This article delimits local labor markets (LLMs) in order to analyze the structure and internal organization of Spanish metropolitan areas. LLMs are defined as self-contained and cohesive areas in terms of commuting flows. Unlike the conventional approach to polycentrism based on the analysis of commuting flows that begins with the identification of subcenters, this analytical strategy does not assume that a specific structure exists, and is compatible with the relationship between places of work and residence having other location and spatial organization patterns. The analysis is carried out on three different scales of detail linked to three self-containment levels for the LLMs delimited and three population groups (total, males and females). The results show that metropolitan areas are complex, fuzzy, multidimensional spaces, where the conditions of spatial organization are manifested in different ways depending on the parameters and variables used.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.