Where Do Centers Come From?
- 1 September 1987
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space
- Vol. 19 (9) , 1251-1260
- https://doi.org/10.1068/a191251
Abstract
A ‘center’ is a marked place in space or time or in a collection of objects, and surrounding it is a structure or pattern that supports it. The questions that concern us here are: ‘Why are there centers at all?’ ‘Why is a center at a particular X?’ Historical and combinatorial processes of centralization are reviewed, and a phenomenology and mechanisms are provided. Models considered include: stochastic markets with increasing returns to scale, codes as in DNA, combinatoric processes as in statistical mechanics, and differentiation in biology. Polycenters.Keywords
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