Showing papers on "Polycentricity published in 2009"

The Polycentric Metropolis: Learning from Mega-City Regions in Europe

Abstract: Part I The Polycentric Metropolis: Emerging Mega-City Regions * From Metropolis to Polyopolis * Part II Analysing the Polycentric Metropolis: Quantifying the Mega-City Region * Anatomy of the Polycentric Metropolis: Eight Mega-City Regions in Overview * Organization of the Polycentric Metropolis: Corporate Structures and Networks * The Connectivity of the European Heartland * The Informational Geography of Europolis: Mapping the Flow of Information * Part III Understanding the Polycentric Metropolis: Actors, Networks, Regions * Firms and Places: Inside the Mega-City Regions * Flows and Relationships: Internal and External Linkages * People and Places: Interrelating the 'Space of Flows' and the 'Space of Places' * Part IV Visiting the Polycentric Metropolis: Regional Identities, Regional Policies * South East England: Global Constellation * Randstad Holland: Multiple Faces of a Polycentric Role Model * Central Belgium: Polycentrism in a Federal Context * RhineRuhr: 'Polycentricity at its Best'? * Rhine-Main: Making Polycentricity Work? * European Metropolitan Region Northern Switzerland: Driving Agents for Spatial Development and Governance Responses * The Paris Region: Polycentric Spatial Planning in a Monocentric Metropolitan Region * Greater Dublin in the Celtic Tiger Economy: Towards a Polycentric Mega-City Region? * Part V Planning Europolis: The Effectiveness of Policy * From Strategy to Delivery: Policy Responses *

Challenging Institutional Analysis and Development: The Bloomington School

Abstract: Introduction Part 1: From Metropolitan Reform to a Theory of Governance Systems: The Origins and Main Themes of the Bloomington Research Program 1. Political Economy, Polycentricity and the Metropolitan Reform Debate 2. Crossing the Great Divide: The Nature of Public Economies Part 2: The "Human Condition" and the Foundations of Social Order: Elements of a Social Philosophy of Institutionalism 3. Knowledge and Institutions: Developing a Social Philosophy of Institutional Order and Change 4. Ideas, Language and Meaning: Ontological and Epistemological Foundations of Institutional Order and Institutional Analysis Part 3: The Bloomington School in its Intellectual Context: A Family of Themes and Schools of Thought 5. Competing Disciplines, Methodological Divides and Emerging Research Agendas: The Bloomington School in its Interdisciplinary Setting 6. Public Policy Analysis, Public Choice and the Old "New Science of Politics" Conclusions: A Science of Association, a Science of Citizenship, a Science of Liberty. Postscript: Rethinking Institutional Analysis and Development. Dialogues with Vincent and Elinor Ostrom

Polycentric Systems as One Approach to Solving Collective-Action Problems

Abstract: Providing and producing public goods and common-pool resources at local, regional, national and international levels require different institutions than open, competitive markets or highly centralized governmental institutions. If we are to solve collectiveaction problems effectively we must rethink the way we approach market and governmental institutions. We need analytical approaches that are consistent with a public sector that encourages human development at multiple levels (Opschoor 2004). This chapter reviews studies of polycentric governance systems in metropolitan areas and for managing common-pool resources. Hans Opschoor has devoted his academic career to the study of economic instruments and institutions related to development of and to coping with environmental problems. A fundamental set of problems facing individuals in all developed and developing societies are collective-action problems. The size and shape of these problems however differ dramatically. Polycentricity may help solve collective-action problems by developing systems of governmental and nongovernmental organizations at multiple scales. After an introduction to the problem, this chapter will review the extensive research that demonstrated the capabilities of many citizens to design imaginative and productive ways of producing public goods and common-pool resources. Successful systems tend to be polycentric with small units nested in larger systems. Not all such systems are successful, and we need to understand factors associated with failure as well as success. The last section of the chapter will discuss design principles that can help guide the design, adaptation and reform of governance systems to achieve robust and effective systems over time. Matching scales of governance systems to solve collective-action problems Collective-action problems occur when it takes the inputs and efforts of multiple individuals in order to achieve joint outcomes—and it is difficult to exclude beneficiaries

The Decentralization of Intrametropolitan Business Services in the Paris Region: Patterns, Interpretation, Consequences

