Functional polycentrism and urban network development in the Greater South East UK: Evidence from commuting patterns, 1981-2001

Bastiaan de Goei, Martijn Burger, Frank G. Van Oort, Michael Kitson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

165 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In contemporary literature on changing urban systems, it is often argued that the traditional central place conceptualization is outdated and should be replaced by a network view that emphasizes the increasing criss-crossing pattern of interdependencies between spatial units. This paper tests how urban networks develop by looking at commuting patterns in the Greater South East, United Kingdom, for the period 1981–2001. Although the empirical results indicate that the Greater South East cannot be currently characterized as a polycentric urban region or an integrated urban network, there is some evidence for urban network development at the local, intra-urban, level, and a decentralization of the system at the regional, inter-urban, level.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1149-1170
Number of pages22
JournalRegional Studies
Volume44
Issue number9
Early online date8 Feb 2010
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010

Bibliographical note

An earlier version of this paper was circulated under the title ‘Polycentric urban configuration and urban network development in the Greater South East, UK, 1981–2001’.

JEL: O21, R11, R23, R58

Research programs

  • EUR ESE 30

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