The exact spatial configuration of the hierarchical structure of central places
and their hinterlands may be modified by applying certain characteristics to the
economic environment, factors that Christaller called “principles.” If one assumes,
he argued, that the system is dominated by amarketing principle, which provides
the greatest profit margin to businesses operating at central places, then it is ideal
to keep the number of central places to a minimum—this results in the lowest level
of competition. The pattern created by the application of this principle would
result in a k¼3 solution, meaning that each hexagonal hinterland would contain
the equivalent market area of three hinterlands of the order below it. If, on the
other hand, the central places of lower order were placed at the linear midpoint
between places of the next highest order, this would result in not only more central
places, but would maximize the number of central places along potential transpor-
tation routes, using thetransportation principle(sometimes referred to as the traf-
fic principle), or k¼4 pattern, in which each hinterland of a higher order
contained the area of four hinterlands of the next lowest order. Finally, Christaller
stated that anadministrative principlemight be applied, which would be designed
to ensure the maximum level of governmental efficiency in managing economic
activity. In this case, each higher order central place would hold six central places
of the next lowest order, and its hinterland encompasses the equivalent of seven
hinterlands (the six lower-order hinterlands and its own) of the level directly below
it. Christaller proposed that at least one of these principles was at work in the
spatial ordering of urban centers.
Centrifugal and Centripetal Forces
Collectively, the social, political, cultural, or economic forces that weaken
(centrifugal) or reinforce (centripetal) the geographic integrity of anation-state.
Centrifugal forces may result in political fragmentation orbalkanizationof a
state. All states contain elements that contribute to centrifugal tendency, although
these may be quite weak in some cases, especially in countries that are culturally
homogeneous, or nearly so. Japan, for example, a country that holds few religious
or ethnic minorities, evinces little centrifugal tendency. Countries containing
numerous minority groups (India, Nigeria, Malaysia), or a single large minority
that is regionally concentrated (Canada, Belgium, Kazakhstan) often experience
significant centrifugal forces. In other states, control over resources or differing
levels of economic development may trigger the expression of such forces. Such
was the case in the United Kingdom in the 1980s and 1990s, when Scotland gained
significant political autonomy as a result of centrifugal tendency generated by
Centrifugal and Centripetal Forces 55