Ch.6 Locations, spacing, size and
functions of urban settlements
Urbanization and urban Growth :
1. Urbanization
2. Urban size
3. Urban growth
The Present World Pattern of
urbanization
1. Highly urbanized regions(over
65% urbanized)
Moderately urbanized lands (35% 65%)
Less urbanized lands (below 35%
urbanized)
Settlement Classification
1. Types of settlement
2. Classification of settlements by
size
3. Classification of settlements by
form
~ Isolated dwelling
~ Hamlet
~ Small Village
~ Large Village
~ Town
~ City
~ Conurbation
~ Megalopolis
4. Classification of settlements by function
Central place
function
Transport functions
Special function
Urban Functions and Locational
Factors
1. Commercial functions and
locational factors
~ Route intersections
~ Valley confluences
~ Junction of highland and lowland
~ lowest bridging point on a river
~ Head of estuary
2. Commercial ports and
locational factors
Commercial ports
Outports
Fishing ports
Ferry ports/packet stations
3. Industrial functions and
locational factors
Primary industry
Secondary
industry
Tertiary industry
4. Cultural and religious
functions
Education
Religion
5. Tourist functions and resorts
Coasts
Fashion
Spas
History
Administrative
functions
Residential
function
Diversified
function
1. Christaller’s Central Place
Theory
It is a theory stating that there was a
pattern to the distribution and
location of settlements of different
sizes, and a pattern in the way in
which they provided services to the
inhabitants living within their sphere
of influence.
2. Main aim
The main aim of central place theory
is to explain the spatial organization
of settlements and hinterlands, in
particular their relative location and
size
3. Assumption
Unbounded uniform plain
Uniform population distribution
Central place function
Consumers minimize travel
Suppliers act as economic men
High order/low order centres coexists
Uniform consumer income and
demand
4. Principles
Market threshold
Range of a good
5. Hierarchy of services and central
place
~ the comparsion of high order centres
and low order centres
The marketing principle (k=3 network)
The traffic principle ( k=4 network )
The administrative principle
(k=7network)
5. Application of Christaller’s model
Southern Germany
Southern and eastern Australia
South-west Wisconsin and southern
England
6. Criticisms of Christaller’s central place theory
Isotropic surfaces
Modern technology
Population
Non-service centre
Overlapping market areas
Multi-purpose shopping
Mobility of people
Influence of government and
planning agencies
Statics theory
Applicability
Spacing of settlements
Contribution of the central place theory
Christaller’s theory though hypothetical,
theoretical and unrealistic, is still valuable
as it illustrates the notion that urban
networks are orderly systems and not just
random arrangements
The theory has stimulated work on
retailing and consumer behaviour between
settlements ,and within them,which is
useful for town planning and economic
development
Zipf’s Rank Size Rule
1. Introduction
Zipf’s observed the size and number
of settlements in various countries.
He noticed a common characteristic
which has been called the rank-size
rule. Having observed this order in
the real world, he then sought to
explain it. The rank-size rule is an
empirical regularity
2. Main aim
The main aim of the rank-size rule is
to find regularities concerning the
characteristics of settlements in
various countries,and to fit a
graphical description to the size
distribution of cities
3. The rank-size rule
The settlements within a defined area are
ranked in descending order according to
the size of their population
The size of a particular town can be
predicted by observing its rank and the
size of the largest city in the area
The town’s population is derived by
dividing the largest city’s population by the
town’s rank
Pr P1/r or pr=p1(r )-1
Where p is the population
r is the rank
p1 is the population of the firstranked city
pr is the population of the rth
ranked city
4. Explanations of the rank-size
rule
1. Diversification and unification
Minimizing costs and maximizing
efficiency
5. Present day examples fitting the rule
Modern American cities comply to a
great extent with the rank-size rule
Chicago is smaller than expected,
but in general the rule fits
6. Present day examples not fitting the rule
In Australia, there is a large gap
between the “primate” or largest city
and lower ranked cities. There is a
deviation from the ideal straight ranksize line.This is because in Australia,
the state capitals dominate each
state’s territory
7. Validity of the rank-size rule
There is no reason why towns and
cities should conform to this rule
There are problems involved in
accurately delimiting both urban and
regional boundaries when testing the
rule
8. Comparison between central place theory
and rank-size rule
Christaller- functional classes or orders
Zipf- concerned with ranking urban
centres in descending order of population
size
Central Place theory is deductive while
rank-size rule is generally observed
phenomenon is inductive and empirical
The central place theory concerned with a
regional scale while rank-size rule is
applies to a national scale
Jefferson’s Metropolitan Primacy
(Law of the Primate City)
1. Introduction
Mark Jefferson discovered that in
many countries, in terms of
population, the leading city is more
than twice as large as the second city.
In 1939, Jefferson formulated “the
law of the primate city”
The law of the primate city
A primate city is one which far outranks all other cities of the country in
which it is located,in terms of
population, commercial activities,
industrial output and political
influences
3.Examples of primate city
The law of the primate city is mainly
applicable to agricultural based,
developing countries.It will show
following characteristics
- small territorial extent
- Relatively high population densities
- Low per capita income
A high degree of dependence upon
agricultural exports
High rates of population growth
A former colonial status
4. Factors giving rise to a primate city
Spread of colonialism
Strong centralized government
Economic factors
Industrial agglomeration
Rural-urban migration
Efficiency of modern transport