The New Central Cities

Abstract

The new definition of the metropolitan area changes the definition of central cities to one based on employment centrality, with no limits on the number of central cities in any metropolitan area. The result has been the designation of 80 cities as new central cities in the 50 largest metropolitan areas. These new cities contain 10% of the total central-city population in these areas. Including these new central cities can dramatically affect central-city/suburban comparisons. This is illustrated with an examination of the location and change of the African-American population in metropolitan areas.