Hierarchical Urban System Research Articles

Resilient Urban Form: A Case Study on Denizli, Gaziantep and Muğla

Purpose This study identifies whether the hierarchy, development type, and city size have a crucial effect on resilience in ecological terms. Is there a desirable optimum urban form for resilience? The study aims to answer this question by comparing different types of macroform and density of some selected cities in Turkey. Design/Methodology/Approach Denizli, Muğla, and Gaziantep provinces are selected according to the comparability of their population size and urban forms in relation to the greenhouse gas emissions of each city. A retrospective causal comparison method was used in the study. Using the Corine Land Cover Classes program, the change of the artificial surfaces and the city structure between 1990 and 2018 were mapped and detailed graphics were created. Findings Findings show that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions originating from road transport in Muğla, which has a multi-centered form, were the highest. The surprising result is that Gaziantep has lower GHG emission rate than Denizli although its population is twice the latter. The emission rates of the housing and services sectors were compared with the household size. Gaziantep having the largest household size has the lowest emission rate in this sector. The paper suggests that a hierarchical urban system structure is essential for the resilience of the city to be able to organize itself more effectively, adapt to external changes faster, and create a stronger and more complex structure. City size is an important criterion for low infrastructure cost, efficient use of resources, and capacity to access capital of all kinds. Yet, this criterion may differ in the resilience of the city depending on several factors such as population, area size, and distribution of various urban functions. The development type, on the other hand, is highly effective on GHG emissions as the monocentric cities generate fewer emissions than the polycentric cities. Research Limitations/Implications The GHG reports created for the case areas consisted of different years and different analysis units. This limits the sectors to which cities can be compared. Originality/Value This article is a detailed and original study in terms of evaluating the resilience of Turkish cities with different morphologies.

The patterns and driving forces of uneven regional growth in ASEAN countries: A tale of two Thailands' path toward regional coordinated development

AbstractUneven development has long been a critical issue in geography and urban studies, leading to economically inefficient urbanization, environmentally unbalanced regions, and socially unequal livelihoods. As one result, primate cities and urban primacy form within a hierarchical urban system, to which urban and regional planning must positively respond. It is worth noting that Thailand has experienced a number of important urbanization issues related to developing countries, such as semicolonialism and internal colonialism. This study aims to investigate regional uneven development based on primacy theory and the rank‐size rule, which are common in most Asian and developing countries. We examined the urbanization processes in Thailand, from 2000 to 2015, by looking at factors of population, GDP, land use, transportation networks, and nighttime light, which provide very recent regional development patterns. The second set of analyses explained the degree of primacy among different provinces and their ranking hierarchies. By presenting the persistent disparities of contemporary urbanization in Thailand and exploring its driving forces, this study offers insights into planning and policy and underscores the importance of regional coordinated development for achieving sustainable urbanization in Southeast Asian countries.

Measuring the spatial hierarchical urban system in China in reference to the Central Place Theory

Dynamic urbanization processes have caused great changes on China's urban spatial pattern and hierarchical structure in the past few decades. In this study, we propose new metrics for measuring the pattern of urban land by considering both, spatial distribution and hierarchical structure of the urban system. The metrics are deduced from Christaller's Central Place Theory and allow evaluating the spatial pattern of urban land based on three indicators: azimuth heterogeneity, distance heterogeneity and quantity heterogeneity of subordinate urban patches around the corresponding higher-rank urban patch. For monitoring the evolution of the spatial hierarchical urban system, we apply these metrics on China's urban lands for the time period of 1990 until 2015 based on provincial administrative units. The results show that (1) at the national level, we find hierarchical spatial urban systems similar to the ideal pattern suggested by the Central Places Theory in the eastern and central regions; (2) the hierarchical urban systems develop between 1990 until 2015 in most areas in the opposite direction of the ideal pattern suggested by the Central Place Theory; however, this tendency is more evident in the eastern and central regions than in western inland regions. Besides, we find underdeveloped urban systems, i.e. patterns that have some missing high levels in the hierarchical gradation and over developed urban systems, i.e. patterns that have some missing low levels in the hierarchical gradation. We discuss alternative urban systems for explaining the inapplicability of the Central Places Theory in some examples.

