The patterns of centrality in the province of Bursa (Turkey)

The paper deals with the problem of central place hierarchies in developing countries. If the information collected in the province of Bursa — by means of the questionaire method and in field work — is interpreted from the point of view of services offered in the central place alone, a multi-graded hierarchy is evident. However, the central place-oriented behaviour of the rural population of Bursa province reveals a two-graded hierarchy: towards the respective district centre and towards the provincial capital (Bursa city). The different qualities of services offered in the district centres must be explained in the light of different socio-economic standards in the various regions of the province of Bursa.