scholarly journals Transforming Culture on an Insula Portunalis: Port Cities as Central Places in Early Roman Cyprus

Land ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jody Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Cultural Landscapes ◽  
State Level ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Central Place Theory ◽  
Central Places ◽  
Dialectical Relationship ◽  
Political Landscapes

During the Early Roman period in the Mediterranean (ca. 30 BC–330 AD), the key central places that distinguished socio-political landscapes were towns. These urban centers functioned as economic and administrative focal points that were controlled by local elites who oversaw wealth redistribution and maintained a dialectical relationship with Rome that mutually benefitted both parties. Yet, beyond providing such rudimentary observations, central place theory has recently been revised to examine how local factors, such as a place’s long-term geography and history, intersect with globalizing ones to transform settlement hierarchies as well as economic, political, and cultural landscapes. This article’s goal is to explore such intersections through a study of how port towns functioned as central places that connected globalized imperial networks to localized provincial ones within island contexts. It examines a range of material culture including, ceramics, architecture, prestige goods, and coinage from ports in Early Roman Cyprus in order to investigate how the island’s integration into Roman networks created central places that altered existing settlement types, hierarchies, and thus, local identities. Overall, this study shows how the reanalysis of central places within their unique geohistorical contexts can shed new light on both regional and state-level processes of cultural change.

scholarly journals Christaller and “big data”: recalibrating central place theory via the geoweb

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michiel van Meeteren ◽  
Ate Poorthuis
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Central Place Theory ◽  
Consumption Behavior ◽  
Central Places ◽  
Place Theory ◽  
Urban Economic ◽  
Population Spread ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
History Of

This article utilizes central place theory (CPT) to navigate the “deluge” brought about by big data. While originating in the 1930s, CPT is a theoretical monument of 1960s spatial science. CPT aims to understand settlement geographies based on consumption behavior and is often presented as a singular, outdated, and rationalist theory. After critically reviewing the history of CPT, we assess the microfoundations of Christaller’s CPT – the threshold and range of goods – for various central functions in Louisville, Kentucky. The microfoundations are estimated through data from social media platforms Foursquare and Twitter. These sources alleviate many of the operationalization issues that traditionally hamper empirical use of CPT. The empirical application of CPT reveals that: (i) central functions have typical ranges and thresholds relating central places to population spread; (ii) central functions cluster based on an approximate hierarchical structure. The findings indicate the ongoing importance of CPT in shaping urban-economic geographies.

SOME FACTORS AFFECTING MARITAL DISTANCES IN THE OUTER HEBRIDES

1998 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. J. CLEGG ◽  
T. J. RINGROSE ◽  
J. F. CROSS
Keyword(s):  
Short Distance ◽  
Random Mating ◽  
Central Place ◽  
The South ◽  
Central Place Theory ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Central Places ◽  
Place Theory ◽  
South West ◽  
Outer Hebrides

Some factors affecting marital distances have been studied in two Outer Hebridean islands, Harris (843 marriages) and Barra (444 marriages), over the period 1855-1990. In each island marital distances fell before 1900, but then rose to their greatest values after the 1950s. Fishermen generally married at the shortest distances and men in land-based occupations at the longest. The depression in the fishing industry during the 1880s and early 1890s was associated with reductions in marital distances, especially among fishermen. In the different regions of Harris, marital distances were least in the south-east, where settlement was most dense, and greatest in the south-west where it was most sparse.When the association between marital frequencies and inter-settlement distances was studied, it was found that for Harris there was, overall, a trend to endogamous and short-distance marriage. However, this trend was only slight during 1955-90. For Barra a similar trend was found before 1955, but thereafter there appeared to be virtually no connection between marital frequency and inter-settlement distance. Thus the only constraint on marriage was the spatial distribution of settlements. In this situation the chances of random mating with respect to distance are maximised.Application of ‘Central Place’ theory suggested that only since 1946 can any tendency be detected to regard Tarbert in Harris or Castlebay in Barra as Central Places, at least as far as marriage is concerned. In each island the tendency appears to be limited to the settlements closest to the Central Place.

