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Service Changes in a Central‐Place System: County Tipperary, Ireland, 1966–1986 1
Author(s) -
Hourihan Kevin,
Lyons Donald
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
rural sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.083
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1549-0831
pISSN - 0036-0112
DOI - 10.1111/j.1549-0831.1995.tb00571.x
Subject(s) - hierarchy , polarization (electrochemistry) , unintended consequences , urban hierarchy , rural area , geography , central city , central highlands , demographic economics , economic growth , socioeconomics , political science , economic geography , demography , sociology , economics , population , law , chemistry , paleontology , biology
Shifts occurred in the availability of rural services in a central‐place system of 143 centers in County Tipperary, Ireland, between 1966 and 1986. While there were considerable changes in the degree of availability of individual services, the overall range of services remained relatively stable at the level of the central‐place system. Within the hierarchy, there was some evidence of polarization with villages recording the greatest losses and major towns recording the highest increases. New services that had emerged were strongly concentrated in the larger towns at the top of the hierarchy. Aggressive rural development policies had positive effects on the stability of the overall central‐place system, although these policies may have had the unintended consequence of increasing polarization within the hierarchy.