Centre

From Geography

The centre is a term in the field of geography to describe the core area of a region. This can be seen on multiple scale levels. For example, seen on a city, the city center usually is the centre of the town, leaving te suburbs to be periphery. In countriess, parts of the world, or even the entire world, such distinctions can be made. Çentres can be the most important economically cities, which are located the most centrally. According to Knox and Marston (2007, p.405) central places are the settlements in which certain types of products and services are available to consumers.

The centre is the opposite of the periphery. The periphery is usually the lesser developed area of a region.

Centrality

Thus, there is a centre and a periphery. But how can we decide about the border between this two areas? What makes places 'centre' or 'central' and why do some activities concentrate in certain places and not in other areas? When centrality is playing a role, we can use the concept of centrality made by Walter Christaller (1966)[1]. He became famous with his Central Place Theory about centrality, which states that a central place is a geographic location where services and goods are provided for a surrounding area.

References

• Christaller, W. (1933). Die zentralen Orte in Süddeutschland. Translated by Baskin, C. (1966) as Central Places in Southern Germany. Prentice Hall.

• Knox, P.L. & Marston, S.A. (2007). Human Geography. Places and regions in a global context. 4th edtion, Pearson.

Contributors

• Page created by Robert Wursten - October 10th 2012

• Page enhanced by Marleen Revenberg - October 17th 2012

• Page edited by Michiel van Rijn--MichielVanRijn 23:50, 25 October 2012 (CEST)