Functional Typologies of Metropolitan Areas: An Examination of Their Usefulness

Abstract

Although relatively simple dichotomies of American cities, such as the Sunbelt/Snowbelt and the largecity/small-city distinctions, have been used to explain and predict other facets of urban life, more elaborate typologies, such as those produced by Duncan and others (1960) and by Nelson (1955), have remained wallflowers of urban research. Curiously attractive, they have nonetheless found little favor in explanatory studies. We have found two of these typologies, those of Duncan et al. and Nelson, to be surprisingly useful in accounting for major changes in the American urban system during the 1970s.