Central place theory and its reemergence in regional science

This paper presents an interdisciplinary review-from the perspectives of geography, economics, and urban planning-of the literature on central place theory (CPT) and its important role in regional science. Along the way, CPT is compared to a more recent description/explanation of the space economy, the new economic geography (NEG). The main arguments of the paper are that for a host of reasons: (i) CPT is ripe for reemergence and; (ii) NEG models are best viewed as complements to, not competitors of, CPT. Some general observations for future research in regional science follow from these conclusions.