Cluster of Cities versus City Region in Regional Planning

Abstract

In this study the hypothesis, that patterns of spatial centralization and decentralization vary between single-centered urban regions and regions characterized by clusters of cities, is examined. The hypothesis is tested by comparing the dispersion of growth of employment in retail trade in the Philadelphia urban field with that in the area covered by the North Carolina Piedmont dispersed city. The results obtained by using a distance–temporal regression model support the hypothesis that the dispersion of growth in the surrounding area of cluster of cities is wider, and more equitably spread, in comparison with the situation in the case of a single-centered region. This finding suggests that the multiplicity of urban centers in a given region, traditionally viewed as a drawback to a successful application of the growth-center policy, has certain advantages in the long run. Therefore when growth-center policy is applied, it should not be carried out too fiercely to the detriment of other surrounding urban communities. On the contrary, policies geared toward the survival of non-growth-center urban places may yield rewards in the future in the form of wider and more equitable spread of growth throughout the entire region.