Abstract: What is the importance of the decentralization of business services in a Parisian metropolitan region that is known for its inherited monocentricity? Using revised statistical and cartographic methodological tools, I try to answer two ques- tions: Is the new Parisian metropolitan economic geography one of dispersal or of polycentricity? Does decentralization mean the decline or the reinforcement of the economic core? If secondary suburban economic centers benefit from the decen- tralization of business services, neighboring spaces of the municipality of Paris, such as the inner western suburbs of La D fense and Boulogne-Billancourt, are affected, too. This article demonstrates that polycentricity is not opposite to the constitution of a new golden triangle within the dense part of the agglomeration. This means both that economic centrality still matters (and thus that dispersed cities may not be the twenty-first century's metropolitan archetype) and that an enlarged core busi- ness district (CBD) straddling Paris and the western Hauts-de-Seine ddpartement is being reinforced (thus invalidating the theory of CBD decline). Thanks to the widening of the business district from Paris to La D6fense, the labor market remains integrated; meanwhile, secondary economic centers in the Outer Suburbs tend to

Estimating a Polycentric Urban Structure. Case Study: Urban Changes in the Stockholm Region 1991–2004

Abstract: The aims of this paper are to empirically test and evaluate methods for describing intraurban polycentricity, and to evaluate the polycentric development with respect to the regional development plan of the Office of Urban and Regional Transportation in 2001. The study area is Stockholm County and the time period investigated is 1991-2004. Three dimensions of polycentricity are analyzed: urban nuclei size relations, spatial distribution of urban nuclei, and potential interaction (accessibility). According to the methods' various qualifications in describing polycentric forms it is proposed here that a combination of methods is preferable for this subject. The polycentric structure exposes an increasing and considerable concentration of urban resources to the major urban nuclei. This concentration is combined with an increased spatial dispersal of the urban nuclei. In relative terms, the accessibility has decreased concerning the accessibility by public transportation modes and increased (workspace) or remained on almost the same level (residential space) by car transportation mode. Thus, the urban structural change in the Stockholm region corresponds to the political guidelines. In spite of this, by the increase in relative accessibility by car and decrease in the relative accessibility by public transportation modes the goal concerning higher share in public transports may not be possible to fulfill.

City regions, polycentricity and the construction of peripheralities through governance

Abstract: City regions have become a key paradigm in current academic debates, and with them the notion of network-based, polycentric spaces. They have moved to the foreground of national (and EU) policies of creating economic 'champions' for successful national economies. No longer is such success perceived as being equal everywhere across a territory. Instead, economic and policy spaces are being subdivided into 'corridors of connectivity' and city-regional 'nodes' as key elements of a network-defined space. The nodes are loci of bundled, variably 'thick' connectivities. This paper argues that instead of contiguous economic territories as spatial 'containers', these are now becoming increasingly subdivided into bundles of separate linear territories, leaving 'in between' much less well connected, effectively marginalized spaces and actors, whose access to power and policymaking capacity is much more limited. The result is a reinforced, perpetuated inequality in opportunities, with regionalization in danger of creating more divisions and boundaries, rather than less.

Polycentricity in the North-eastern Periphery of the EU Territory

Abstract: Polycentricity, a key element of the European Spatial Development Perspective, has become an increasingly dominant concept in supra-national, national and regional spatial planning activities. However, the concept's fuzzy and imprecise nature opens doors for it to be used in widely different ways, in diverse contexts and by different professional communities such as researchers, planners and policy-makers. This article investigates the process of adoption of polycentricity at the level of an individual country, Finland, and explores its spatial characteristics and development in terms of an interpretive framework informed by the notion of polycentricity. The initial focus is on the theoretical foundations of the concept of polycentricity and its status as a transdiscursive boundary concept between research and policy-making. This is followed by a review of Finnish and European interpretations of polycentricity as an example of how adaptations to prevailing spatial and institutional conditions are reflecte...

