Temporal Change in a Central-Place System

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.