Population Potential Model

The population potential model measures the cumulative influence that all of a region's population exerts on a given point, weighting each place's population inversely by its distance. Introduced by the astronomer-turned-social-scientist John Q. Stewart in 1947 as part of his 'social physics', it borrows the gravitational-potential analogy from physics: every population mass contributes potential at a point in proportion to its size and in inverse proportion to its distance. Summed across all places, the result is a smooth potential surface that maps relative accessibility, market reach, and demographic pressure.