City regions and polycentric territorial development: concepts and practice

Abstract: This special issue of Urban Research and Practice presents contributions discussing three closely interrelated themes of polycentricity, city regions and territorial disparities. The focus on polycentric settlement systems is framed by the normative goal of sustainable spatially balanced territorial development declared in the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) and further developed by European Spatial Planning Observatory Network (ESPON) and the Interreg IIIB programmes. The experience of the former socialist countries of Central Europe shows that issues of territorial development discussed under the concept of polycentricity have a long tradition in this region. Instead of a division of space into exclusive and closed territories with only one choice structure, which was operationalized under Communism, polycentricity now offers a plurality of choices for populations and firms within a networked system of centres. However, we have to bear in mind that displacing the notion of territorial co...

Drivers of change in fragile environments: Challenges to governance in Indian wetlands

Abstract: In densely populated coastal wetlands with rich biodiversity, multiple, but generally competing, economic activities are common. This paper adopts a polycentric perspective to the study of wetlands management in India to assess the scope for sustainable and equitable use of these remarkable and threatened ecosystems. The analytical framework proves to be useful and highlights that the intertwined processes of environmental and social changes result from, and shape, governance patterns. The three wetlands studied share commonalities in their trajectories: high population pressure, the enclosure of the commons and subsequent capitalization of resources and social marginalization, conflicting interests and intense local politics, a disconnect between global conservation discourses and local concerns, weak institutional arrangements, and global economic forces. The intense politics of access, control and use of natural resources challenge the implementation of a true polycentric regime in the Indian context due to a tendency to bureaucratization and a lack of participation, and existing limits to democratic citizenship. Creating a democratic space where multiple voices can be considered in the decision-making process remains a challenge. The paper concludes that inclusion of power and politics in the study of governance of natural resources should be of prime concern for researchers and decision makers.

Polycentricity: can we make it happen? From a concept to its implementation

Abstract: This article argues that between the adoption of the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP; 1999) and today, the concept of polycentricity has changed: the footprint of the French amenagement du territoire, characterized by the quest for a more harmonious distribution of population and growth, has faded, leaving room for a more differentiated approach aiming to ‘make the best of territorial diversity’ in a globalized, competitive environment. Its implementation remains in the hands of national and local stakeholders and ensuring their commitment calls for a reinvigoration of governance. France has undergone a similar change and is trying to implement a new policy to enhance polycentricism.

Exploring the Challenges and Prospects for Polycentricity in International Humanitarian Relief

Abstract: The coordination of relief in international humanitarian crises has long been viewed as fraught with problems of inadequate oversight and coordination. Contrary to this claim, this article argues that the international relief system, viewed as interdependent actors, is better understood on the basis of the principle of polycentricity. The authors sketch the conditions necessary to secure a polycentric social order and compare these to the international humanitarian relief framework. They argue that polycentricity may be a more apt aspiration for participants in the international relief system than are calls for new and more stringent forms of monocentric coordination, but its conditions too may be difficult for the relevant participants to realize. The authors explore the tensions and possibilities implicit in this reframing at both the strategic and operating scales.

The Saxon Triangle – a polycentric metropolitan region from an actor-oriented perspective

Abstract: Throughout Europe, planners and policymakers are trying to make use of the potentials of polycentric development on a regional scale by creating polycentric metropolitan regions. Only a few of these regions have achieved the stage of implementation. The Saxon Triangle is a polycentric metropolitan region located in the Eastern part of Germany. Common governance structures as well as shared decision-making have already been built up since 2002. This article outlines the changes that are ongoing in the debate about city-regions in Germany since the 1990s. Then it traces the emergence and implementation of the Saxon Triangle. Based on an analysis of the collective decision-making procedures in the Saxon Triangle, conclusions will be drawn regarding the question whether polycentric metropolitan regions can fulfil their expected role of building blocks in metropolitan Europe. Emphasis is placed on an actor-oriented perspective on polycentricity.

Spatial Structure and Productivity in U.S. Metropolitan Areas

Abstract: textRecent concepts as megaregions and polycentric urban regions emphasize that external economies are not confined to a single urban core, but shared among a collection of close-by and linked cities. However, empirical analyses of agglomeration and agglomeration externalities so-far neglects the multicentric spatial organization of agglomeration and the possibility of ‘sharing’ or ‘borrowing’ of size between cities. This paper takes up this empirical challenge by analyzing how different spatial structures, in particular the monocentricity – polycentricity dimension, affect the economic performance of U.S. metropolitan areas. OLS and 2SLS models explaining labor productivity show that spatial structure matters. Polycentricity is associated with higher labor productivity. This appears to justify suggestions that, compared to relatively monocentric metropolitan areas, agglomeration diseconomies remain relatively limited in the more polycentric metropolitan areas, while agglomeration externalities are indeed to some extent shared among the cities in such an area. However, it was also found that a network of geographically proximate smaller cities cannot provide a substitute for the urbanization externalities of a single large city.

