In this article, we use local indicators of spatial association (LISA) and other spatial analysis techniques to analyze the distribution of centers with high employment density within metropolitan areas. We examine the 359 metropolitan areas across the United States at three points in time (1990, 2000, and 2010) to provide a spatio-temporal panoramic of urban spatial structure. Our analysis highlights three key findings. (1) The monocentric structure persists in a majority of metropolitan areas: 56.5% in 1990, 64.1% in 2000, and 57.7% in 2010. (2) The pattern of employment centers remains stable for most metropolitan areas: the number of centers remained the same for 74.9% of metropolitan areas between 1990 and 2000 and for 85.2% between 2000 and 2010. (3) Compared with monocentric metropolitan areas, polycentric metros are larger and more dense, with higher per-capita incomes and lower poverty rates.

This website displays the results in a more interactive and intuitive way than it is allowed in the published version of the paper. Additionally, it contains the code used to generate them, as well as access to download some of the data produced by the study.

Paper

• Link to published version in Urban Geography (Open Access)
• Link to working paper version in SSRN

@article{doi:10.1080/02723638.2014.940693,
    author = "Arribas-Bel, Daniel and Sanz-Gracia, Fernando",
    journal = "{Urban Geography}",
    title = "{The validity of the monocentric city model in a polycentric age: US metropolitan areas in 1990, 2000 and 2010}",
    year = "in press",
    pages = "{1-18}",
    doi = "10.1080/02723638.2014.940693",
    url = "{ http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02723638.2014.940693}",
    abstract = "{ In this article, we use local indicators of spatial association (LISA) and other spatial analysis techniques to analyze the distribution of centers with high employment density within metropolitan areas. We examine the 359 metropolitan areas across the United States at three points in time (1990, 2000, and 2010) to provide a spatio-temporal panoramic of urban spatial structure. Our analysis highlights three key findings. (1) The monocentric structure persists in a majority of metropolitan areas: 56.5% in 1990, 64.1% in 2000, and 57.7% in 2010. (2) The pattern of employment centers remains stable for most metropolitan areas: the number of centers remained the same for 74.9% of metropolitan areas between 1990 and 2000 and for 85.2% between 2000 and 2010. (3) Compared with monocentric metropolitan areas, polycentric metros are larger and more dense, with higher per-capita incomes and lower poverty rates. }",
}

Distribution

Python code to reproduce the analysis in the paper is available as an IPython Notebook in the Results section of this site. If you are interested in downloading it, it is hosted in a GitHub repository, together with related data and code, in the following URL:

The repository containts the following files:

• us_centers.ipynb: notebook displayed in the section Results.
• us_centers.pdf: pdf version of the notebook.
• employment_centers_tools.py: documented Python module containing all the necessary code to identify employment centers as presented in the paper.
• centersYYYY.geojson: GeoJson files containint the polygons for the centers identified in the paper. One file for each year (1990, 2000, 2010).
• cty2msa.csv: crosswalk between county and MSA used to delineate MSAs in the paper (following the June 2003 definition of the Census Bureau).
• centers_table.csv: `csv` version of the center count table, by MSA and year
• README.md: brief readme file.
• LICENSE.txt: license for the repository.

Downloads of the repository as a single zip file are possible here.

License

"Results and code for The Validity of the Monocentric City Model in a Polycentric Age: US Metropolitan Areas in 1990, 2000 and 2010 " by Daniel Arribas-Bel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.