Temporal Change in a Central-Place System

1981 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
J B Parr
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Change ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Urban Systems ◽  
Systematic Treatment ◽  
Central Place Theory ◽  
Central Places ◽  
Place Theory ◽  
General Lack ◽  
Central Place System ◽  
Static Approach

A serious deficiency in the development of central-place theory has been the general lack of any systematic treatment of the question of temporal change. This deficiency has undoubtedly impaired the usefulness of central-place theory in the analysis of urban systems. In this paper three broad categories of temporal change in a central-place system are identified. One such category involves changes in the structure of the hierarchy. These consist of the formation of a new level of the hierarchy, the modification in the extent of a level, and the disappearance of a level. Existing central-place models prove inadequate for dealing with changes of this kind, and it becomes necessary to adopt a comparative-static approach which employs less restrictive models. Such an approach inevitably involves a degree of simplification, although it is able to take account of the fact that change takes place against a background of locational inertia, in which the locations of central places are fixed. This comparative-static approach may be helpful in the analysis of actual urban systems and their development through time.

scholarly journals Central Sites and the Development of Rural Settlements from the Middle to Late La Tène Period in Central Moravia

2021 ◽  
Vol 112 ◽  
pp. 197-236
Author(s):  
Ivan Čižmář ◽  
Alžběta Danielisová
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Strong Influence ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Extensive Study ◽  
Rural Settlements ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
The West ◽  
Central Places ◽  
Morava River

At a certain point in time, there were two central places in central Moravia: an older unfortified central agglomeration near the present-day village of Němčice nad Hanou and a younger oppidum at Staré Hradisko. Each of this centres had its own approach to raw materials, orientation of the socio-economic contacts, and possibly political focus as well. Němčice, being located at one of the main branches of the Amber Road, connected the Middle Danube area from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic; Staré Hradisko eventually expanded these contacts into a systematic trade network, being under the strong influence of the Bohemian region with links to Bavaria. During the LT C2, in addition to the location of the central place, changes took place in terms of material culture and settlement strategies in the region. This was further accentuated in LT D1 by the shift of settlements towards the west, to the vicinity of the oppidum and, at the same time, vacation of the corridor around the Morava River. In an attempt to chronologically assess the settlement pattern, it became evident how important it is to define, as precisely as possible, the dating of individual sites. This was only possible thanks to the detailed and extensive study of the material available (Čižmář 2018). Thanks to precise dating of settlements and classification based on the new chronology, the seemingly illogical group of settlements in central Moravia revealed a distinct settlement network which, in particular during the period contemporary with the oppidum, allows us to see the significant changes in the number of sites and in the orientation of long-distance contacts that were possibly associated with historical events.

scholarly journals Operationalizing Central Place Theory and Central Flow Theory with mobile phone data

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Doran ◽  
Andrew Fox
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Flow Theory ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Mobile Phone Data ◽  
Central Place Theory ◽  
Central Places ◽  
Place Theory ◽  
Cooperative Development ◽  
Socioeconomic Data ◽  
Central Flow

Central Place and Central Flow Theory are geographic principles explaining why and how cities develop across large regional spaces. Central Place Theory postulates that cities self-organize into a spatial hierarchy were small numbers of very large ‘Central Places’ support numerous surrounding and less developed ‘Low Places’, while ‘Middle Places’ develop at the periphery of where Central Places carry spatial influence. Central Flow Theory is a comple- mentary notion that explains the cooperative development of cities through joint information sharing. Both theories are often discussed, with multiple regional development and economic models built upon their tenents. However, it is very difficult to quantify the degree to which Central Place and Central Flow Theory explains the development and positions of cities in a region, particularly in developing countries where socioeconomic data is difficult to collect. To facilitate these measurements, this paper presents a way to operationalize Central Place and Central Flow Theory using mobile phone data collected across a region. It defines a set of mobile phone data attributes that are related to basic facets of the two theories, and demonstrates how their measurements speak to the degree to which the theories hold in the region the mobile phone data covers. The theory is then applied in a case study where promising locations for economic investment in a developing nation are identified.

