The Creation of Centrality∗

Received theory has departed considerably from Christaller's original conception of centrality and is an inadequate account of the achievement of centrality. A new framework is similar to a classical economic perspective rather than the neoclassical structure typical of received central place theory. Crucial elements of the alternative include the importance of exchange to the creation of centrality, the pivotal role of the entrepreneur, and the addition of a source of economic value related directly to this agent's role. The alternative portrays economic transactions institutionally; it is a technologically and historically sensitive interpretation of the achievement of centrality. Data on the economic activities and growth of colonial New England towns show that empirical interpretation within the preconceptions of standard theory is problematic. The modified classical framework is both conceptually and empirically more adequate to understanding these data as well as to answer questions raised by other selected studies of past and present urban patterns.