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Central Place Analysis×Location Quotient×
FieldHuman GeographyEconomics
FamilyProcess / pipelineProcess / pipeline
Year of origin19331960
OriginatorWalter ChristallerDeveloped in regional science; codified by Walter Isard
TypeTheory and analytic framework for the size, number, and spacing of settlementsDescriptive index of relative regional concentration
Seminal sourceChristaller, W. (1966). Central Places in Southern Germany (C. W. Baskin, Trans.). Prentice-Hall. (Original work published 1933). ISBN: 9780131226302Isard, W. (1960). Methods of Regional Analysis: An Introduction to Regional Science. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN: 9780262090032
AliasesCentral Place Theory, Christaller Central Place Model, Settlement Hierarchy Analysis, Central Place HierarchyLQ, Coefficient of Localization, Regional Specialization Ratio
Related43
SummaryCentral place analysis is the study of the size, number, and spacing of settlements as service centres, grounded in Walter Christaller's central place theory of 1933. It explains why settlements form an orderly hierarchy — many small villages, fewer towns, a handful of cities — and why higher-order centres are spaced farther apart and offer more specialized goods, deriving the famous nested pattern of hexagonal market areas from two economic concepts: the range and the threshold of a good.The location quotient (LQ) is a simple descriptive index that measures how concentrated an industry is in a region relative to a larger reference area, usually the nation. It is the ratio of the industry's share of local employment (or output) to its share of national employment. An LQ above one means the region is more specialized in that industry than the nation as a whole; an LQ below one means it is under-represented.
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ScholarGateCompare methods: Central Place Analysis · Location Quotient. Retrieved 2026-06-24 from https://scholargate.app/en/compare