Decentralization or Recentralization? A Question of Household versus Population Enumeration, Canadian Metropolitan Areas 1971–1996

Abstract

The author considers patterns of population growth and density occurring in Canadian metropolitan areas (CMAs) over the 25-year period 1971–96. Two different sets of data, population and household, are examined with the aid of distance-decay density gradients and enumeration of intrazonal change in census tracts defined as core area (census tracts immediately adjacent to the central business district), inner city, and suburban. Important differences are found when household data are used in lieu of population data. In the core and inner city, household change points towards an overall pattern of recentralization and, in the suburbs, to intensification of development—albeit muted. This contrasts with an accentuated trend to decentralization witnessed in the population-based analyses. The author concludes that centralization is an active force in most CMAs, although it is not as strong a force as decentralization. It is also suggested that there is great diversity between the twenty-two CMAs that make up the dataset. Most important is the demonstration that evidence based on population trends alone is not sufficient to gauge changing patterns of intrametropolitan population distribution.