Polycentric development in the spatial development policy of the Czech Republic

Abstract: The Policy of Territorial Development of the Czech Republic presents polycentric development, territorial cohesion, improved accessibility and support for regional clusters among its national priorities. This paper analyses the context and position of spatial development policy with reference to its powers and potentials to achieve these goals. It also reviews the recent changes in spatial development, as well as planned infrastructural projects that may influence spatial development towards polycentricity or monocentricity, and discusses which spatial and functional pattern(s) may develop in particular regions of the country. Special attention is devoted to the influence of major infrastructure projects, foreign investments and the prospects of emerging cross-border polycentric systems.

Polycentric Metropolitan Form: Application of a 'Northern' Concept in

Abstract: 1But not all employment was concentrated in the CBD: manufacturing was generally located outside it, in areas with lower densities and land values. 2 Gradually, more employment started to move outside the CBD, following and anticipating residential suburbanisation. After 1950, ‘Fordism simultaneously accentuated centrality, with the concentration of financial, government, and corpo rate headquarters in and around the downtown core; and accelerated decentralization, primarily through the suburbanization of the bourgeoning middle class, manufacturing jobs and the sprawling infrastructure of mass consumption that was required to maintain a suburban mode of life’. 3 Since the 1980s, however, we see a more fundamental change. The city centre ceased to be the single focal point for productive activities and jobs. Metropolitan areas have stretched out into discontinuous, borderless and centreless urban forms with a growing number of economic subcentres. These subcentres have functional interrelations with the city centre and other urban nodes located in the same city and in other cities, at national or international level. These trends made clear that the monocentric CBD-dominated city was no longer valid. The polycentric model emerged - and gained popularity - to denote the new spatial reality of metropolitan areas. The concept of polycentricity, however, does not have a clear and undisputed meaning. On the contrary: to paraphrase Davoudi, the concept has now different meanings for different people with regard to different urban configurations at different geographical scales. 4 These different configura tions correspond with different manners of spatial development of polycentric urban systems: the centrifugal, the incorporation and the fusion mode. 5

Sustainable territorial development and concepts of polycentricity in Slovak territorial development

Abstract: This paper presents the situation and potentials for the development of polycentric structures within the Slovak settlement system in the context of spatial development in Central Europe. The trajectories in the development of the morphological and relational features of settlement structures are compared with official conceptual documents at the national and regional levels. The limits and potentials concerning the development of spatial structures at different hierarchical levels, resulting from the specific situation in Slovakia, are examined with a particular focus on trans-border development perspectives, including the appearance of new spatial–temporal patterns. The concepts brought forward in the ESPON analyses are critically discussed with an attempt to provide a more contextualized view of the nature of polycentric organization in the current phase of development of integration and transformation processes in Slovakia.

Polycentric Metropolitan Form: Application of a ‘Northern’ Concept in Latin America

Abstract: Since the mid 20th century, large urban areas in advanced economies have experienced a fundamental transformation from relatively compact monocentric cities towards more extended polycentric metropolitan areas. By now, it is being commented repeatedly, but not investigated systematically that the concept of polycentricity is also adequate to characterise recent metropolitan dynamics in Latin-America. This paper aims to present a few key-issues for a future research agenda into polycentricity in Latin-American metropolitan areas. These elements are identified from a review of existing literature. Since no clear-cut definition and operationalisation of polycentricity exist yet, we distinguish some key-elements of this phenomenon in North America as a frame of reference for this review. It reveals that ‘polycentricity U.S. style’ is at best dawning in Latin-America. In order to achieve a more appropriate picture of polycentricity of Latin American metropolitan areas, our ideas for a research agenda take into account these areas typical economic, social and spatial conditions.

