Central Place Theory/World Cities Hierarchy/

Rank Size Theory/Primate City Theory

Background on Professional Baseball• Origins

• Early professional baseball

• Race and ethnic relations in baseball

• Population shifts and team relocations

• Expansion in 1961

• Free agency

• Further expansion

• Unfair competition issue

• Baseball is Central Place Theory in Action!

Major League Baseball Teams, 1903

Figure 9.7 (p. 256)

Figure 9.9 (p. 257)

Major League Baseball Teams, 1960

Figure 9.10 (p. 258)

Major League Baseball Teams, 2005

Figure 9.11 (p. 259)

Major League Baseball's Widening Payroll Gap

Step-by-step instructions for

drawing market areas based on the closest

team

Figure 9.15 (p. 268)

Activity 2: Market Area Geography

Figure 9.16 (p. 269)

The distribution of minor-league baseball teams in Oregon and surrounding areas

Online Activity

McDonald’s locations in Lincoln, Nebraska.

• Draw hexagons around the McDonalds.

Central Place Theory

• Market area of a service• Size of a market area

–Range –Threshold

McDonald’s locations in Lincoln, Nebraska.

• Are the market areas the same size? Are there concentrations of populations in some of the areas, i.e. are the thresholds the same size? Would concentrations of college students/apartment complexes influence the locations? Would the locations of businesses with large work forces influence the range?

• Are there “gaps”? Where would people go if they were not in one of the market areas?

• Where would the next McDonalds be built? • Do the transportation routes influence

where people would stop? • What other factors might influence where

people would stop?

World Cities• Megacities- Cities of 10 million or more

• World Cities - Harder to define• A world city is differentiated from other cities

because of its power and influence in: politics; trade; communications; finance; education; culture and technology. 

• It has also come to be closely related to the services it provides the rest of the world and its businesses.  Therefore, the growth of world cities is directly related to the growth of the service sector of the economy.

• What are the top world cities?

• Mexico City Paris• New York Rio• Sao Paulo London• Tokyo• BA• Calcutta• Mumbai• Beijing• LA• Hong Kong• Cairo• Shanghai• Jo Burg• New Delhi

The GAWC breaks down world cities into three categories:1.  ALPHA WORLD CITIES(full service world cities)2.  BETA WORLD CITIES (major world cities)3.  GAMMA WORLD CITIES (minor world cities)

Each of the major world cities influence and connections to

one another can be traced and mapped.

A world city must be a center of  Multinational Corporate Headquarters and an International Financial Center.  It must be a  ‘Control center’ of capital markets and labor.

Here's the world city hierarchy within the US:

Rank-Size Rule

Rank-Size Rule: n th-largest settlement is 1/n the population of the largest settlement. In other words, 2nd largest is 1/2 the size of largest. Works best in most developed countries that have full distribution of services.

Rank Size Rule

• Notes the relationship between the ranks of cities and their populations.

• Top Cities in Canada1. Toronto 5,741,4002. Montreal 3,859,3003. Vancouver 2,391,3004. Calgary 1,242,6005. Ottawa 1,239,100

Rank Size RuleExample:

1. Largest City 1,000,0002. 2nd largest City 500,0003. 3rd Largest City 333,3334. 4th Largest City 250,0005. 5th Largest City ?

Rank Size RuleExample:

1. Largest City 1,000,000 (1/1)2. 2nd largest City 500,000 (1/2)3. 3rd Largest City 333,333 (1/3)4. 4th Largest City 250,000 (1/4)5. 5th Largest City 200,000 (1/5)

Primate Cities

A country's leading city is always disproportionately large and exceptionally expressive of national capacity and feeling. The primate city is commonly at least twice as large as the next largest city and more than twice as significant.

- Mark Jefferson, 1939

Primate City RuleLargest settlement in a country has more than twice the

number as the second ranking city. These cities tend to represent the perceived culture of the country.

