es : In 1 8 7 0 th e

\ i l l a g c s . . . we re r a th e r ev en ly sca t t e r ed o v er t h e en t ir e s t a t e wh ere t h e y h ad b ee n

lo ca t ed ea r l i e r i n r esp o n se t o p a r t i cu l a r l o ca l n eed s . By 1 9 2 0 , h o wev er , t h e v i l l ag es h ad

b ec o m e d i s t r i b u t e d m o re a lo n g ro u t es of t r a \ ' e l an d t r an sp o r t a t i o n an d in t h e v i c in i t y

of ci t ies .

2 4 . Th i s s t a t em en t i s m a d e o n t h e b as i s o f f r eq u en cy co u n t s b y t h e a u th o r fo r

s e v e r a l m i d w e s t e m s t a t e s

(cf.

also Schl ier , op .

cit.,

p p . 1 6 5 - 6 9, f or G e r m a n y ) .

2 5 .

Han s Bo b eck , Ub er e in ig e fu n c t i o n e l le S t ad t t y p en u n d ih re Bez i eh u n g e n zu m

L a n d e , Comp tes rendus du Congres Internationale de giographie Amsterdam ( 1 9 3 8 ) ,

n , 8 8 .


9/11

A THEORY

OF

LOCATION

FOR

CITIES

235

Even in the closely articulated national economy of the United States

there are strong forces at work to produce a central-place distribution of

settlements. It is true that products under our national economy are charac

teristically shipped from producing areas through local shipping-points di

rectly to consuming centers which are often remote. However, the distribu

tion of goods or imports brought into an area is characteristically carried on

through brokerage, wholesale and retail channels in central cities.^ This

graduated division of functions supports a central-place framework of

settlements. Many nonindustrial regions of relatively uniform land surface

have cities distributed so evenly over the land that some sort of central-place

theory appears to be the prime explanation.^^ It should be worth while to

study this distribution and compare it with other areas.^^ In New England,

on the other hand, where cities are primarily industrial centers based on

distant raw materials and extra-regional markets, instead of the land's sup

porting the city the reverse is more nearly true: the city supports the coun

tryside by providing a market for farm products, and thus infertile rural

areas are kept from being even more deserted than they are now.

26.

Harris,op. cit.,p. 87.

27. For a confirmation of thissee the column diagram on p. 73 of Losch op. cit.),

which shows

the

minimum distances between towns in Iowa of three diflFerent size

classes. Themaps of trade-center distribution in the works of Zimmerman, Smith,

and

Landis (cited earlier) also show

an

even spacing

of

centers.

28. The following table gives the average community area for 140 villages

in the

United States in 1930.In thetable notice throughout that (1) thelarger thevillage,the

larger its tributary area in each regionand (2) thesparser therural popu lation density,

the larger thevillage tributary area for each size class (contrast mid-Atlantic with

ar

West, etc.) .

ommunifyAreainSquareMiles

Small Medium Large

Villages Villages Villages

CISO-I.OOO 1,000-1,750 1,750-2.500

Region Pop.

Mid-At lant ic 43

South

77

Middle West 8

For West

Although 140 is only a sampleof thenumber of villagesin thecountry,

the

figures

are

significant because the service areas were carefully and

uniformly delimited

in the

field for all villages (E. deS.Brunner and J. D. Kolb, Rural Socuil Trench [NewYork,

1933],p. 95; see also E. deS.Brunner, G. S. Hughes, and M.Patten, American Agri

cultural Villages

[NewYork, 1927 ], chap .ii).

In NewYork 26 sq. mi. wasfound to be tlie average area per \il lage in 1920. Vil

lage refers to anysettlement under 2,500 population. Nearness to cities, type of agricul

ture,

androutesof travelarecitedas thethree most impo rtant factors influencing density

of villages. Since areas near cities

are

suburbanized

in ^ome

cases,

as

around

New

York

City, thevillage-density in these districts is correspondingly high. Some urban counties

with smaller cities (Rochester, Syracuse,andNiagara Falls) have fewsuburbs, andcon

sequently thevillages are farther a part tha n in many agricultural counties (B. L. Mel-

vin.

Rural Populationof New York, 1855-1925,

pp.88-89; table on p. 89 sliows number

of square miles pervillage in each NewYork c oun ty).

In sample areas of New York State the average distance from a village of 250 or

under toanother of the same size or larger is about 3 miles;for the 2.50-749 classit is

3-5 miles; for the 750-1,249 class, 5-7 miles (B. L. Melvin, Village Service Agencies,

New York, 1925,p. 102; in the table on p. 103 the distance averages cited aboveare

Pop.)

46

3

365

Pop.)

87

46

48

223


10/11


The forces making for concentration at certain places and the inevitable

rise of cities at these favored places have been emphasized by geographers

and other scholars. The phenomenal growth of industry and world trade in

the last hundred years and the concomitant growth of ci t ies just ify this em

phasis but have perhaps unintentionally caused the int imate connection

between a ci ty and i ts surrounding area part ial ly to be overlooked. Explana

tion in terms of concentration is most important for industrial districts but

does not provide a complete areal theory for distr ibution of set t lements.