階層的都市システム研究における日本の都市のグローバルな位置づけ:―都市地理学・世界都市論・都市ランキングの系譜から―

階層的都市システム研究における日本の都市のグローバルな位置づけ:―都市地理学・世界都市論・都市ランキングの系譜から―

La ciudad y el rey: renovación de la red urbana de Navarra al final de la Edad Media

Tras el análisis del desarrollo de la red urbana de Navarra hasta los inicios del siglo XIII, realizado en trabajos anteriores, se observaba una trama densa. Ésta se había formado al hilo de diversos condicionantes: el interés regio, el control del espacio y la consolidación de rutas preferentes de comunicación. Se intuía además que, a partir de ese momento y hasta el final de la Edad media, los elementos decisivos para la articulación de un sistema urbano jerarquizado serían otros. Analizar este proceso, entre 1219 y el inicio del siglo XVI, es el objetivo de este trabajo. Destaca ahora la consolidación de cuatro –máximo cinco– focos urbanos esenciales, con particular relevancia de tres –Pamplona, Tudela, Estella– definidos sobre todo por el peso político, administrativo, económico y eclesiástico de uno de ellos, y el administrativo y económico –sobre todo- de los otros dos. La trama urbana del final de la Edad Media se sostiene sobre estos puntos esenciales; la jerarquía urbana del reino y su sistema de articulación adquiere una forma más simple y acorde con los rasgos esenciales de las realidades urbanas y con las dimensiones del propio reino.

Interurban house price gradient

This paper applies a general spatial equilibrium model to investigate the effect that distance within urban hierarchy can have on interurban house prices. Our spatial model predicts a negative price gradient towards higher-tier cities, which can be decomposed into a ’productivity component’ and an ’amenity component’, representing respectively the effect of wage differences and households’ valuation of access to higher-order services. The theoretical findings are tested on data for the hierarchical urban system of the Pan-Yangtze River Delta in China. Both central and subcentral cities are shown to impose statistically significant distance penalties on interurban house prices, even after we control for amenities and characteristics that are generally considered to be the determinants of house prices. According to the empirical decomposition, the negative house price gradients are largely accounted for by the productivity component.

The Spatial Dimension of House Prices

The Spatial Dimension of House Prices

The Spatial Dimension of House Prices

The Spatial Dimension of House Prices

Interurban house price gradient: Effect of urban hierarchy distance on house prices

This paper applies a general spatial equilibrium model to investigate the effect that distance within the urban hierarchy can have on interurban house prices. Our spatial model predicts a negative price gradient towards higher-tier cities, which can be decomposed into a ‘productivity component’ and an ‘amenity component’, representing respectively the effect of wage differences and households’ valuation of access to higher-order services. The theoretical findings are tested on data for the hierarchical urban system of the Pan-Yangtze River Delta in China. Both central and subcentral cities are shown to impose statistically significant distance penalties on interurban house prices, even after we control for amenities and characteristics that are generally considered to be the determinants of house prices. According to the empirical decomposition, the negative house price gradients are largely accounted for by the productivity component.

Study on the correlation between the hierarchical urban system and high-speed railway network planning in China

This study examines the interrelatedness between the hierarchical structure of China׳s urban system and high-speed railway (HSR) network planning at the national level. As a multi-layered system, the Chinese HSR can be categorized into three sub-networks, namely, the national HSR trunk network, the national HSR extensional network, and the intercity HSR network. By examining the direct HSR network connection, HSR nodal connection, and HSR operational frequency of 287 prefecture-level cities, this study demonstrates that the hierarchies of China׳s administrative, demographic, and economic urban systems strongly influence HSR network planning. The national HSR trunk network prioritizes the connection of top-level central cities, whereas the extensional network prioritizes cities at the lower level of the urban system. Moreover, the national HSR system forms the backbone of the HSR network structure based on a national scale, whereas the intercity HSR system satisfies the travel needs within urban agglomerations based on the regional level.

