Study of the Shape of Rural Communities

Recent research on the configuration of populated communities is found to suffer from the fact that it seeks to isolate shape from size and orientation. The authors dispute the view, underlying central-place theory, that minimum-distance or minimum-energy concepts are fundamental to spatial relations. An equally basic tendency in geographic phenomena, it is suggested, is a disregard for efficiency criteria at various stages of development. Shape, size, and spatial orientation are viewed as representing a unity that reflects the interaction of these two opposed tendencies. Accordingly a technique is proposed for the analysis of community shapes, seeking to establish the magnitude of deviation from an equal-area circle. The method is applied to 203 communities in Ukrainian and Siberian areas, representing different physical and economic conditions. In both situations a predominant tendency toward southward expansion of communities is observed, and configurational deviations from the equal-area circle are found to increase in middle and upper size classes. (The senior author, A. M. Smirnov, died in July, 1969.)