informative in a ‘raw data’ context, are viewed as questionable. One issue is to
detect component shortfalls for either correction or substitution on an ‘ought to
be’ basis, and to assess the componentry and trading potential on a ‘new hori-
zons’ understanding. The overall objective is to enlarge upon economic strengths,
enhance the quality of habitat, and attain improved overall social wellbeing.
Considerservice centrestudies. Normative topology assessments for attracting
new businesses are obviously indicative and useful. The usual procedure is to look
at the rank–size composition of businesses and services for the size of town under
consideration, and then identify the gaps which ought to be filled. Such a scan
makes comparative assessments relative to other settlements of similar function
and size, and assessments of professional and commercial services, industry and
agriculture support services, marketing services, transportation services, and
welfare schooling and entertainment facilities.^8 For any given ‘community of
regional concern’ this information can be entered onto a functional display (along
the top) and a town sized display (down the side) scalogram. Smaller towns would,
understandably, have fewer functions than a regional centre, with the scalogram
highlighting anomalies, vacancies and situations of over-supply.
An elaboration of this form of array is often called for in the style of a service
centre services analysis. This involves: first, assessment of the points of origin and
termination of goods and services, including the volume-flows, transportation
routes and communication-networks used; second, a determination of the fiscal
accruals and community flows through each service centre; and, third, analysis of
inhibiting frictions like comparative shortfalls in relation to like-sized centres, and
the factors inhibiting transaction linkages and communication flows.
Turning to access studies, here appraisal involves ‘gravity’ considerations, acces-
sibility being a function of settlement sizes and their distances apart. Of itself this
information is of little more than situational utility. The ‘basic’ concern (as an
exportconsideration) is the extent to which the distance-cost and time-cost of
access inhibits rural-to-urban and urban-to-urban processing prior to regional
export. In the local context, conducting surveys of users on typical occasions
(usually weekdays) about the purchase of their goods and services (at the moment
of departure from the source of service) makes it possible to ‘pattern’ the acqui-
sition of those services and commodities, which enable analysts to form a view
about consumer purchasing preferences and the extent to which access time and
access cost are attracting and repelling factors within a region of concern. This is
useful information for assessing the likely potential for extra trading activities,
and provides vital information for enhancing within-region trading activities.
Growth Management Basics
Project propagation (generation)
The point and purpose of sustainable development and sustenable conservancy,
and project initiation, is much more than change for its own sake. The point and
purpose is a three-way improvement in the material wellbeing, the quality of the
Growth Pattern Management 133