Fur th erm ore , there i s evidence tha t of la te . . . the rapid growth of the

larger cities has reflected their increasing importance as commercial and

service centers rather than as industr ial centers. ' Some forni of the central-

place theory should provide the most real ist ic key to the distr ibution of

set t lements where there is no marked concentrat ionin agricultural areas

where explanation has been most diff icult in the past . For al l areas the

system may well furnish a theoretical norm from which deviat ions may be

measured. ' ' I t m ight also be an aid in plann ing th e dev elopm ent of new

areas . If the theory is kept in mind by workers in academic and planning

fields as more studies are made, its validity may be tested and its structure

refined in accordance with regional differences.

s hown to be ve ry nea r the modes ) .

Kolb makes s ome in te re s t ing s ugges t ions a s to the d i s t ances be tween cen te rs . He

shows that spacing is c loser in centra l Wiscons in than in Kansas , which is more sparse ly

se t t led (J . H. Kolb,

Service Relations of Totvn a nd Coiintrt/

[Wis cons in Agr icu l tu ra l

E xpe r imen ta l S ta t ion Res ea rch B u l l . .58 (19 2 . 3 ) ] ; s ee pp . 7-8 fo r theore t i ca l g rap hs ) .

In Iowa , the dom inan t fac to r de te rm in ing the size of con \cn icnce -goods a rea s i s

d i s t a n c e (Second State Iowa Planning Board Report [D es Moin es, Ap ril, JOS.'S], p. 1 98 ).

This report conta ins fer t i le sugges t ions on t rade areas for Iowa towns . Valuable de

ta i led reports on re ta i l t rade areas for some Iowa count ies have a lso been made by the

s ame agency .

2 9 .

U.S. Nat ion.a l Resources Committee , Our CitiesTheir Role in the National

Economy: Report of the Urhanism Committee (W as h i ng t on : Go \c rn me nt Pr in t ing Off ice

1 9 3 7 ) , p. 37.

3 0 .

Some form of the centra l-place concept might wel l be used to ad\ 'antage in

interpre t ing the dis t r ibut ion of out lying bus iness dis t r ic ts in c i t ies (cf. Malcolm J .

Prou dfoot , Th e Selec t ion of a Bus iness Si te , Journal of Land and. Public U tility Eco

nomics, XIV [19 38] , e .sp. 373 ff . ) .


11/11

THE NATUREOF ITIES

Chaunctj D. Harris and E dward L. Ullman

Cities are the focal points in the occupation and uti l izat ion of the earth by

mann5oth~a product of and an inf luence on surrounding regior is , they

develop in defini te patterns in response to economic and social needs.

Cit ies are also pa rad ox es. The ir rapid grow th an d large size testify to

their superiori ty as a technique for the exploitat ion of the earth, yetj jy their

very success and c onseq uent larg e size they often pr ov id e a po or local en

vironment for man. The problem is to build the future ci ty in such a manner

that the advantages of urban concentrat ion can be preserved for the benefi t

of man and the d isadvantages minimized.

Each ci ty is unique in detai l but resembles others in function and pattern.

What i s learned about one he lps in s tudying another . Locat ion types and

internal structure are repeated so often that broad and suggestive generaliza

tions are valid, especially if limited to cities of similar size, function, and

regional set t ing. This paper wil l be l imited to a discussion of two basic

aspects of the nature of ci t iestheir support and their internal s tructure.

Such important topics as the r ise and extent of urbanism, urban si tes, culture

of ci t ies, social and economic characterist ics of the urban populat ion, and

cri t ical problems wil l receive only passing mention.

'

T H E S U P P O R T O F C I T I E S .

As one approaches a ci ty and notices i ts tal l

buildings r ising above the surrounding land and as one continues into the

city and observes the crowds of people hurrying to and fro past s tores,

theaters, banks, and other establishments, one natural ly is s truck by the

cont ras t wi th the rura l count rys ide . What suppor ts th is phenomenon? What

do the people of the city do for a living?

The support of a city depends on the services it performs not for itself

but for a tr ibutary area. Many activi t ies serve merely the populat ion of the

city itself. Barbers, dry cleaners, shoe repairers, grocerymen, bakers, and

movie operators serve others who are engaged in the principal act ivi ty of

the ci ty, which may be mining, manufacturing, t rade, or some other act ivi ty.

The service by which the ci ty earns i ts l ivelihood depends on the nature

of the ecQUQiay^nd of J h e hinte rland . C it ies are small or rare in areas ei ther

of primitive, self-suflBcient economy or of meager resources. As Adam Smith

stated, the land must produce a surplus in order to support ci t ies. This does

Reprinted from The Annals, Vol. 242 (November 1945), pp. 7-17, by permission of the

author and the publisher. (Copyright, 1945, by The Annak.)

237

_book_pdf_hattpaul-1951_237-247_

Documents