Delimitation and Variations in Market Areas

Market areas are an important component of the spatial organization of a region. The above figure considers a simple region composed of three equidistant cities (1, 2 and 3). On example A, the three cities are of the same size, which means that they have the same level of attractiveness or influence. Because of the friction of distance, which is assumed to be linear in this example, the further away one is from a city, the lower its level of influence. So, each city has a cone of influence that decrease with distance and at some level of distance, this influence becomes negligible. City 1 has an influence extending in both directions (for simplicity this influence is displayed on only one axis) which is overlapping with those of cities 2 and 3. At some point the influence of the other cities becomes higher than its own. Consequently, the market area (or area of influence) of city 1 is bounded by x and y; points of indifference. Market areas can vary in size for two main reasons:

• The first is because one city has more influence than others.
• The second is because the friction of distance may not be uniform over a region, implying that some cities may be more accessible than others.

On example B, city 1 is assumed to be of greater importance than the two others, extending its market area from x to x' and from y to y'. On example C, city 1 has a better accessibility (lower friction slope) than the two others, again extending its market area.

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