Detecting shifts in metropolitan structure: a spatial network perspective
Abstract
The spatial distribution of metropolitan areas creates a complex system of competing and cooperating economic units. Understanding the size, scale and functional structure of such systems is an important topic in regional science. This paper uses commuter flow data over a forty year period to analyse the changing structure of the Greater Manchester metropolitan area. We apply a combination of complex network analysis, residual network analysis and spatial network visualisation to detect Greater Manchester’s polycentric structure and identify intra-regional communities. This method is able to identify economic geographies in a highly complex and interdependent commuter network. We comment on the role of administrative boundaries in shaping metropolitan regions and discuss the potential of our work to inform debates on regional governance geographies and local government planning practices.Citation
Odell, H., Navarro Lopez, E., Pinto, N. and Deas, I. (2022) Detecting shifts in metropolitan structure: a spatial network perspective. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 49(7), pp. 1912-1928.Publisher
SAGEJournal
Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City ScienceAdditional Links
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/23998083211065767Type
Journal articleLanguage
enDescription
© 2022 The Authors. Published by SAGE. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1177/23998083211065767ISSN
2399-8083ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1177/23998083211065767
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/