Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Central place theory and its reemergence in regional science

  • Special Issue Paper
  • Published:
The Annals of Regional Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper presents an interdisciplinary review—from the perspectives of geography, economics, and urban planning—of the literature on central place theory (CPT) and its important role in regional science. Along the way, CPT is compared to a more recent description/explanation of the space economy, the new economic geography (NEG). The main arguments of the paper are that for a host of reasons: (i) CPT is ripe for reemergence and; (ii) NEG models are best viewed as complements to, not competitors of, CPT. Some general observations for future research in regional science follow from these conclusions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen PM, Sanglier M (1978) Dynamic model of urban growth. J Soc Biol Struct 1: 265–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen PM, Sanglier M (1979) A dynamic model of growth in a central place system. Geograph Anal 11: 256–272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen PM, Sanglier M (1981) A dynamic model of a central place system—II. Geograph Anal 13: 149–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen PM, Sanglier M (1981) Urban evolution, self-organization, and decisionmaking. Environ Planning A 13: 167–183

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alao N, Dacey MF, Davies O, Denike KG, Huff J, Parr JB, Webber MJ (1977) Christaller central place structures. Northwestern University, Evanston

    Google Scholar 

  • Ali K, Olfert MR, Partridge MD (2011) Urban footprints in rural Canada: employment spillovers by city size. Reg Stud 45: 239–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anas A, Arnott R, Small KA (1998) Urban spatial structure. J Econ Perspect 38: 1426–1464

    Google Scholar 

  • Arthur WB (1994) Increasing returns and path dependence in the economy. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor

    Google Scholar 

  • Axelrod R (1997) The complexity of cooperation. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Baldwin R, Forslid R, Martin P, Ottaviano G, Robert-Nicoud F (2003) Economic geography and public policy. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Batty M (2007) Cities and complexity: understanding cities with cellular automata, agent-based models, and fractals. The MIT Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Beavon KSO (1977) Central place theory: a reinterpretation. Longman, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Beckmann MJ (1958) City hierarchies and the distribution of city size. Econ Dev Cult Change 6: 243–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beckmann M (1968) Location theory. Random House, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Beckmann MJ (1971) Equilibrium versus optimum: spacing of firms and patterns of market areas. Northeast Reg Sci Rev 1: 1–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Beckmann MJ, Thisse J-F (1986) The location of production activities. In: Nijkamp P (eds) Handbook of regional and urban economics, vol 1. North-Holland, Amsterdam, pp 21–95

    Google Scholar 

  • Berry BJL (1964) Cities as systems within systems of cities. Pap Reg Sci 31: 147–163

    Google Scholar 

  • Berry BJL (1967) Geography of market centers and retail distribution. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs

    Google Scholar 

  • Berry BJL (1970) Labor market participation and regional potential. Growth Change 1: 3–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berry BJL, Horton FE (1970) Geographic perspectives on urban systems. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs

    Google Scholar 

  • Berry BJL, Parr JB (1988) Market centers and retail location. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs

    Google Scholar 

  • Black D, Henderson V (2003) Urban evolution in the USA. J Econ Geogr 3: 342–372

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blumenfeld H (1955) The economic base of the metropolis. J Am Inst Planners 21: 114–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bosker EM, Brakman S, Garretsen H, Schramm M (2007) Looking for multiple equilibrium when geography matters: German city growth and the WW II Shock. J Urban Econ 61: 151–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bosker EM, Garretsen H (2010) Trade costs in empirical New Economic Geography. Pap Reg Sci 89: 485–511

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brakman S, Garretsen H, van Marrewijk C (2009) The introduction to geographical economics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Brueckner JK (2000) Urban sprawl: diagnosis and remedies. Int Reg Sci Rev 23: 160–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruegmann R (2005) Sprawl: a compact history. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Carruthers JI (2003) Growth at the fringe: the influence of political fragmentation in United States metropolitan areas. Pap Reg Sci 82: 472–499

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carruthers JI, Hepp S, Knaap GJ, Renner RN The American way of land use: a spatial hazard analysis of changes through time. Int Reg Sci Rev (forthcoming)