Largest City Population Second-largest City Population

Paris 9 million Marseille 2 millionLondon 9 million Birmingham 2 million

What advantages do primate cities have?

• Hugely influential – Culturally– Politically– Economically

• Huge number of economic activities• Agglomeration of industries• Pull factors for migrants

Primate City or Rank Size Rule?Austria

1. Vienna 1,691,468 2. Linz-Wels-Steyr 286,000 3. Graz 222,326 4. Linz 181,162 5. Salzburg 150,269

Primate City or Rank Size Rule?Austria

1. Vienna 1,691,4681,691,468

2. Linz-Wels-Steyr 286,000 845,7433. Graz 222,326 563,8234. Linz 181,162 422,8675. Salzburg 150,269 338,294

Primate City or Rank Size Rule?Egypt

1. Cairo 7,734,614 2. Alexandria 3,811,516 3. Al Jīzah 2,443,203

Primate City or Rank Size Rule?Egypt

1. Cairo 7,734,614 7,734,6142. Alexandria 3,811,516 3,867,3073. Al Jīzah 2,443,203 2,578,204

Canada

1. Toronto 5,741,400 5,741,4002. Montreal 3,859,300 2,870,7003. Vancouver 2,391,300

1,913,8004. Calgary 1,242,600 1,435,3505. Ottawa 1,239,100 1,148,280

Work on your own or in partners

practice

• If a country conforms to Rank Size Rule, fill in the population chart below:

1. City A 250,0002. City B ?3. City C ?4. City D ?5. City E ?

Practice

• If a country conforms to Rank Size Rule, fill in the population chart below:

1. City A 250,0002. City B 125,0003. City C 83,3334. City D 62,5005. City E 50,000

Rank Size Rule or Primate City?

France1 Paris 11,293,2002 Lyon 1,665,7003 Marseille 1,532,4004 Toulouse 975,0005 Nice 943,000

Rank Size Rule or Primate City?

England1 London 7,172,091 2 Birmingham 970,892 3 Leeds 715,404 4 Glasgow 577,869 5 Sheffield 513,234

Rank Size Rule or Primate City?

Spain1 Madrid 5,078,100 2 Barcelona 3,871,400 3 Valencia 1,406,600 4 Sevilla 1,135,600 5 Zaragoza 607,000

Rank Size Rule or Primate City?

Japan1 Tokyo 8,027,500 2 Yokohama 3,552,300 3 Osaka 2,647,000 4 Nagoya 2,258,000 5 Sapporo 1,779,700

Rank Size Rule or Primate City?

South KoreaSeoul 10,349,312Pusan 3,678,555Inch’ŏn 2,628,000Taegu 2,566,540Taejŏn 1,475,221

Rank Size Rule or Primate City?

LibyaTripoli 1,150,989 Banghāzī 650,629 Mişrātah 386,120 Tarhūnah 210,697 Al Khums 201,943

Rank Size Rule or Primate City?

ThailandBangkok 5,104,476 Samut Prakan 388,920 Mueang Nonthaburi 291,555 Udon Thani

247,231 Chon Buri

219,164

Rank Size Rule or Primate City?

LichtensteinSchaan 5,748 Vaduz 5,197 Triesen 4,701 Balzers 4,447 Eschen 4,008

Rank Size Rule or Primate City?

MexicoMexico City 12,294,193 Iztapalapa 1,820,888 Ecatepec 1,806,226Guadalajara 1,640,589

Rank Size Rule or Primate City?

GreeceAthens 729,137 Thessaloníki 354,290 Piraeus 172,429Pátrai 163,360 Peristérion 137,659

Rank Size Rule or Primate City?

AfghanistanKabul

3,043,532 Kandahār 391,190 Mazār-e Sharīf 303,282 Herāt 272,806 Jalālābād 200,331

Rank Size Rule or Primate City?

MoroccoCasablanca 3,144,909 Rabat 1,655,753 Fès 964,891 Salé 903,485 Marrakech 839,296