Centrality is a spatial concept used to describe how certain points or zones in an urban system serve as centers of economic, social, administrative, or transport activity. It underpins several urban theories, such as Christaller’s Central Place Theory, which explains the hierarchical pattern of settlements and service distribution.

Types of Centrality

• Geographical Centrality: Determined by the physical location—how centrally a point is placed within a network or city layout.
• Functional Centrality: Defined by the intensity of activities, such as commerce, administration, or leisure, happening in a location.
• Network Centrality: Examined in transport and connectivity terms—measured by how connected or accessible a point is within a road, rail, or communication network.

Measurement and Indicators

Centrality can be evaluated by:

Location relative to other nodes in the urban system.Centrality is a vital concept in Urban Systems. cities are central places providing services and functions .There are many types of Centrality.

Density of population or economic activities.

Flow of people (commuters, shoppers).

Number and importance of connections (roads, metro lines).

Important types of centrality are:

The Centrality of

Services

Flow of Goods

Pattern of Flow of goods is vital in deciding the centrality node location.

Nodes and

The arrangement of nodes in city is a vital determinant to decide and define central and hierarchical position of hubs of a particular service.

Transport

Transport network often decides the position of central hub of services.

Centrality is not only about distances, the location. It is about

Population

Accessibility

Feasibility and

Viability of the place

Population

Centrality often decides Hierarchy of urban systems. They can be described as being part of the urban hierarchy. Where they stand on the hierarchy depends on many factors, the main ones being population, the number of services a settlement has and its sphere of influence.

The most obvious way of deciding where a settlement ranks on the urban hierarchy is by using the population of that settlement. The larger the population, the higher the settlement is placed on the hierarchy.

Services and Functions

Services are things such as retailers(shops), professionals (doctors, lawyers, etc), entertainment, government functions, and leisure. The theory goes that the larger a settlement is, and therefore the higher it is on the urban hierarchy, the more services and functions it will have.

Links:

Basic and Non Basic Functions of City