Session 6: Mono and polycentric development Flashcards
Where did the traditional monocentric urban model originate?
From around mid 1800s, developed by Johann Heinrich von Thunen, who is also considered one of the founders of economic geography. Von Thunen’s modeled an agricultural system in which an insolated city assumes a central function. In this model, the value of land is determined by the trade-off btwn yield and transport costs, therefore land closer to the market is of higher value and will be used more intensively. The model predicts that zones will be: (1) dairy and fresh veggies, (2) forest for wood, (3) cereal and crops, (4) pasture land and less productive nature
What is the more modern version of von Thunen’s model?
Alonso, Mills and Muth (1964): concept of the ‘CBD’, and distances around that are similar to previous ‘zones’. This model is only applicable to monocentric cities. Functions change between the center and edge of the urban agglomeration –> from retail, manufacturing, residential. Commuting and accessibility are crucial explanatory variables. Households tend to trade off commuting time/cost for land price. In general, this is greatly simplified and might explain the metro scale better than the city scale
What is the justification/link for studying mono and polycentric development directly after the lecture on the compact city?
Because, the CC ideal assumes that the city is completely isolated, which is no longer true. This adds more nuance to the discussion on the CC
What are the 6 assumptions/simplifications of the Alonso-Muth-Mills models?
1) jobs in the highest sectors are all in the center
2) accessibility is equal to centrality
3) commuting time and cost is evenly distributed equally
4) city functions as an isolated economy
5) residential preferences are greatly simplified
6) the only reason for the existence of the city is agglomeration benefits
What is the key observation of polycentric urban systems?
cities are in practice part of a system or network of several cities (i.e. Randstand)
What are the differences between functional and morphological polycentricity?
Morphological: concentrations of people and activities, easier to measure, through indicators like population density, or hospital concentrations.
Functional: more abstract, dealing with flows, networks, and dependencies between the center and its surroundings. Degrees of functional polycentricity can vary between groups (ex: workers based on educational attainment)
In other words: location vs. relation
What is central place systems?
Coined by Walter Christaller, it explains how far the provisions of an urban center reach. It is measured using upper limits (the max distance that consumers will travel to get goods) and lower limits (minimum size of the market in terms of population, i.e. there will only be certain services provided if there is a large enough market for it). For current polycentric planning, this means that: central places of similar sizes need similar amenities/services. This can be done through spatial complementarity or competition (increasing a cities position in the regional hierarchy
What is the shared-size (borrowed size) effect ?
by merging service areas, two central places may become one central place of higher rank
Explain the systems of global circuits of value
This examines spatial polarization/specialization at a global perspective. Specialization can only take place if it is in response to demand for something elsewhere. Examples include airports, natrual resources, clusters like SV. City marketing can play an important role in spatial polarization.
What are backwash and spread effects?
These are the negative polarization effects of places with specialization. agglomeration causes pressure on space and r.e values, leading to some activities looking for other places to settle, which might lead to sprawl. Spatial polarization can also enable a city to have a higher position in the regional hierarchy than expected
What are Daily Urban Systems?
Termed by Constantinos Doxiadis, used widely to demarcate an urban region. Essentially, it is a measurement of commuter flows. Based on the time-geographical principle.
What is an intra-urban polycentric system? What are the 4 benefits?
Both an empirical concept, which can be used to describe an urban form, and a planning concept. It should be pursued because it combines the ‘best of both worlds’ –> agglomeration benefits (connected system that functions as one big city), proximity of facilities/jobs to subcenters, liveability (no massive densities) and sustainable mobility
What are some of the existing forms of polycentric policy?
1) Frieburg, Germany –> certain goods and services can only be sold at the neighborhood centers/old village centers in an effort to strengthen their positions as service/trade centers
2) Copenhagen, Denmark –> development of PT hubs as dense activity centers, aka “finger plan”
3) Portland, Oregon –> PT hubs at dense activity centers
What are forms of market-driven polycentric developments?
These are aka ‘edge cities’
Employment centers at the urban edge
shopping malls at the urban edge
What are some indicators by which to measure activity?
Concentrations of facilities
Concentrations of employment
‘Price cones’ of real estate
PT nodes
