Measuring polycentric urban development: the importance of accurately determining the ‘balance’ between ‘centers’

Derudder, B., Liu, X., Wang, M. , Zhang, W., Wu, K. and Caset, F. (2021) Measuring polycentric urban development: the importance of accurately determining the ‘balance’ between ‘centers’. Cities, 111, 103009. (doi: 10.1016/j.cities.2020.103009)

[img] Text
244620.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

463kB

Abstract

In recent years, much research has been devoted to developing appropriate analytical frameworks to capture polycentric urban development (PUD). In a recent contribution to this journal, Bartosiewicz and Marcińczak (2020) present what is arguably the most comprehensive, comparative review to date of the degree to which different analytical frameworks produce consistent results. The purpose of this research note is to show why we believe parts of Bartosiewicz and Marcińczak's (2020) findings need nuance and qualification. Our starting point is that a useful comparison between different studies and measurement frameworks needs to consider the relevance of consistency in several key dimensions, two of which are particularly pertinent here: (1) the careful specification of what constitutes a ‘center’ in a polycentric urban system, and (2) the identification of the ‘balance’ between centers as a measure of the degree of polycentricity. Two brief empirical analyses of the degree of morphological polycentricity in Polish NUTS-3 areas and the Chinese city-regions along the ‘Yangtze Economic Belt’ are included. Finally, suggestions are provided to facilitate future comparative analyses of PUD.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:This work was supported by Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) [Grant number: G014119N], National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant numbers: 41971197, 41901186], The MOE (Ministry of Education in China) Project for Humanities and Social Sciences [Grant number: 19YJA790092], Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Science [Grant number: KF2018-08].
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Liu, Dr Xingjian and Wang, Dr Mingshu
Creator Roles:
Wang, M.Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing
Authors: Derudder, B., Liu, X., Wang, M., Zhang, W., Wu, K., and Caset, F.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Geographical and Earth Sciences
College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Urban Studies
Journal Name:Cities
Publisher:Elsevier
ISSN:0264-2751
ISSN (Online):1873-6084
Published Online:13 November 2020
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2020 The Authors
First Published:First published in Cities 111: 103009
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record