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.

The Typology of Settlements in Ramesside Middle Egypt. An Analysis of the Wilbour Papyrus

2019 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-71
Author(s):  
Jean-Christophe Antoine
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Agricultural Activity ◽  
Urban Center ◽  
Rural Settlements ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Central Place Theory ◽  
Place Theory ◽  
Horse Breeding

A statistical analysis of text A of the Wilbour Papyrus shows that the pattern of landholdings surrounding localities well reflects the population inhabiting settlements and allows their categorization without preconceived idea. The resulting typology fits only in part with classifications relying on administrative considerations, the central place theory or archeological criteria. Urban features are not limited to regional capitals. Main and secondary urban centers are distinguished by a hinterland of small localities; this hinterland is exclusive to each main urban center but shared in secondary urban centers. Small rural settlements are not homogenous and can be distinguished according to their agricultural activity, particularly cattle and horse breeding, and the locally predominant landholding institution.

A Note on the Central Place Theory

1973 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 649-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Biermann
Keyword(s):  
Central Place ◽  
Value Judgments ◽  
Excess Function ◽  
Central Place Theory ◽  
Central Places ◽  
Spatial Stability ◽  
Place Theory ◽  
Short Survey

Although the pioneering study by Christaller (1933) has produced a flood of publications on central place theory which now extend beyond the limits of a short survey, the fact remains that these publications rest on investigations that are purely static and retrospective. Essentially the publications represent no advance on Christaller's work. They attempt, that is, to describe existing positions and to develop indicators for the identification of central place structures. In doing so these writers adopt, without exception, the concept of “excess function”(1) which was already used by Christaller to characterize central places. [A survey of Christaller's ideas can be found in Berry and Pred (1965); see also Beckmann (1968), von Böventer (1969), Gustafsson and Söker (1972), Biermann (1973a) and elsewhere.] None, however, shows how this excess function came into being, or, alternatively, how it can be explained, and whether it exhibits objective spatial stability(2). It is often overlooked, or uncritically accepted, that numerous value judgments and assumptions on the behaviour of consumers are, in addition, contained in this excess function. In other words, the discussions in these publications have no explanatory character. By the same token they contain, strictly speaking, no empirically-based theories; that is, they lack the ‘explanans' that would make it possible to forecast ensuing occurrences and phenomena (Popper, 1959).

scholarly journals Operationalizing Central Place Theory and Central Flow Theory with mobile phone data

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Doran ◽  
Andrew Fox
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Flow Theory ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Mobile Phone Data ◽  
Central Place Theory ◽  
Central Places ◽  
Place Theory ◽  
Cooperative Development ◽  
Socioeconomic Data ◽  
Central Flow

Central Place and Central Flow Theory are geographic principles explaining why and how cities develop across large regional spaces. Central Place Theory postulates that cities self-organize into a spatial hierarchy were small numbers of very large ‘Central Places’ support numerous surrounding and less developed ‘Low Places’, while ‘Middle Places’ develop at the periphery of where Central Places carry spatial influence. Central Flow Theory is a comple- mentary notion that explains the cooperative development of cities through joint information sharing. Both theories are often discussed, with multiple regional development and economic models built upon their tenents. However, it is very difficult to quantify the degree to which Central Place and Central Flow Theory explains the development and positions of cities in a region, particularly in developing countries where socioeconomic data is difficult to collect. To facilitate these measurements, this paper presents a way to operationalize Central Place and Central Flow Theory using mobile phone data collected across a region. It defines a set of mobile phone data attributes that are related to basic facets of the two theories, and demonstrates how their measurements speak to the degree to which the theories hold in the region the mobile phone data covers. The theory is then applied in a case study where promising locations for economic investment in a developing nation are identified.

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