Numerical Experiments with Central Place Theory and Spatial Interaction Modelling

2003 ◽  
Vol 35 (8) ◽  
pp. 1389-1403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stan Openshaw ◽  
Yannis Veneris
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Experiments ◽  
Spatial Interaction ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Central Place Theory ◽  
Place Theory ◽  
Interaction Modelling ◽  
Spatial Interaction Modelling

scholarly journals The Contribution of Spatial Interaction Modelling to Spatial History: The Case of Central Places and their Hinterlands in the Territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 267-277
Author(s):  
Pavel Klapka ◽  
Martin Erlebach
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Interaction ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Central Place Theory ◽  
Central Places ◽  
Spatial History ◽  
Functional Regions ◽  
Regional Systems ◽  
Interaction Modelling ◽  
Major Factors ◽  
Spatial Interaction Modelling

Abstract Research on spatial history can be enriched by using approaches from quantitative geography. We analyse an historical regional system and highlight three basic assumptions, building upon Christaller’s central place theory: cities do not stand alone in space, they interact with their hinterlands, and they are hierarchically organised. We investigate the relative position of central places in space and define their hinterlands using a spatial interaction modelling approach. We present the example of functional regional taxonomy in past environments, which therefore has a higher degree of uncertainty in the results and in their interpretation. We use a variant of Reilly’s model to define the functional regions in Austria-Hungary at the beginning and at the end of the 20th century. We present a possible interpretation of the model results based on the identification of the major factors responsible for developments in the urban and regional systems of Austria-Hungary over 100 years. We conclude that the development of urban and regional systems in the territory of the former Austria-Hungary was not considerably affected by the role of political-economic systems, the administrative organisation of states, nor by the different stages in economic development of its formerly constituent territories.

Rational-Choice Models and Asian Studies

1991 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Little
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Survival Strategies ◽  
Transport Cost ◽  
Agricultural System ◽  
Central Place Theory ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Place Theory ◽  
Late Imperial ◽  
The Individual

The rational-choice paradigm has been attractive to many area specialists in their efforts to arrive at explanations of social and political behavior in various parts of the world. This model of explanation is simple yet powerful; we attempt to explain a pattern of social behavior or an enduring social arrangement as the aggregate outcome of the goal-directed choices of large numbers of rational agents. Why did the Nian rebellion occur? It was the result of the individual-level survival strategies of north China peasants (Perry 1980). Why did the central places of late imperial Sichuan conform to the hexagonal arrays predicted by central-place theory? Because participants—consumers, merchants, and officials—made rational decisions based on considerations of transport cost (Skinner 1964–65). Why was late imperial Chinese agriculture stagnant? Because none of the actors within the agricultural system had both the incentive and the capacity to invest in agricultural innovation (Lippit 1987).

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