A Study on Guangzhou's Employment Subcentres and Polycentricity

Abstract: Since the late 1980s,the new phenomena of‘employment subcentres' or‘polycentricity' has appeared in the metropolises of North American and Western Europe and it has been an interesting topic for academics and researchersThis paper specifically uses one case study - Guangzhou to explore the development and the mechanism of employment subcentres and polycentricity in Chinese metropolises by spatial analysis method on the basis of the first economic census dataIn conclusion, the paper regards that the employment subcentres and polycentricity has existed in Chinese metropolises,and that the mechanism of them are mainly from the secondary industry instead of the tertiary industry in North American and Western Europe

Polycentricity and beyond in the Nordic Regional Governance

Abstract: Internationalisation of regional development policies – Needs and demands in the Nordic countries. Different regions have different preconditions for polycentric or monocentric development. Eitherspatial structure can be rational as a consequence of e.g. location and territorial capacity. However the concepts and policy applications have been questioned as to their feasibility in all types of countries and regions. Particularly in the Nordic countries, where many regions are marked by low population density and peripheral location, working towards a polycentric growth strategy may not have the same effects as in the central Europe, for instance. Debates on polycentricity in regional policy and governance have proceeded along different lines in the Nordic countries, but the outcomes are still comparable in several respects. Thus this report omprises four country studies (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) in which we examine whether and how the concept of polycentricity has played a role in the debates on regional evelopment policy and governance reforms in these countries. The analysis provides a review of how polycentricity is interpreted against the contours of regional development policy and the regional/municipal reform processes in each country and in light of the particular settlement patterns of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

The Identification of Employment Centers in Beijing

Abstract: Based on the classical urban economics theories and the empirical strategies for employment center identification,this paper identifies the employment centers in BeijingThe results show that,the main center (TianAnMen) still plays a dominant roleAt the same time,with the expansion of the metropolitan area,sub-centers such as ZhongGuanCun have begun to appear and influence the employment patterns nearbyThe paper also discusses the underlying mechanisms of Beijing's transition from monocentric city to polycentric city

Old wine in a new bottle? The Hungarian approach to polycentric territorial development

Abstract: For historic reasons, Hungary's urban network is rather monocentric due to the excessive development of the capital and its surrounding region. Polarization within the network is ongoing, as the capital region is the main growth engine. The rest of the country has a rather polycentric and balanced system of small and medium-sized towns. The country's main challenge has been this monocentric structure, and spatial policy has addressed the question with different tools over a long period of time. In the centrally planned economy, problems of monocentricity could be addressed directly by central planning; however, the advent of a market economy radically changed the opportunities for public intervention. National spatial policy has addressed the problem by creating regional growth poles, but as socioeconomic processes do not stay within these boundaries there is a need to put the question of polycentricity in a new, wider territorial context if these challenges are to be effectively addressed.

Constraints on Rural Governance in the European Union: A Role for Co-operative Associations?

Abstract: In this contribution I argue that the concept of polycentricity that has evolved from the body of literature on governance problems in metropolitan areas (Tiebout, 1956, Ostrom, Tiebout, & Warren, 1961, Marks & Hooghe, 2003, Frey & Eichenberger, 1999) may not be easily adapted to address current governance problems in the rural areas of the EU-27. The chapter explores some of the likely limits of the concept in the context of rural development in the European Union. I first explore the foundations of the concept of polycentricity, along with its assumptions and theoretical conclusions. I then characterize typical contemporary problems in the rural areas of the EU after the enlargement from EU-15 to EU-27. I then show that phenomena like rural poverty, local budget crises, and scale economies in service provision in areas like health-care, infrastructure and education lead to situations where the assumptions of multi-level governance are not met. Finally, I draw a few theoretical and practical conclusions, which are in line with the basic tenets of the concept of polycentricity, about the potential of cooperatives for solving governance problems in the rural areas of the European Union.

