Graph Analysis of Metropolitan Residential Mobility: Methodology and Theoretical Implications

Abstract

Three graph methods are employed to explore intra-metropolitan residential mobility, using metropolitan Haifa, Israel, as a case study. The graph methodologies are: 'dominant flows', 'significant flows' and 'flow priority'. In revealing the complex patterns of residential mobility, the graph analyses disclose a few hidden dimensions of the process, thus challenging some of the long-established notions of metropolitan formation theories. It is argued that future intra-urban mobility studies ought to re-examine their emerging research philosophies, methodologies and assumptions, and to refine their efforts to further explore the actual patterns of mobility which, in turn, might yield legitimate issues for future research.