  • Carruthers JI, Ulfarsson GF (2003) Urban sprawl and the cost of public services. Environ Planning B 30: 503–522

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carruthers JI, Ulfarsson GF (2008) Does “Smart Growth” matter to public finance?. Urban Stud 45: 1791–1823

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carruthers JI, Vias AC (2005) Urban, suburban, and exurban sprawl in the Rocky Mountain West: evidence from regional adjustment models. J Reg Sci 41: 21–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castle E, Wu JJ, Weber BA (2011) Place orientation and rural–urban interdependence. Appl Econ Policy Perspect 33: 179–204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christaller W (1933) Die zentralen orte in Süddeutschland. Fischer, Jena. Translation: Baskin CW (1966) Central places in southern Germany. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs

  • Christian D (2004) Maps of time. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis DR, Weinstein DE (2002) Bombs, bones and breakpoints: the geography of economic activity. Am Econ Rev 92: 1269–1289

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dobkins LH, Ioannides YM (2001) Spatial interactions among cities. Reg Sci Urban Econ 31: 701–731

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duranton G, Puga D (2001) Nursery cities: urban diversity, process innovation, and the life cycle of products. Am Econ Rev 91: 1454–1477

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eaton BC (1972) Spatial competition revisited. Can J Econ 5: 268–278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eaton BC (1976) Free entry in one-dimensional markets: pure profits and multiple equilibria. J Reg Sci 16: 21–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eaton BC, Lipsey RG (1976) The non-uniqueness of equilibrium in the Löschian economic model. Am Econ Rev 66: 77–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Eaton BC, Lipsey RG (1979) Comparison shopping and the clustering of homogeneous firms. J Reg Sci 19: 421–435

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eeckhout J (2004) Gibrat’s law for (all) cities. Am Econ Rev 94: 1429–1451

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fik TJ (1988) Spatial competition and price reporting in retail food markets. Econ Geogr 64: 29–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fik TJ, Mulligan GF (1990) Spatial flows and competing central places: towards a general theory of hierarchical interaction. Environ Planning A 22: 527–549

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fingleton B, McCann P (2007) Sinking the iceberg? On the treatment of transport costs in new economic geography. In: Fingleton B (eds) New directions in economic geography. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham

    Google Scholar 

  • Finn A, Louviere JJ (1996) Shopping center image, consideration, and choice: anchor store consideration. J Bus Res 35: 241–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischel W (1989) Centralized control: do we really want a Double-Veto system?. J Am Planning Assoc 54: 205–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fotheringham AS (1983) A new set of spatial-interaction models: the theory of competing destinations. Environ Planning A 15: 15–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox KA, Kumar TK (1965) The functional economic area: delineation and implications for economic analysis and policy. Pap Reg Sci Assoc 15: 57–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedmann J (1986) The world city hypothesis. Dev Change 17: 69–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fujita M (2009) Dynamics of innovation fields with endogenous heterogeneity of people. In: Karlsson C, Cheshire P, Andersson Å, Stough R (eds) New directions in regional economic development. Springer, Berlin, pp 59–78

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Fujita M, Mori T (2005) Transport development and the evolution of economic geography. Portuguese Econ J 4: 129–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fujita M, Mori T (1997) Structural stability and evolution of urban systems. Reg Sci Urban Econ 27: 399–442

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fujita M, Krugman P, Mori T (1999) On the evolution of hierarchical urban systems. Eur Econ Rev 43: 209–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fujita M, Krugman P, Venables AJ (1999) The spatial economy: cities, regions, and international trade. MIT Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedmann J, Miller J (1965) The urban field. J Am Planning Assoc 31: 312–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gabaix X (1999) Zipf’s law for cities: an explanation. Q J Econ 114: 739–767

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glaeser EL, Maré DC (2001) Cities and Skills. J Labor Econ 19:316–342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goetz SJ, Han Y, Findeis JL, Brasier KJ (2010) U.S. commuting networks and economic growth: measurement and implications for spatial policy. Growth Change 41: 276–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Golledge RG, Stimson RJ (1997) Spatial behavior. Guilford Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Golledge GR, Rushton G, Clark WAV (1966) Some spatial characteristics of Iowa’s dispersed population and their implications for the grouping of central place functions. Econ Geogr 42: 261–272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon P, Richardson HW (1997) Are compact cities a desirable planning goal?. J Am Planning Assoc 63: 95–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haggett P (1965) Locational analysis in geography. Edward Arnold, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Haining RP (1983) Modeling intraurban price competition: an example of gasoline retailing. J Reg Sci 23: 517–528

