August Lösch

August Lösch (1906-1945), German economist best known for his work on central place theory, the quantitative analysis of settlement distribution and structure originated by his compatriot and contemporary, Walter Christaller. Like Christaller, he searched for a logical and scientific explanation of settlement patterns, believing that the fundamental principles of zoological, botanical, and economic location theory were similar. His work focused on modifications to Christaller’s central place model aimed at giving a more realistic representation of the relationship between settlements of different sizes. Christaller’s theory defined the hexagonal market areas around settlements, or central places, in a fixed and rigid fashion such that all places of a particular size, or order, had identical functions, and all places of a higher order performed all the functions of lower-order settlements, and more besides. The resulting settlement pattern was highly symmetrical with a regular, stepped decrease in both the size of central places and the range of their functions with distance from the main centre. In 1940 Lösch modified the method of creating market areas to make them reflect reality more accurately. He recognized the potential for large towns and cities to dominate a large area and considered it unlikely that settlements would be distributed in an orderly, stepped hierarchy around them. Instead the influence of large cities, through the range of services they provided, would restrict the nearby development of high- and middle-order settlements—there would be no real need for them. The result of his work was to create a model of settlement patterns known as the “Löschian landscape”. In this landscape, small, low-order places are to be found close to very large settlements—metropolitan centres—whereas high-order settlements are to be found a substantial distance away. In addition, it is characterized by sectors radiating from the central, dominant settlement. Some of the sectors contain more settlements than others. Lösch described these sectors as being city-rich; those with few settlements are city-poor.

Lösch’s work did not become widely known or appreciated until the use of quantitative analytical techniques in geography became popular in the 1960s. However, despite the research evidence in its favour, the greater complexity of the Löschian model has made it less popular than Christaller’s original. Lösch’s early death meant that his thinking was published only in three works, one of which was posthumous. His main work was Die Räumlich Ordnung der Wirtschaft (The Spatial Organization of the Economy, 1940). The Economics of Location (1954) was published after his death.