Central Place Theory, proposed by geographer Walter Christaller in 1933, describes the size, distribution, and function of urban settlements, primarily in Bavaria, Germany. It outlines several assumptions about population distribution, resource availability, and competition to explain how central places provide goods and services to surrounding areas, using principles that establish hierarchical layouts of settlements. While the theory has its applications, particularly in India, it has faced criticism for its unrealistic assumptions and inability to account for modern economic complexities.

1. Central Place Theory

2. • Name: Walter Christaller.
• He was a German geographer.
• In 1933, he published a book name
is Central Places in Southern
Germany to demonstrate a sense of
order in the spacing and function of
settlements.
• It was based on Bavaria South
Germany.
• Christaller attempted to design a
model that would show how and
where central places in the urban
CHRISTALLER’S MODEL OF CENTRAL PLACE THEORY
Walter Christaller (1893–1969)

3. • A GERMAN geographer, Walter Christaller
helped bring quantitative and statistical
disciplines to the study of geography.
• Christaller was born in Berneck, GERMANY;
his father was a clergyman and his mother
an author.
• Before 1914, he attended university in
Heidelberg and in Munich. He enlisted
during World War I, and became an officer.
Returning after the war to study, he went to
the University of Erlangen, where he
obtained his master's degree in 1930.
• His doctoral thesis was presented at the
University of Erlangen in 1932 under the

4. Introduction
• Central-place theory, in geography, an element of location theory
concerning the size and distribution of central places (settlements)
within a system.
• In 1932, Christaller completed his dissertation titled "The Structure of
Settlements in Southern Germany.“
• Central-place theory attempts to illustrate how settlements locate in
relation to one another, the amount of market area a central place can
control, and why some central places function as hamlets, villages,
towns, or cities.
• Central place theory is a spatial theory in urban geography that attempts
to explain the reasons behind the distribution patterns, size, and
number of cities and towns around the world.
• The theory seeks to understand the evolution of hierarchical patterns,
the number of settlements on the basis of population, and distance
from other settlements.

5. Assumptions of Central place theory
 Christaller made some assumptions to make his theory easy to
understand and explain the structure of settlements, growth, and
development of towns, human behavior, and fundamentals of
economics. Assumptions are:
• A flat surface : A mountainous and uneven terrain makes
development difficult, therefore a flat place that encourages town
growth is ideal.
• The population is evenly distributed : citizens are not concentrated
in one location, and there is no preference for one town over
another.
• Evenly dispersed resources : no location has a resource advantage;
all locations will compete under ideal market conditions.
• Evenly distributed purchasing power : wealth, like people and
resources, is spread evenly. As a result, people's purchasing power

6. • Equal transportation cost : the cost incurred in transporting goods is
equal for all and is proportional to the distance.
• Perfect competition : Price is determined by demand and supply in
perfect competition. People will buy at the lowest price available on the
market.
What can be concluded from Assumptions?
• When these assumptions are integrated, the result is a location that
provides a variety of services.
• People enjoy the ideal market in these locations and buy from the
nearby shops to save money and time.
• The population threshold influences where various services are
situated.
The bare minimum of people is required to keep that service/activity
running.

7. Central Place Theory is based on Some fundamental
concepts
• Central Place: It is the settlement that serves other
settlements of the lower hierarchy.
• Complementary area: It is the Hinterland or region
served by the central place.
• Centrality: It is the surplus or the ratio between goods
and services offered. Greater centrality means greater
the number of services and their surplus. it is the
force of attraction or the potentiality to serve.
• Threshold: The minimum population required for a
service to be feasible in a given location. If this
threshold is not met, a specific activity will not begin
or will be terminated.
• Range: This is the maximum distance a consumer will
travel to buy products or receive services; consumers

8. Functional rules of Central place
 A number of center places shall be optimum
because a greater number of central places will
distort the model. For this, Central Place must serve
the settlement of the lower hierarchy.
 A number of hierarchical levels shall be optimum
for which a maximum number of functions must be
accumulated in the central place.
The size of the complementary area shall be
hexagonal because:
• They are the closest approximation to a circle
• They pack the surface
• Circle as a complimentary area will either over-
serve or under-serve or leave certain parts
unserved.
 Every complementary area of the settlement of the

