Today we will be examining different types of services, and how and why consumer services are distributed in regular patterns.
The purpose of today’s activity is to prepare us to discuss Christaller’s central place theory by analyzing the different types and predicted locations of services.
Using a worksheet, we will identify several types of services, identify what size type of city these services would likely be found in, and estimate the range, threshold, and demographics for each service. Lastly, we will provide a brief rationale for why that services is either a high or low order service, taking into account all of the information recorded.
First, we need to identify the demographic data regarding 3 different cities. We will focus on the population size, median household income, and location relative to other cities.
Second, we will define the different types of services (Consumer, Business, and Public) as well as the following terms: Market Area, Range, Threshold, and Demographics.
Use the following presentation to develop a working definition for each of these terms:
Services_Presentation_Part_1
Third, for each service listed on your worksheet, you will identify the following questions:
- What type of service is this?
- Which cities would this service likely be located in?
- What would you estimate to be the range of this service?
- How would you categorize the threshold of this service?
- Briefly describe the demographic that would utilize this service?
- Rationale: Taking into account the given information, determine whether this would be a high order or low order service, and provide a brief explanation as to why you would rank it as such.
You will be graded on how well you utilize class time today, as well as the accuracy of your completed Services Worksheet. Worth 20 points today and the worksheet is also worth 20 points.
Hints:
- Consider using Google maps to search for specific services in each city.
- You can also use google maps
- Keep in mind you can have a service with a high range but a low threshold and vice versa. Pay careful attention to the nature of each business, the cost of their service, and their target demographic.
- Ultimately, you will be using this information, if you so desire, to complete an extra credit project where you design your own business. You will incorporate each of these points of information in explaining where you will situate your business, who your customers will be, and what your range and threshold will be for your business.