Central-Place Analyses in the la Entrada Region, Honduras: Implications for Understanding the Classic Maya Political and Economic Systems

1996 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 291-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeshi Inomata ◽  
Kazuo Aoyama
Keyword(s):  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Classic Maya ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Local Exchange ◽  
Central Place Theory ◽  
Place Theory ◽  
Central Place System ◽  
Regional Settlement

Analyses of archaeological data from the La Entrada region in northwestern Honduras demonstrate that central-place theory applies to the regional settlement system during the Late Classic period. The configuration of the regional central-place system appears to have been oriented to the local exchange of subsistence goods and to the minimization of energy expenditure in their movement. The distribution patterns of obsidian artifacts vary significantly among the hypothetical sustaining areas of centers, corroborating the reconstruction of a central-place system. This also suggests that political factors affected the circulation of certain materials and that basic economic spatial units in Classic Maya society were relatively small.

Temporal Change in a Central-Place System

1981 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
J B Parr
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Change ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Urban Systems ◽  
Systematic Treatment ◽  
Central Place Theory ◽  
Central Places ◽  
Place Theory ◽  
General Lack ◽  
Central Place System ◽  
Static Approach

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.

scholarly journals The capital agglomeration of the Republic of Korea as a fuzzy central place system

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (34) ◽  
pp. 7-15
Author(s):  
Pavel P. Em
Keyword(s):  
Central Place ◽  
Republic Of Korea ◽  
Main Element ◽  
Settlement System ◽  
Urban Settlement ◽  
Central Place Theory ◽  
Urban Agglomerations ◽  
Place Theory ◽  
Central Place System ◽  
The Republic

Abstract Explosive urbanization in the Republic of Korea from 1950 to 2010 marked by a growth in extensive urban agglomerations rendered unproductive the approach that was commonly used in the central place theory and which considered every element of the settlement system as a point in a homogeneous space. The paper suggests an alternative concept of fuzzy central place that makes possible the understanding of an internal heterogeneity in the distribution of central functions within the limits of urban agglomerations. This research was conducted using the example of the Capital agglomeration - the main element of the Republic of Korea’s urban settlement system. This “island” country, isolated by North Korea, has seen fantastic economic growth in the second half of the 20th century.

Rational-Choice Models and Asian Studies

1991 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Little
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Survival Strategies ◽  
Transport Cost ◽  
Agricultural System ◽  
Central Place Theory ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Place Theory ◽  
Late Imperial ◽  
The Individual

The rational-choice paradigm has been attractive to many area specialists in their efforts to arrive at explanations of social and political behavior in various parts of the world. This model of explanation is simple yet powerful; we attempt to explain a pattern of social behavior or an enduring social arrangement as the aggregate outcome of the goal-directed choices of large numbers of rational agents. Why did the Nian rebellion occur? It was the result of the individual-level survival strategies of north China peasants (Perry 1980). Why did the central places of late imperial Sichuan conform to the hexagonal arrays predicted by central-place theory? Because participants—consumers, merchants, and officials—made rational decisions based on considerations of transport cost (Skinner 1964–65). Why was late imperial Chinese agriculture stagnant? Because none of the actors within the agricultural system had both the incentive and the capacity to invest in agricultural innovation (Lippit 1987).

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