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Space, Settlements, Towns: The Influence of Geography and Market Access on Settlement Distribution and Urbanization
| The spatial distribution of economic activity is strongly linked to the structure of the urban system. This paper focuses on the spatial distribution of this system. Its origin and development is separated into two stages, the diffusion of settlements and the transition to urban status. The theoretical framework incorporates the influence of geographic characteristics and location interdependence in both stages. Their relative importance for both stages is tested empirically with Saxony as a case study. After investigating with a spatial point process approach how geographic endowments and location interdependence shape the spatial distribution of all settlements within the state, I apply a spatial probit estimation to determine how these endowments and interdependence, which resembles a market access effect, influence the likelihood that a settlement is characterized as a town. The determination of which settlement is actually a town is based on a novel definition that is based on the relevance of agriculture as the main income source. The results indicate that geographic factors influence primarily the spatial distribution of settlements, while the spatial relationship between settlements shapes urbanization developments.
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