Edge cities, urban corridors and beyond

Abstract

In the USA a nationwide grid of metropolitan areas with populations beyond the million mark has emerged. The strength of the national economy appears to be exhibited through those large agglomerations and the linkages that they have developed amongst themselves, other components of the national economy and in some instances elements external to that economy. Metropolitan areas in the size class referred to, and some not quite so large, are expanding their boundaries or spheres of influence in ways that signal changes for the urban areas in question and indeed for the national economy. The current discussion reviews and synthesizes recent thinking concerning urban peripheries and adjacent areas with an eye to understanding their role in a changing economic infrastructure. In keeping with advances in transportation and communications and the emergence of service industries, developments on the metropolitan peripheries are assisting with the ongoing functional linkages of their metropolitan hosts to the national economy and beyond, and thus are contributing to their continuing viability.

Rural‐to‐Urban Commuting: Three Degrees of Integration

“…Commuting by rural dwellers is one of the means by which rural areas enjoy spread effects. Commuting ties between rural and urban areas are increasing in most developed countries (McKee and McKee 2004; Mitchell 2005; Renkow 2003). Spread effects also include urban‐to‐rural business relocations because of lower land and labor costs, the development of input–output linkages with rural locations, and nearby urban areas serving as markets for rural businesses.…”

El policentrismo se impone a la dispersión en el proceso de descentralización del empleo de las ciudades intermedias mexicanas.

“…Los subcentros de empleo tienen diferentes orígenes, uno de los cuales remite a la descentralización reciente de parte del empleo del centro histórico hacia localidades periféricas. La imposibilidad de encontrar el suelo necesario para llevar a cabo determinadas actividades en el centro histórico, sumada a los elevados precios del suelo y a la congestión, llevó a la formación de subcentros descentralizados periféricos alternativos al centro principal (Bodenman, 1998;Bogart & Ferry, 1999;Clark, 2000;Garreau, 1991;Henderson & Mitra, 1996;Manella, 2007;McDonald & Prather, 1994;McKee & McKee, 2004;Medda et al, 1999;Muñiz, Garcia-López & Galindo, 2008).…”

At the city edge

“…Nonetheless, the nature of changes increasingly documented, particularly in the African context, is evidently more complex and varied. The now extensive literature Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 03/08/2021 01:27:43AM via free access (McKee and McKee, 2004;Phelps, 2012;Stern and Marsh, 1997) on edge city development, originating in North America (Garreau, 1991) but now applied globally, is arguably a poor lens through which to explore transformations on the edges of African cities. This is because of its assumptions about the pivotal role of private vehicle ownership, private-sector investment and the peripheralisation of economic opportunities and commercial functions.…”