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall P (1998) Cities in civilization. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Haughwout AF (1999) Regional fiscal cooperation in metropolitan areas: an exploration. J Policy Anal Manage 18: 579–600

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haughwout AF (1997) Central city infrastructure investment and suburban house values. Reg Sci Urban Econ 27: 199–215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Head K, Mayer J (2004) The Empirics of Agglomeration and Trade. In: Henderson JV, Thisse JF (eds) Handbook of urban and regional economics, vol 4. North-Holland, The Netherlands

    Google Scholar 

  • Henderson JV (1974) The sizes and types of cities. Am Econ Rev 64: 640–656

    Google Scholar 

  • Henry MS, Barkley DL, Bao S (1997) The Hinterland’s stake in metropolitan area growth. J Reg Sci 37: 479–501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hering L, Poncet S (2010) Market access and individual wages: evidence from China. Rev Econ Stat 92: 145–159

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins LD (2001) Urban development: the logic of making plans. Island Press, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins LD, Xu X, Knaap GJ (2004) Economies of scale in wastewater treatment and planning for urban growth. Environ Plann B Plann Des 31: 879–893

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hortas-Rico M, Solé-Ollé A (2010) Does urban sprawl increase the costs of providing local public services? evidence from Spanish municipalities. Urban Stud 47: 1513–1540

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hotelling H (1929) Stability in competition. Econ J 39: 41–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howard E (1902) Garden Cities of To-morrow. Faber and Faber, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Hsu W-T Central place theory and city size distribution. Econ J (forthcoming)

  • Hsu W-T, Holmes TJ (2009) Optimal city hierarchy: a dynamic programming approach to central place theory. Department of Economics, University of Minnesota, Available at: http://www.econ.umn.edu/_holmes/papers/city_optimal.pdf. (downloaded July 12, 2011)

  • Huff D (1963) A probabilistic of consumer behavior. Pap Proc Reg Sci Assoc 7: 81–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Ioannides YM, Overman HG (2004) Spatial evolution of the U.S. urban system. J Econ Geogr 4: 131–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs J (1961) The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Modern Library, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaiser EJ, Godschalk DR, Chapin SF (1995) Urban land use planning. University of Illinois Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • King LJ (1984) Central place theory. Sage, Beverly Hills

    Google Scholar 

  • Klaus D, Fafchamps M (2006) Employment concentration across U.S. counties. Reg Sci Urban Econ 36: 482–509

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krugman P (1991) Geography and trade. MIT Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Krugman Paul (1991) Increasing returns and economic geography. J Polit Econ 99: 483–499

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krugman P (2010) The new economic geography, now middle aged. Paper Prepared for presentation to the Association of American Geographers Meetings, Washington, DC, April 16, 2010. Available at: http://www.princeton.edu/~pkrugman/aag.pdf. Accessed 15 May 2010

  • Lloyd PE, Dicken P (1977) Location in space, 2nd edn. Harper and Row, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Lösch A (1941) Die raumliche ordnung der wirtshcaft. Fischer, Jena. Translation: Woglom WH, Stolper WP (1954) The economics of location. Yale University, New Haven

  • Louviere J (1974) Predicting the response to real stimulus objects from an abstract evaluation of their attributes: the case of trout streams. J Appl Psychol 59: 572–577

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lynch K (1981) Good city form. MIT Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall A (1920) Principles of economics. Macmillan, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin R, Sunley P (1996) Paul Krugman’s geographical economics and its implications for regional development theory: a critical assessment. Econ Geogr 72: 259–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCann P (2007) Sketching out a model of innovation, face-to-face interaction and economic geography. Spatial Econ Anal 2: 117–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCann P (2005) Transport costs and new economic geography. J Econ Geogr 5: 305–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLafferty S, Ghosh A (1984) A simulation model of spatial competition with multipurpose trips. Geogr Anal 16: 244–249

