Urban Hierarchies
Settlements can be grouped into something called the " urban hierarchy ," which is like a ranking system. This ranking depends on a few important factors. The first one is the population of a settlement. The bigger the population, the higher up it is on the hierarchy. Another factor is the number of services a settlement has. Services can be things like schools, hospitals, or shops. The more services a settlement has, the higher it goes on the hierarchy. The last factor is the "sphere of influence" of a settlement. This means how far the influence of a settlement reaches. A larger settlement with more services will attract people from a wider area. So, the bigger the settlement, the greater its sphere of influence. Now, when we talk about the sphere of influence of a shop or service, there are two important things to consider. These are called the "range" and "threshold population" of a good. The range refers to how far people are willing to tra