Toward a Locational Definition of State Systems of Settlement

Recent information indicates that urbanism is only one of several options providing the means to consolidate, concentrate, and organize the coercive power necessary for state formation. Central Place Theory (CPT) is a model of urban settlement frequently chosen to approach the broader problem of state formation, but its universal applicability is in doubt. In this paper, spatial and functional definitions of urbanism and other concepts (functional center, functional lattice) related to state systems of settlement are derived using locational analytic approaches other than CPT, and their implications are discussed. A typology of state-level settlements is introduced. Advantages of a locational approach to the investigation of settlement systems are suggested.