    Google Scholar 

  • McLafferty S, Ghosh A (1987) Optimal location and allocation with multipurpose shopping. In: Ghosh A, Rushton G (eds) Spatial analysis and location-allocation models. Von Nostrand Reinhold, New York, pp 55–75

    Google Scholar 

  • Mori T (1997) A modeling of the megalopolis: the maturing of city systems. J Urban Econ 42: 133–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mori T, Smith TE (2011) An industrial agglomeration approach to central place and city size regularities. J Reg Sci 51: 694–731

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mori T, Nishikimi K, Smith TE (2008) The number-average size rule: a newempirical relationship between industrial location and city size. J Reg Sci 48: 165–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mulligan GF (1984) Agglomeration and central place theory: a review of the literature. Int Reg Sci Rev 9: 1–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mulligan GF (1991) Equality measures and facility location. Pap Reg Sci 70: 345–365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mulligan GF (2000) Resolving location conflict with standardized space-cost curves. Professional Geographer 52: 50–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mulligan GF, Fik TJ (1994) Price and location conjectures in medium- and long-run spatial competition models. J Reg Sci 34: 179–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mulligan GF, Fik TJ (1995) Consistent price and location conjectures in spatial competition models. Ann Reg Sci 29: 91–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neary JP (2001) Of hype and hyperbolas: introducing the new economic geography. J Econ Lit 39: 536–561

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nijkamp P (2000) Review of The economy: cities, regions, and international trade. Econ J 111: F166–F168

    Google Scholar 

  • Norman G (1986) Spatial pricing and differentiated markets. Pion, London

    Google Scholar 

  • North DC (1955) Location theory and regional economic growth. J Polit Econ 63: 243–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olfert MR, Stabler JC (1999) Multipliers in a central place hierarchy. Growth Change 30: 288–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ottaviano G, Tubuchi T, Thisse JF (2002) Agglomeration and trade revisited. Int Econ Rev 43: 409–435

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Overman HG, Ioannides YM (2001) Cross sectional evolution of the U.S. city size distribution. J Urban Econ 49: 543–566

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parr JB, Denike KG (1970) Theoretical problems in central place analysis. Econ Geogr 46: 567–586

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Partridge MD (2010) The duelling models: NEG vs amenity migration in explaining us engines of growth. Pap Reg Sci 89: 513–536

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Partridge MD, Olfert MR (2011) The Winners’ choice: sustainable economic strategies for successful 21st century regions. Appl Econ Policy Perspect 33: 143–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Partridge MD, Rickman DS, Ali K, Olfert MR (2008) Employment growth in the American urban hierarchy: long live distance. Berkeley Electronic J Macroecon 8: 1–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Partridge MD, Rickman DS, Ali K, Olfert MR (2008) Lost in space: population dynamics in the American hinterlands and small cities. J Econ Geogr 8: 727–757

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Partridge MD, Rickman DS, Ali K, Olfert MR (2009) Agglomeration spillovers and wage and housing cost gradients across the urban hierarchy. J Int Econ 78: 126–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pierce NR, Johnson CW (2008) Century of the city: no time to loose. The Rockefeller Foundation, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Polèse M, Shearmur R (2004) Culture, language, and the location of high-order service functions: the case of Montreal and Toronto. Econ Geogr 80: 329–350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polèse M, Shearmur R (2004) Is distance really dead? Comparing industrial location over time in Canada. Int Reg Sci Rev 27: 431–457

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polèse M, Shearmur R (2006) Growth and location of economic activity: the spatial dynamics of industries in Canada, 1971–2001. Growth Change 37: 362–395

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polèse M, Rubiera-Morollón F, Shearmur R (2007) Observing regularities in location patterns: an analysis of the spatial distribution of economic activity in Spain. Eur Urban Reg Stud 14: 157–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polèse M, Denis-Jacob J (2010) Changes at the top: a cross-country examination over the 20th century of the rise (and fall) in rank of the top cities in national urban hierarchies. Urban Stud 47: 1843–1860

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Popper FJ (1981) The politics of land use reform. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison

