Abstract
The paper studies a big city as an independent central place system. For this purpose, the author has developed and tested a methodology for quantitative assessment of central functions based on an integrated set of the most important socioeconomic indicators. This methodology helped to prove the possibility of not only measuring the value of central functions in different parts of a big city, but also of determining the affiliation of all the system’s elements with different hierarchical levels or a service area. The study was based on the model of Moscow’s central place system. The study evaluated how the factor of the Russian capital’s considerable territorial expansion has influenced the dynamics of its central place system from 2009 to 2015. We have found that there is a strong interrelation between Moscow’s radial–circular structure and a relatively uniform reduction in the value of central functions with increasing distance from the city center, which is disturbed by the largest highways, which concentrate a significantly higher value of the key factor compared with neighboring elements.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bocharov, Yu.P., The problem of megaproject “Great Moscow,” Nauchn. Obozr., 2014, no. 7-1, pp. 78–81.
Brade, I., Makhrova, A.G., Nefedova, T.G., and Treivish, A.I., Specific features of suburbanization in Moscow agglomeration in the post-Soviet era, Izv. Ross. Akad. Nauk, Ser.: Geogr., 2013, no. 2, pp. 19–29.
Lösch, A., Die Räumliche Ordnung der Wirtschaft, Düsseldorf: Verlag Wirtschaft und Finanzen, 2001.
Makhrova, A.G., Nefedova, T.G., and Treivish, A.I., Moskovskaya oblast’ segodnya i zavtra: tendentsii i perspektivy prostranstvennogo razvitiya (Moscow Oblast Today and Tomorrow: Trends and Prospective Spatial Development), Moscow: Novyi Khronograf, 2008.
Makhrova, A.G. and Tkachenko, L.Ya., Future and present of “New Moscow”: the continuation or change of the development vector, Ekol. Plan. Uprav., 2013, no. 1, pp. 37–50.
Mindrul, S.V., “Settling began” or insight to the problem of extension of Moscow borders and prospective development of a city, Arkh. Stroit. Ross., 2012, no. 10, pp. 20–23.
Ullman, E., A theory of location for cities, Am. J. Sociol., 1941, vol. 46, no. 6, pp. 853–864.
Shuper, V.A., The principle of complementarity and the theory of central places, Izv. Ross. Akad. Nauk, Ser.: Geogr., 1996, no. 4, pp. 88–94.
Shuper, V.A., Samoorganizatsiya gorodskogo rasseleniya (Self-Organization of Urban Settlement Pattern), Moscow: Ross. Otkrytyi Univ., 1995.
Shuper, V.A., Socratic spirit of the theory of August Lösch, Sed’mye Sokraticheskie chteniya “Avgust Lesh kak filosof ekonomicheskogo prostranstva (k stoletiyu so dnya rozhdeniya)” (The Seventh Socrates’ Conference “August Lösch as a Philosopher of Economic Space (to the 100 Anniversary of Philosopher)”), Moscow: Eslan, 2006, pp. 6–16.
Shuper, V.A. and Em, P.P., Moscow city expansion: An alternative based on central place theory, Reg. Res. Russ., 2013, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 376–385.
Em, P.P., The capital agglomeration of the Republic of Korea as a fuzzy central place system, Bull. Geogr. Socio-Econ. Ser., 2016, no. 34, pp. 7–16.
Em, P.P., The systems of fuzzy central places (case study of the Republic of Korea at the beginning of the 21st century), Izv. Ross. Akad. Nauk, Ser.: Geogr., 2013, no. 1, pp. 22–30.
Berry, B., The impact of expanding metropolitan communities upon the central place hierarchy, Ann. Assoc. Am. Geogr., 1960, vol. 50, no. 2, pp. 112–116.
Berry, B. and Garrison, W., The functional bases of the central place hierarchy, Econ. Geogr., 1958, vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 145–154.
Berry, B. and Garrison, W., Recent developments of central place theory, J. Reg. Sci., 1958, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 107–120.
Carol, H., The hierarchy of central functions within the city, Ann. Assoc. Am. Geogr., 1960, vol. 50, no. 4, pp. 419–438.
Christaller, W., Central Place in Southern Germany, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1966.
Clark, W.A.V. and Rushton, G., Models of intra-urban consumer behaviour and their implications for central place theory, Econ. Geogr., 1970, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 486–497.
Griffith, D.A., Central place structures using constant elasticity of substitution demand cones: the infinite plane, Econ. Geogr., 1986, vol. 62, no. 1, pp. 74–84.
Johnson, L.J., The spatial uniformity of a central place distribution in New England, Econ. Geogr., 1971, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 156–170.
Mulligan, G.F., Central place populations: some implications of consumer shopping behavior, Ann. Assoc. Am. Geogr., 1984, vol. 74, no. 1, pp. 44–56.
Parr, J.B., City hierarchies and the distribution of the city size: a reconsideration of Beckman’s contribution, J. Reg. Sci., 1969, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 239–253.
Thomas, E.N., Toward an expanded central-place model, Geogr. Rev., 1961, vol. 51, no. 3, pp. 400–411.
Database of indicators of municipalities. https://doi.org/www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/bd_munst/munst.htm. Accessed March 15, 2016.
Join Interdepartmental Information and Statistical System (EMISS). https://doi.org/www.fedstat.ru. Accessed August 28, 2016.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © P.P. Em, 2017, published in Regional’nye Issledovaniya, 2017, No. 3 (57), pp. 34–42.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Em, P.P. A Big City as an Independent Central Place System, a Case Study of Moscow. Reg. Res. Russ. 8, 151–157 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079970518020041
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079970518020041