Contemporary urban systems in OECD countries are structured around functional regions, which often overcome established city-boundaries. Reading space in terms of functional regions allows assessing changes in urban hierarchies and spatial structures, including the polycentricity of urban systems at national, regional and metropolitan scales. By using a harmonized definition of functional urban areas in OECD countries, this paper first provides a sound definition of polycentricity at each spatial scale, highlighting for each of them the different links with policy. Second, it provides measures of polycentricity and explores the economic implications of different spatial structures. Results show that relatively more monocentric regions have higher GDP per capita than their more polycentric counterparts. At the country level, on the other hand, polycentricity is associated with higher GDP per capita.
Polycentric development is a widely-used term both in academic research and in the normative agenda. However, its theoretical foundations and economic implications are still unknown and the concept of polycentricity still does not have a shared definition, or a shared measurement method. The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly polycentricity is defined and measured at a NUTS 2 regional level, by comparing functional and morphological methods. Secondly, in the light of the role assigned to polycentric development in terms of policy, the paper investigates the relationships between the degree of regional polycentricity and the key economic variables of performance -namely competitiveness, social cohesion and environmental sustainability. The main finding was that functional and morphological methods led to similar results. In addition, a correlation was found between polycentricity and a more unequal income distribution and a higher level of productivity, especially when polycentricity was measured in functional terms. No stable correlations were found between polycentricity and measures of environmental sustainability, such as land consumption and greenhouse emissions.
This work introduces a method aimed at the identification of metropolitan sub-centres. Instead of using traditional and static methodologies based on morphological approaches (e.g. employment density), interaction measures have been employed, based on the Central Place theoretical tradition. In particular, tools of social network analysis and a measure of productive completeness have been utilised, so as to take into account the capacity of sub-centres to organise their surrounding territory. The degree of nodecentrality has been calculated using data about commuting for working reasons and the methodology has been applied to the metropolitan areas of Rome and Milan. Results have been compared with those obtained from the application of Giuliano and Small"s (1991) thresholds in jobs density and absolute employment and confirm the soundness of the proposed approach for Italian metropolitan areas.
In the last 25 years, Łódź and the region surrounding the city have undergone significant transformations in respect of both the socio-economic structure and spatial development. In consequence of radical restructuring carried out after 1990, the traditional manufacturing branches disappeared and have been replaced by dynamically growing new types of business activity, especially in the services sector, which has enhanced the metropolitan character of Łódź and strengthened the functions belonging to 4th sector of the economy. The purpose of this article is identification of the actual extent of Łódź Metropolitan Area in terms of the functions performed and its delimitation for management purposes, as well as analysis of conditions for further development of this area in the context of metropolisation processes. Future development largely depends on making good use of the favourable location in European space, European funds, cultural heritage and social potential. A serious challenge is coordination of activities of territorial self-government units and revision of the policies of the communes so as to create a consistent conception of the development of the metropolitan area. Łódź Metropolitan Area, despite certain barriers, has a potential strong enough to become an advanced, creative node in the sphere of culture, science and innovative economy, and a major element of the European settlement system.
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