    Google Scholar 

  • Portnov BA, Schwartz M (2009) Urban clusters as growth foci. J Reg Sci 49: 287–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Puga D (2010) The magnitude and causes of agglomeration economies. J Reg Sci 50: 203–220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reilly WJ (1929) Methods for the study of retail relationships. University of Texas, Austin

    Google Scholar 

  • Renkow M, Hoover D (2000) Commuting, migration, and rural-urban population dynamics. J Reg Sci 40: 261–287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenthal SS, Strange WC (2008) The attenuation of human capital spillovers. J Urban Econ 41: 373–389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenthal SS, Strange WC (2006) The micro-empirics of agglomeration economies. In: Arnott RJ, McMillen DP (eds) A companion to urban economics. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 7–23

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Rushton G (1969) Analysis of spatial behavior by revealed space preference. Ann Am Assoc Geogr 57: 391–400

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sassen S (1991) The global city. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Saichev A, Malevergne Y, Sornette D (2010) Theory of Zipf’s law and beyond. Springer, The Netherlands

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Simon H (1952) A behavioral model of rational choice. Q J Econ 69: 99–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shonkwiler JS, Harris TS (1993) A non-Gaussian time series analysis of rural retail business counts. J Reg Sci 33: 37–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smithies A (1941) Optimum Location in Spatial Location. J Polit Econ 49: 423–439

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smolin L (1997) The Trouble With Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of Science, and What Comes Next. Mariner Books, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephens DW, Krebs JR (1986) Foraging theory. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Stern N (1972) The optimal size of market areas. J Econ Theory 4: 154–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tabuchi T, Thisse JF (2002) Taste heterogeneity, labor mobility and economic geography. J Dev Econ 69: 155–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tabuchi T, Thisse JF (2006) Regional specialization, urban hierarchy, and commuting costs. Int Econ Rev 47: 1295–1317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tabuchi T, Thisse JF (2011) A new economic geography model of central places. J Urban Econ 69: 240–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Talen E, Ellis C (2002) Beyond relativism: reclaiming the search for good city form. J Planning Educ Res 22: 36–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thill JC (1986) A note on multipurpose and multistop shopping, sales, and market areas of firms. J Reg Sci 26: 775–784

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tversky A, Kahneman D (1974) Judgment under uncertainty: heuristics and biases. Science 185: 1124–1131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ulfarsson GF, Carruthers JI (2006) The cycle of fragmentation and sprawl: a conceptual framework and empirical model. Environ Planning B 33: 767–788

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • von Böventer E (1963) Toward a unified theory of spatial economic structure. Pap Reg Sci Assoc 10: 163–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wensley RDM, Stabler JC (1998) Demand-threshold estimation for business activities in rural Saskatchewan. J Reg Sci 38: 155–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • West D, von Hohenbalken B (1984) Spatial predation in a Canadian retail oligopoly. J Reg Sci 24: 415–429

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williamson OE (1975) Markets and hierarchies. Free Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Williamson OE (1985) The economic institutions of capitalism. Free Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • White RW (1974) Sketches of a dynamic central place theory. Econ Geogr 50: 219–227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White RW (1977) Dynamic central place theory: results of a simulation approach. Geogr Anal 9: 226–243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White RW (1978) The simulation of central place populations: two-sector-systems and the rank-size distribution. Geogr Anal 58: 552–574

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu JJ, Gopinath M (2008) What causes spatial variations in economic development in the United States. Am J Agric Econ 90: 392–408

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xiao Y (2011) Local economic impacts of natural disasters. J Reg Sci 51: 804–820

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography and Development, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Gordon F. Mulligan

  2. Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Mark D. Partridge

  3. The George Washington University, Sustainable Urban Planning Program, Washington, DC, USA

    John I. Carruthers

Authors
  1. Gordon F. Mulligan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mark D. Partridge
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. John I. Carruthers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John I. Carruthers.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mulligan, G.F., Partridge, M.D. & Carruthers, J.I. Central place theory and its reemergence in regional science. Ann Reg Sci 48, 405–431 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00168-011-0496-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00168-011-0496-7

JEL Classification

Search

Navigation