Mallow

Watergrasshill

Macroom City

Inishannon Douglas Bandon

Carrigaline

D. Mc Donnell 1 Central Place Theory

A Central Place is a settlement that provides goods and services for an area larger than itself. Examples?? This idea put forward by Walter Christaller (German) in 1933. Picture

His theory based on the following assumptions a. All activity occurs on a flat plain served by one form of transport b. Transport is easily accessible, and cheap in all directions c. People and resources are equally distributed across the region d. People have equal purchasing power and always travel to the nearest centre

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Christaller’s theory was centred on 2 main ideas

1.Range :- This is the maximum distance someone is willing to travel to buy a product or service 2.Threshold :- This is the minimum number of people required to make a business or service profitable

Low-order services: These have small threshold and low ranges. i.e. products and services that people are not willing to travel that far for. Eg. Local shop, pub

High-order services: These have a large threshold and long ranges. i.e. people will travel long distances to get these products or services Eg. Supermarkets, car dealerships, hardware stores. Similar high order services are usually spaced widely apart D. Mc Donnell 5 Central Place Theory

Urban Hierarchy This means the place a settlement has in the order of it’s size and the number of services it provides. Eg. Cork City Mallow Town Carrigtwohill Smaller Town Inishannon Village

As a settlement increases in size – the number of higher order services will increase with it. The larger the settlements grow, the fewer there will be The larger the settlements grow, the greater the distance between them

D. Mc Donnell 6 Central Place Theory

Does Christhaller’s theory really work in the real world?

Not Really Land isn’t always flat Transport isn’t always equally available in all directions. E.g. train to midleton but none to Bandon People don’t have the same purchasing power

The Polders in The Netherlands have taken their urban layout from Christhallers theory

Primary, Secondary Schools also generally follow Christhaller’s Theory How? D. Mc Donnell 7 D. Mc Donnell 8 D. Mc Donnell 9 D. Mc Donnell 10 Back D. Mc Donnell 11