Geography Fieldwork
Does the Central Magnetism Theory apply in the Central District Area of Borås?
Candidate name:
Candidate number:
Session:
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Hubert Krenz
001217-019
May 2008
Ingemar Sjöholm
Sven Eriksongymnasiet
1410
Geography SL
Functional Magnetism Theory
Candidate name: Hubert Krenz
Candidate number: 001217-019
Table of contents
Table of contents ..................................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction............................................................................................................................................. 3
Aim .......................................................................................................................................................... 5
Background.............................................................................................................................................. 6
Hypothesis ............................................................................................................................................... 7
Method .................................................................................................................................................... 7
Results ..................................................................................................................................................... 8
Discussion .............................................................................................................................................. 11
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 11
2
Geography SL
Functional Magnetism Theory
Candidate name: Hubert Krenz
Candidate number: 001217-019
Introduction
Picture 1 Position of Sweden on a map over Europe, marked with dark green color.
The city that I am investigating is in Sweden. Sweden is marked on Picture 1 with dark green color.
Sweden has over 9 million inhabitants. With the area of 450 000 km2 it is one of the largest countries
in Europe. The density distribution over the country is uneven. Over 90% of the total population lives
in the southern part of the country.
3
Geography SL
Functional Magnetism Theory
Candidate name: Hubert Krenz
Candidate number: 001217-019
Picture 2 Position of Borås and the three biggest cities of Sweden.
Stockholm
Göteborg
Borås
Malmö
Name of that city that will be investigating is Borås, and it has app 100 000 inhabitants. Borås is the
13th biggest city in Sweden. The city has been grounded in a valley 60 km east of the western coast in
1622.
That city has a great history of textile business and post order companies that are operating on a very
large scale. Stora Brogatan and Allégatan are the two biggest ways which are going through the
centre.
Knalleland is a shopping area placed outside of the very centre of Borås. There are a lot of big
supermarkets and some smaller shops. LoS are there the big majority.
4
Geography SL
Functional Magnetism Theory
Candidate name: Hubert Krenz
Candidate number: 001217-019
Aim
The aim of this investigation is to learn more about the structure of the city. My research will
determine whether the city of Borås is following the Functional Magnetism Theory. That theory
states that High Order Services (HoS) are clustered in the city. Theory says that these types of
services can be found near each other and that there are few spots in the city where they can be
found. The other group of services is called Low Order Services (LoS). Central Magnetism Theory
states that these are spread. Definitions of above mentioned term will be defined in Background.
The results of this research will tell me if the HoS in Borås are clustered or not and therefore prove
the theory.
5
Geography SL
Functional Magnetism Theory
Candidate name: Hubert Krenz
Candidate number: 001217-019
Background
In this investigation I will sample and analyze the data collected by a group of students (where I am a
part of it) to be able to state if Borås central city structure follows the theory called “Central
Magnetism Theory”. That theory is based on the position of the businesses that are in the central
part of the city. Businesses are divided into two types, which are:

Low Order Service, shorthanded LoS; businesses that are classified as LoS have a large and
wide group of customers. These shops are dealing with services or products that are often
used by common people. The businesses often provide their offers to low and competitive
prices. These shops are spread all over the city so they are easily available to consumers. A
typical example of a LoS business is a grocery store, restaurant, café.

High Order Service, shorthanded HoS; are businesses that are offering unique, special most
often expensive services of products. The prices are high due to a very narrow group of
target group. The reason why the HoS are clustered is because all of them have small
customer groups. If these businesses are positioned centrally and among other similar
shops, there is higher amount of possible customers.
Linear Nearest Neighbor Index is the method to determine to what extent, the points plotted on a
map are clustered.
The formula used to calculate whether the services are clustered or not is:
𝐿𝑁𝑁𝐼 =
𝐷
𝐿
0,5(
)
𝑛−1
1
𝐷 = mean of the nearest distances between points.
L = total length of the street given in meters.
n = number of points
The research is going to be performed in Central District Area (CBD) where a lot of various services
can be found. The CBD of Borås is shown on the following maps. The definition of CBD is:
“The central business district of an urban area, typically containing an intense concentration of office
and retail activities.”2
1
2
Lenon & Cleves, Fieldwork Techniques and Projects in Geography: Collins
http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/geography/glossary.htm (Accessed February 10, 2008)
6
Geography SL
Functional Magnetism Theory
Candidate name: Hubert Krenz
Candidate number: 001217-019
Hypothesis
Due to that the most of the HoS have to be in the centre of the city, so the theory can be correct that
the HoS are more clustered on researched area. That is concluded because of the LoS shopping
centre in Knalleland. Allégatan and Österlånggatan which are investigated are one of the main streets
in the centre. They have also the finest shops in the city. The density of these shops should be biggest
on these streets.
Method
The data that is used in this rapport is sampled by a group of students. The central part of Borås was
divided between several groups of students. Every team got to investigate and list the services that
could be found on their area or certain streets. The form of final information distributed among the
students was a map with points representing businesses, and a following paper where a definition of
the point was written. The information of the point included type of service and number of levels of
the building.
That method made it possible to gather information about all the businesses in the central city of
Borås. This method was very efficient and the researching did take only two days.
