Polycentric Regions Research Articles

Polycentric Regions: Comparing Complementarity and Institutional Governance in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Randstad and Emilia-Romagna

A gap in the literature that remains largely unfilled is a discussion of how polycentrism relates to broader tensions between strategies of specialised industrial agglomeration economies and diverse regional portfolios. Relatively little is known about how strategies of polycentrism relate to the industrial composition and economic complementarity both at the regional scale and for individual cities within the region. In this paper, correspondence analysis is used to quantify complementarity in the economic profiles of cities in three polycentric regions. The findings suggest that the degree of complementarity varies greatly but has decreased in all three of the case study regions over time. Subsequent analysis of institutional structures in these three regions suggests that regions with weaker regional governments, stronger regional identities and intentional polycentric development strategies might experience higher levels of complementarity. A series of hypotheses that relate institutions to complementarity are proposed as possible directions for future research.

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

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.

An agent-based approach to model future residential pressure on a regional landscape

This paper presents a framework to model future residential demand for housing in a polycentric region. The model, called HI-LIFE (Household Interactions through LIFE cycle stages), builds on Agent-Based Modelling (ABM) paradigms. In contrast to traditional equilibrium-based urban economics models that assume a homogenous population of rational actors, ABM focuses on the diversity of heterogeneous household agents and their behaviour in time and in space. The model simulates land-use patterns at the regional scale by integrating qualitative knowledge of agent location preferences with quantitative analysis of urban growth dynamics within a high resolution spatial modelling framework. The model was calibrated for the region of East Anglia in the UK using a semi-quantitative procedure. Simulation of urban dynamics for the future was undertaken for a 25 year period with the assumption of a continuation of baseline behavioural trends. The results demonstrated non-uniform, spatial patterns of urban sprawl with some locations experiencing greater urban development pressure than others. The town of Brundall, in particular, has a large potential demand for residential housing because of its proximity to the principle city, Norwich. As Brundall is also located close to a national park and a river, new housing development in this area would increase the risk of ecological impacts and flood damage. By modelling explicitly agent behaviour and interactions, ABM can simulate the response and adaptation strategies of a population to changing circumstances. This makes ABM especially well suited to the analysis of environmental change and landscape ecology pressures through scenario modelling.

Knowledge Networks as a Regional Development Resource: A Network Analysis of the Interlinks between Scientific Institutions and Regional Firms in the Metropolitan region of Hanover, Germany

The debate on regional innovation potentials has concentrated in recent times upon the topic of regional knowledge networking. This article presents the findings of the first phase of a detailed network analysis of the cooperation relations between scientific institutions and firms in the “metropolitan region Hanover-Brunswick-Göttingen”. The research concentrated on the regional and supra-regional cooperation relations of approximately 500 science establishments of the region, including their interlinks with private sector firms. This analysis of a polycentric metropolitan region's knowledge networks in different fields of competence produced detailed information on the density of knowledge interlinking within the region, on the degree of connectivity between the region's scientific institutions and private sector firms, and on central network nodes within the regional innovation networks. The case study exemplifies the methodical approach of a regional network analysis and emphasizes the role of knowledge networks as a development resource which is of particular relevance to the region's innovation capacities.

Strategic Planning for City Networks: The Emergence of a Basque Global City?

Throughout Europe, policy-makers recognize the development potentials of regions in which multiple cities are located close to each other. However, developing synergies among these cities requires networking to optimize the critical mass and exploit complementarities. Much is expected of spatial planning in terms of fostering networks. However, little is known about the actual contribution planning may have in developing city networks, in particular, since it involves planning on a new scale and based upon new starting points and objectives. Exemplary is the territorial development strategy (1990s) of the Basque country aimed at developing the networking among its three main cities (Bilbao, San Sebastian and Vitoria) to develop a Basque ‘Global City’. We find that the leverage of this planning strategy has been poor, due to strong local identities and the lack of regional organizing capacity. This also appears to be common for other polycentric regions.

Policy Challenges of Functional Polycentricity in a Global Mega-City Region: South East England

This article explains the background to the investigation of MCR processes in South East England and the North West Europe POLYNET study. It reports on the policy challenges for the South East England MCR, revealed by transnational analysis. London - considered a monocentric spatial form in European policy - has emerged as the most functionally polycentric region studied. But, although European spatial guidance underpins policy frameworks for the MCR, major barriers to implementation are identified. Effective powers, finance and governance are found to be lacking at the MCR scale. More challenging, tensions between Europe-wide objectives - for balanced spatial development, growth and competitiveness - seem to compromise fundamental priorities for sustainable development. (A)

Research report: Metropolitan region RhineRuhr – the sleeping giant

This paper presents some results of the current Interreg IIIC project POLYNET, and the finished Interreg IIC projects GEMACA and EURBANET, dealing with the new phenomenon: the polycentric Mega-City Region, addressing key questions about business life in these regions, the economic performance of these regions and the value, feasibility and design of planning polycentric urban regions. The focus is on the emerging functional urban region of RhineRuhr and the difficulties in seeking to move forward in developing a ‘European Metropolitan Region RhineRuhr’.