10. Principles of Central Place Theory are
• Marketing Principle: If the distribution is dependent on the range of the
goods and services, then it would result in evenly spaced central places
with hexagonal markets.
• Traffic Principle: If any central place is smaller in size than expected
then it will be because of lower accessibility and vice-versa.
• Administrative Principle: Spacing and sizing of Central places are also
determined on the basis of socio-political consideration.
 The different layouts predicted by
Christaller have K- values which
show the
Sphere of Influence of the central place
• Marketing Principle (K=3)
• Transport Principle/ Traffic Principle
(K=4)
• Administrative Principle (K=7)

11. Marketing Principle (K=3)
• Based on the marketing, the central
place will serve one-third of the
population, demanding goods and
services, and one-third of the
geographical area of the settlement of
the lower hierarchy.
• It means for marketing services third of
the population of the block-level town
will move to district headquarters
because the latter has a higher order of
goods and services.
• The lower-order central places are
located at the vertices of the hexagonal
complementary areas of the next
higher-order central place.
• Lower-order settlements should be

12. • 1 is a higher-order settlement and 2
is a lower-order settlement whereas 2
is a higher-order settlement for 3
which is a lower-order settlement.
• Here, 2 lower-order settlements will
be located around a higher order
settlement (Total 3 hierarchical levels)
such as 2 around 1, 3 around 2.
• In the example , there is a hierarchy
of one higher-order place,
surrounded by six second order
places that are in turn surrounded by
six more third-order places. The
locations of these places conform to
the K=3 principle in that one-third of
a lower-order place is served by the
next higher-order place and so on.

13. Traffic principal/Transport principle(K=4)
• On the basis of the traffic principle, a central
place will capture one-half of the population
demanding such service.
• The transportation line must connect the
maximum number of settlements to provide the
most efficient services.
• Here, 3 lower-order settlements will be placed
around a higher order settlement (Total 4
hierarchical levels) such as 2 around 1, 3 around
2, and so on.
• Thus, the complementary region of the high-
order places will be four (1+6(1/2) = 1+3 = 4)
times greater than that of the next level of
lower-order places. This alignment of places
along a road leads to minimization of road

14. Administrative Principle(K=7)
• The central place will serve all the settlements of
the lower hierarchy.
• It develops in areas of highly centralized
administration. It is a specialist service.
• To show the irregular administrative boundaries,
he captured one-seventh of the neighboring
hexagon and left out one-seventh of its own
complementary area.
• Here, 6 lower-order settlements will be placed
around a settlement of higher-order (Total 7
hierarchical levels) such as 2 around 1, 3 around
2, and so on.
• In this case, the high-order centers and their
complementary regions of six surrounding
central places are added together. This results in

15. Applicability of Central Place theory on India
 For the administrative principle, India has almost the same number of
hierarchies (has 6 hierarchical levels rather than 7) as envisaged by the
theory.
 The 6 levels in India are
• National Capital
• State Capital
• District Headquarter
• Tehsil Town
• Block Level
• Gram Panchayat
• This is closest to central place theory’s assumption
• But India has 28 states and 8 Union Territories i.e. 36 entities and every
Indian state has, on average, 15-20 districts , and more than 6 lakh
villages.
• So in the case of India, Applicability is quite difficult, it looks like theory

16. • In India, this theory can be applicable at district and block level rather
than at national and state level in marketing principle.
• In India, the marketing principle can be applicable at the district level
hierarchy because tehsil town’s 1/3rd of population move to the
district town for higher-order goods & services.
• Thus, it is applicable at Block Level, where the number of sellers are
similar as in central place theory.
Criticism & Limitations of Central Place Theory
• The Central Place Theory is well-liked, yet it has its own drawbacks.
These assumptions include those that are unrealistic and faulty.
• It's nearly impossible to have a very large flat land, ideal
marketplaces, and no preference for shopping areas.
• The modern economy is a capitalist economy, but the government
plays an equally vital role in shaping the market and the placement of
activities.

17. • Furthermore, resources are never dispersed equitably, and certain
people benefit disproportionately.
• The hexagonal pattern has been criticized because he has neglected
linear patterns along rails, roads and rivers.
• Most scholars think that the central place ranking and hierarchy cannot
be applied to all regions; the formula of k = 3 cannot be applied in all
regions.