The method to determine how clustered the points are, calculation of LNNI will be performed. I
decided to examine two of the biggest streets in the centre of the city. These two are Österlånggatan
and Allégatan. Totally four LNNI values are going to be calculated – two for Österlånggatan (LoS and
HoS) and two for Allégatan (LoS and HoS). The points are counted from north, southwards. “Nearest
neighbor” is the number of a point that is closed to the current point. “Distance apart” is distance to
the nearest neighbor, calculated from the map.
This is the scale where the final LNNI value can be compared.
0
Points clustered
1,0
Points random
2,0
Points uniform
7
Geography SL
Functional Magnetism Theory
Candidate name: Hubert Krenz
Candidate number: 001217-019
Results
Table 1 Information gathered from the maps. Low Order Services only.
Low Order Services
Österlånggatan
Points
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
Nearest
neighbour
3
3
2
2
6
7
8
7
10
12
12
11
15
15
16
18
19
16
17
22
23
20
25
25
24
28
29
26
27
28
29
31
34
33
36
35
38
39
38
Allégatan
Distance apart
/ meters
45
0
0
8
10
0
0
0
32
16
0
0
32
5
5
5
5
5
5
0
5
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
5
5
0
0
5
0
0
Points
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
Nearest
neighbour
2
1
2
3
3
7
6
9
8
9
10
13
12
13
16
15
19
16
17
19
22
23
24
25
24
28
25
29
28
31
33
30
31
35
37
37
37
39
38
Distance apart
/ meters
0
0
0
5
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
8
0
29
5
5
5
5
5
24
32
22
14
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
0
8
0
30
0
5
0
0
0
8
Geography SL
Functional Magnetism Theory
Candidate name: Hubert Krenz
Candidate number: 001217-019
Calculation:
𝐷 = 5,0
𝐷 = 5,2
𝐿 = 570 𝑚
𝐿 = 570 𝑚
𝑛 = 39
𝑛 = 39
𝐿𝑁𝑁𝐼 =
5,0
= 0,6
570
0,5 (39 − 1)
𝐿𝑁𝑁𝐼 =
5,2
= 0,7
570
0,5 (39 − 1)
9
Geography SL
Functional Magnetism Theory
Candidate name: Hubert Krenz
Candidate number: 001217-019
Tabell 2 Information gathered from the maps. High Order Services only.
High Order Services
Österlånggatan
Points
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
Nearest
neighbour
2
3
4
3
4
7
8
7
8
12
12
11
14
13
16
15
16
19
18
21
20
23
22
23
Allégatan
Distance apart
/ meters
0
0
0
0
30
10
0
0
16
8
0
0
0
0
0
0
8
0
0
5
5
32
32
75
Nearest
neighbour
3
3
2
5
4
7
6
7
7
11
12
11
14
13
13
15
18
17
18
21
20
21
22
Points
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
𝐷 = 9,2
𝐷 = 10,7
𝐿 = 570 𝑚
𝐿 = 570 𝑚
𝑛 = 24
𝑛 = 23
𝐿𝑁𝑁𝐼 =
9,2
= 0,8
570
0,5 (24 − 1)
𝐿𝑁𝑁𝐼 =
Distance apart
/ meters
49
5
5
5
5
0
0
0
0
30
0
0
0
0
10
12
0
0
64
0
0
0
61
10,7
= 0,9
570
0,5 (23 − 1)
10
Geography SL
Functional Magnetism Theory
Candidate name: Hubert Krenz
Candidate number: 001217-019
Discussion
The results show that the Central Magnetism isn’t working on the two main streets of Borås. The
scale that is appropriate to the formula says that LoS are more clustered. LoS on Österlånggatan are
more clustered then the similar services on Allégatan. It is only 0,1 that is the difference between the
calculated values.
The similar pattern was recognized when looking at the High Order Services on the investigated
streets. I found out that HoS are more clustered on Österlånggatan then on the parallel Allégatan.
The difference was again only a tenth.
These results say that the shops are more clustered on Österlånggatan which is closer to the main
square of the city “Stora Torget”. Also the Allégatan and Österlånggatan are two different types of
streets. Allégatan is a street with big vehicle traffic, with quite large buildings with main institutions
like banks. It also have a larger supermarket. Österlånggatan is more of a street only for pedestrians
with many smaller shops. But still the points, which represented the services, turned out to be equal
in amount for both streets.
The data collected was qualitative and any re-sampling wouldn’t affect the result. However the
distances in the LNNI calculation could be more precise, for example taken on the field not from the
map.
Conclusion
The results show fairly clear that the Central Magnetism Theory doesn’t work on the two picked
streets which go through the centre of Borås. However that does not mean that it doesn’t work in
the whole city. A completely different result could be determined if another streets where picked.
A similar investigation could be done including some other streets of Borås that are in the CBD, for
example Stora Brogatan and Lilla Brogatan. However they are very close to the ones that I
investigated so my guess is that the result would be quite similar.
The research could be also done in another city that has comparable amount of inhabitants and a
Central Business District in the centre. The city that could be investigated should also have a big
shopping area similar to Knalleland outside the centre.
11
Geography SL
Functional Magnetism Theory
Candidate name: Hubert Krenz
Candidate number: 001217-019
Maps
Map 1 High Order Services in Central Business District of Borås.
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Geography SL
Functional Magnetism Theory
Candidate name: Hubert Krenz
Candidate number: 001217-019
Map 2 High Order Services in Central Business District of Borås.
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