Valletta

This profile examines the position of Valletta at the heart of a metropolitan region and as capital of Malta as a small island state. The development of the dense polycentric region is outlined, and this provides a context for a summary of the key strategic issues facing the Maltese Islands today, as well as describing some examples of the responses that are being made to address them. The development of the current institutional framework for strategic planning and environmental management is explained in relation to its origins as a discretionary system, and as it is responding to the distinctive Maltese and emerging European scenes. The “compression of scales” between national policy and local interest in Malta is explored and insights for governance in city regions are explored.

The Impact of Metropolitan Structure on Commute Behavior in the Netherlands: A Multilevel Approach

ABSTRACT This paper documents the investigation of the impact of metropolitan structure on the commute behavior of urban residents in the Netherlands. Not only has the impact of monocentrism versus polycentrism been analyzed, but the influence of metropolitan density and size has also been considered, together with the ratio of employment to population and the growth of the population and employment. Furthermore, data are used at a variety of levels of analysis ranging from the individual worker to the metropolitan region rather than being drawn from aggregate level statistics alone. Multilevel regression modeling is applied to take account of the interdependencies among these levels of aggregation. With regard to mode choice, the results indicate that the probability of driving an auto to work is lower in employment‐rich metropolitan regions, and rises as the number of jobs per resident has grown strongly. Furthermore, women in most polycentric regions are less likely to commute as an auto driver. All else being equal, commute distances and times for auto drivers are longer in most polycentric regions than in monocentric urban areas. In addition, commute time as an auto driver rises with metropolitan size, whereas commute distance depends on employment density and the growth of the number of jobs per resident. The investigation shows that metropolitan structure, although significantly influencing commute patterns, explains only a small part of the variation of individuals’ commute behavior.

Zu gross, um wahr zu sein?

European spatial development is increasingly conceived as a network of metropolitan functional regions. These spaces cross institutional borders and are highly populated with diversified urban economies and nodes of international network infrastructures. The urbanised landscape of Switzerland displays a polarisation trend towards two metropolitan regions: Zurich-Basel and Geneva- Lausanne. Thus, this paper tries to answer the following question: Does the metropolitan region of Zurich (EMRZ) have an adequate size to be able to compete with established European metropolitan regions such as Randstad or Frankfurt/Rhein-Main? The empirical analysis draws from the concept of the European metropolitan region (EMR) and uses three meta-functions to identify and assess the relative importance of an urban region: the gateway function, the innovation- technology function, and the regulation function. The paper concludes that indeed the EMRZ has the character of a polycentric metropolitan region. In order to deploy it...

Olten

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size A leading manager of a well-known and internationally-operating Swiss company was questioned concerning his perception and judgement of the “Swiss Urban Network”. Although he had never heard of the “Swiss Urban Network”, a term which is hardly known outside of political and academic circles, he acts within a network of national and international relations between locations. The polycentric region of Zurich and the connections to Basel, Geneva and Lugano are essential for his everyday economic life. The following article summarizes this top manager's comments on the locational decision process of his enterprise, the position of the economic region of Zurich within the “Swiss Urban Network”, and follows his formulation of political demands and solutions for an economic ally more successful “Swiss Urban Network”.

The Empirical Evidence for Citizen Information and a Local Market for Public Goods

In their 1993 article in thisReview, Paul Teske, Mark Schneider, Michael Mintrom, and Samuel Best sought to establish the microfoundations for a model of a competitive market for public services between local governments in polycentric regions. An important part of their model focused on subgroups of informed citizens, especially recent movers. Theoretical analysis was supplemented by an empirical study of the factors shaping accuracy of Long Island homeowners' information about relative expenditures and tax rates of their school districts. David Lowery, W. E. Lyons and Ruth Hoogland DeHoog criticize the relevance of this empirical evidence, suggesting the atypical nature of education as a service (especially in this site) and challenging the sufficiency of the demonstrated levels of information for generating a competitive market. Teske and his colleagues reply by pointing out the general importance of education throughout American local policymaking and by defending the relevance of their measures and conclusions for their market model.

Establishing The Micro Foundations of a Macro Theory: Information, Movers, and the Competitive Local Market for Public Goods

The Tiebout model of competition in the local market for public goods is an important and controversial theory. The current debate revolves around the apparent disparity between macro empirical studies that show greater efficiency in the supply of public goods in polycentric regions compared to consolidated ones and micro evidence of widespread citizen-consumer ignorance, which has been used to argue that individual actions cannot plausibly lead to efficiency-enhancing competition between local governments. We argue that competitive markets can be driven by a subset of informed consumers who shop around between alternate suppliers and produce pressure for competitive outcomes from which all consumers benefit. Using data from a survey of over five hundred households, we analyze the role of these marginal citizen-consumers and incorporate the costs of information gathering and the strategic interests of local governments into the competitive market model.