Walter Christaller

German economic geographer

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In location theory
…contribution to location theory was Walter Christaller’s formulation of the central place theory, which offered geometric explanations as to how settlements and places are located in relation to one another and why settlements function as hamlets, villages, towns, or cities.
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In geography: Human geography as locational analysis
…was developed by German geographer Walter Christaller in the early 1930s, though it attracted little attention for two decades.
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In central-place theory
The German geographer Walter Christaller introduced central-place theory in his book entitled Central Places in Southern Germany (1933). The primary purpose of a settlement or market town, according to central-place theory, is the provision of goods and services for the surrounding market area. Such towns are centrally located…
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