Spatial economy and the geography of functional economic areas

The spatial economy can be visualised as a web of overlapping markets or functional areas linked to different activities. Unfortunately, very often administrative regions and local authority areas are used as proxies for functional areas, but they have serious shortcomings for spatial economic analysis and the implementation of local policies. The spatial economy is viewed here as a complex network of economic flows within a hierarchical urban system. This paper constructs a comprehensive geography of functional economic areas by first using consistent criteria based on commuting and migration flows for England. The analysis next superimposes a central place hierarchy derived from retail sales and office centre rents. It then classifies these functional economic areas offering insights into the spatial economy of England. The geography queries the relevance of core/surrounding models of urban form as large local labour market areas comprise in some cases more than 20 housing market areas. While the research uses England as a case study, the analysis is of generic significance to the spatial economies of developed countries. The paper also raises a number of methodological and data issues for further development.

High-Speed Rail and Urban Decentralization in China

The construction of a large-scale high-speed rail (HSR) network in China is altering the time–space relationships between cities. As a result, HSR is changing the traditional hierarchical urban system in China, and regions with large-scale networks of cities are forming. At the city level, the construction of HSR new towns could contribute to urban decentralization. The focus in this study is on the impact of HSR at the city level and how HSR is transforming cities in China through urban spatial restructuring. Case studies on two cities located on the Beijing–Shanghai HSR corridor were conducted, and the impact of the planned HSR new towns on the decentralization patterns of these two cities as well as the potential effects on their economic development are discussed. For large cities, the decentralization is actively driven by HSR because these cities are able to carefully choose the locations of their HSR stations. An HSR new town (i.e., a new district built around an HSR station) serves as an opportunity for well-planned spatial restructuring and as a catalyst for sustainable economic growth. For medium-sized to small cities, decentralization is often passively driven by HSR because the site selections of HSR stations are beyond the cities' control. The long distance between the HSR new town and the urban center weakens the economic strength of the existing urban core. The HSR new town presumably functions as a distraction rather than an attraction to the economic growth of the city as a whole. The leapfrog type of development also induces a wasteful use of land and other resources and further increases the living costs of the city's people and the operation costs of its firms.

Assessing the Functional Polycentricity of the Mega-City-Region of Central Belgium Based on Advanced Producer Service Transaction Links

Hanssens H., Derudder B., van Aelst S. and Witlox F. Assessing the functional polycentricity of the mega-city-region of Central Belgium based on advanced producer service transaction links, Regional Studies. This paper comments on three aspects of POLYNET's implementation of the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) model to measure functional polycentricity at the local scale. These aspects are: (1) the use of advanced producer services (APS) office locations as a proxy for inter-city relations, (2) the problematic calculation of the functional polycentricity index, and (3) the narrow conceptualization of functional polycentricity. Alternative methodologies based on transaction link data are introduced to examine whether Central Belgium displays features of a functionally polycentric mega-city-region. The results suggest that this is not the case: Central Belgium displays more features of a hierarchical urban system with Brussels as the dominant service city. However, some indications are found for a preliminary urban network formation.

Functional Analysis of Small Towns Economic Role in Rural Development, Case Study: Zahedshahr, Iran

The growing increase in the number of small towns, brought about as a result of Iran’s demographic changes in recent decades, has necessitated due consideration of these towns in the country’s hierarchical urban system on the one hand and their economic function in their immediate periphery on the other. In the present article, an analysis has been conducted of the economic role Zahedshahr has played as a small town in its rural periphery by using the Jacqueline Beaujeu Garnier and George Shapou’s Model, as well as the Locational Coefficient and the Abscissa-Ordinate Graphic Models. Results obtained from the analysis showed that the above town, in spite of its small size, has played an effective role in providing services to the inhabitants of its surrounding areas, as well as acting as a center for sale of surplus agricultural products, thanks to its relatively equipped administrative, educational, commercial, etc., centers. The find- ings of this research also showed the development of Zahedshahr to be directly dependent on the social and economic conditions of its periphery, so that rural population and agricultural products stability can influence such development.

On the Spatial Structure of Administration

It is argued that the spatial structure of administration is influenced in part by the requirements of administrative logic and in part by the fact that an administrative structure has to exist within a broader and generally more complex functional structure. The main criteria for organising the spatial structure of administration under such conditions are outlined. Next, there is an examination of the extent to which these criteria can be satisfied in the context of a hierarchical urban system. It is shown that within such a framework these criteria may be in conflict. The approach is then continued at the scale of the city-region, where a similar conflict among criteria is seen to be present.

