Location Theory and Service Development Planning: Which Way Now?

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Abstract
In this paper, possible directions for research concerned with service-sector development in developing countries are given. Two avenues of work are suggested: (1) to analyse the assumptions about market structure which underlie World Bank adjustment programmes and, with that knowledge, to contribute to the design of alternatives to these programmes; and (2) to extend Sen's ‘entitlement approach’ to public service provision, including geographical accessibility as an integral part of the study of entitlements. In these two topics a sociospatial perspective is applied to critical development issues, but the analysis remains focused on the same objects of concern as central-place theory and location-allocation models—wholesaling and retailing activities. It is argued that service development planning needs to be wider in scope than this. By using an analysis by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, some broader directions are suggested.

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