Shifting fortunes of neighbouring cities

Abstract: Polycentricity is often conceived to be the product of “a long process of very extended decentralization from big central cities to adjacent smaller ones, old and new” (Hall and Pain, 2006: 3). Accordingly, polycentric spatial development (as a process) is usually identified with a development towards a more balanced distribution of functions and activities across regional space, and with the moderation of intra-regional urban hierarchies. However, the term polycentricity is also linked to the idea that formerly independent, but close-by and well–linked cities start to ‘fuse’ into larger metropolitan areas as their spheres of influence start to interfere. Classic products of this kind of polycentric spatial development can be found in Europe (e.g. the Randstad), but also in the U.S. such areas have been identified (e.g. SF bay Area, Dallas-Fort Worth, Baltimore-Washington, Raleigh-Durham etc). While ‘fusion-mode’ and ‘decentralization-mode’ metropolitan areas are subject to grossly similar overarching trends such as globalization and the postindustrialization and informationalization of the economy, these trends seem to produce contrasting patterns of spatial organization. The dominant trend in ‘fusion-mode’ polycentric metropolitan areas appears to be towards the creation of new leading cities and a strengthening rather than a moderation of intra-regional hierarchies. In this paper, we explore this trend for ‘fusion-mode’ polycentric metropolitan areas in the U.S., thereby employing occupational data, and seek to explain the emerging new intra-regional hierarchies found.

Development of European urban tourist systems

Abstract: Relationship between urban development and tourism is a significant process in Europe today Development of tourism has caused many organizational changes in urban environment In the middle of the 20th century cultural and historical heritage in the cities was impetus of development of tourism in European cities Nowadays, in many European cities tourism is recognized as a mean of further economic development Strategy of polycentricity, outlined in European spatial development perspective is supporting that process, too Many tourist centres and metropolitan tourist areas have been developed In the period from 1996 to 2007 number of visitors in European cultural capitals was growing continuously by rate of 25,6% In the same period, the number of international tourist arrivals increased by rate of only 7%

Polycentricity and Regional Development

Abstract: The new European political target to reduce development disparities and a more appropriate distribution of development funds within regions. In the ESPON (European Spatial Planning Observation Network) since 2006 there have been studies on policentricity. They support the idea that a polycentric urban structure with a more marked character will contribute to more balanced regional development and to increase European competitiveness. However, studies fail ESPON overlap and a common approach to the two concepts, polycentricity and regional competitiveness.

and the Provision of Cultural, Leisure and Sports Amenities Summing Small Cities Does Not Make a Large City: Polycentric Urban Regions

Abstract: The paper explores whether a polycentric urban region can reap the advantages of its combined urban size to a similar extent as a similar-sized monocentric city-region. This question is elaborated for the provision of cultural, leisure and sports amenities. Their presence in 42 Dutch regions is expressed in an index, which serves as the dependent variable in a multiple regression model. An explaining variable is the extent of polycentricity of a region. Correcting for differences between regions in terms of population size, the number of visitors and average income, it turns out that the more polycentric a region is, the fewer cultural, leisure and sports amenities are present. Conversely, the more monocentric a region, the more such amenities. 1. Introduction In many European countries and regions, sets of distinct but proximally located and well-connected cities have become the object of regional development policies and strategic spatial planning policies. Policy practice often refers to such sets of cities as ‘city networks’ or ‘urban networks’ (Meijers, 2005), although, in the literature, such regions are often re-ferred to as polycentric or polynuclear urban regions (PURs). Examples include large metropolitan regions as the Dutch Randstad

Spatial Structure and Productivity in U.S. Metropolitan Areas

Abstract: Recent concepts as megaregions and polycentric urban regions emphasize that external economies are not confined to a single urban core, but shared among a collection of close-by and linked cities. However, empirical analyses of agglomeration and agglomeration externalities so-far neglects the multicentric spatial organization of agglomeration and the possibility of ‘sharing’ or ‘borrowing’ of size between cities. This paper takes up this empirical challenge by analyzing how different spatial structures, in particular the monocentricity – polycentricity dimension, affect the economic performance of U.S. metropolitan areas. OLS and 2SLS models explaining labor productivity show that spatial structure matters. Polycentricity is associated with higher labor productivity. This appears to justify suggestions that, compared to relatively monocentric metropolitan areas, agglomeration diseconomies remain relatively limited in the more polycentric metropolitan areas, while agglomeration externalities are indeed to some extent shared among the cities in such an area. However, it was also found that a network of geographically proximate smaller cities cannot provide a substitute for the urbanization externalities of a single large city.