Uneven Geographical Distribution of NPOs in Japan: As Viewed from the Hierarchical Urban System

Uneven Geographical Distribution of NPOs in Japan: As Viewed from the Hierarchical Urban System

Stratégies territoriales au Québec ?

Résumé Les autorités gouvernementales du Québec ont traditionnellement appliqué cinq grandes stratégies afin de développer et gérer leur divers territoires non métropolitains. Ces stratégies ont généré certains effets spécifiques qui questionnent l’applicabilité universelle des modèles explicatifs généralement élaborés à partir de territoires plus centraux. L’accès aux bassins de ressources naturelles lointains représente certes une retombée importante, qui détermine par ailleurs une forme originale de l’armature urbaine peu empreinte par la classique hiérarchie. Notre observation nous a permis en outre d’illustrer des trajectoires territoriales différenciées, aléatoires et non linéaires en matière de développement. Les repositionnements spatiaux sont historiquement courants, illustrés actuellement par un recentrage polycentrique du développement dans le sud-est ainsi que par l’affirmation accrue de certains pôles. Au Québec, la dynamique de la construction institutionnelle de territoires régionaux à deux échelons distincts a occasionné la mise en œuvre d’une démocratie participative certes bénéfique pour les collectivités, mais qui semble s’essouffler actuellement à la faveur d’un encadrement renforcé de l’État. Malgré ses effets structurants de jadis, la stratégie d’interaction appliquée au sein des nouvelles élites territoriales se voit ainsi questionnée dans ses modalités d’application. À cet effet, nul doute que la stratégie territoriale très actuelle à l’égard des « créneaux », « filières » ou « clusters », offre des champs nouveaux pour l’interaction et l’apprentissage collectif au développement territorial. Encore faudra-t-il que cette nouvelle stratégie de structuration sectorielle puisse trouver sa territorialité au travers des territoires déjà établis et bien défendus.

On the evolution of hierarchical urban systems

The rapid urbanization trend of the world economy implies an increasing importance of cities as basic units of national and international trade. Given that the cities within an economy constitute some form of hierarchical structure, we model the endogenous formation of a hierarchical urban system. To overcome the multiplicity of equilibria, we propose an evolutionary approach which combines a general equilibrium model with an adjustment dynamics. It is demonstrated that as the economy's population size increases gradually, the urban system self-organizes into a highly regular hierarchical system a la Christaller.

Globalisierung, Stadtentwicklung, Segregation

“Socio-spatial segregation” has been a privileged topic of research and debate since the days of classical Chicago school sociology. A promising new avenue in this debate seems to be an understanding of urban development in the framework of globalisation processes, the economic, political, ecological and social aspects of which are being described. Thus, the approach becomes normative, holistic, transdisciplinary, and future-oriented: The urban future will be determined by global conditions filtered through the position of a given city in the hierarchical urban system. Such determinants are being discussed. Increasing socio-cultural heterogeneity, together with increasing socio-economic polarisation, appear as the dominant future trends. The resulting new tasks for urban development is how to translate global developments into local conditions of social justice, ecological sustainability, and democratic decision-making. Some propositions are made towards this goal.

A Geography of Institutional Stock Ownership in the United States

Abstract The 1980 US. Interinstitutional stock ownership patterns are described by firm and place. Using managerial and bank control theories as a basis for description, the network-based analyses show a hierarchical urban system dominated by a few core urban centers, in particular New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. A review of industrial network theory emphasizes the importance of analyses by interfirm and interplace connections. The strength of interplace connections defines six classes of urban centers. Analyses by industrial class show financial, insurance, and real estate firms (FIRE) are the dominant institutional stockholders. Simple gravity models show weak or no distance-decay effects for firm and place-based stock ownership networks. Public pension plans show considerable leakage of funds from their home regions. Maps and tables describe investment patterns of selected individual cities and firms. A 50-percent random sample of Fortune 500 and the population of large FIRE firms provides the da...