Benchmarking polycentric urban development: determining the ‘balance’ between ‘urban centers’

In recent years, much research has been devoted to developing analytical frameworks to capture polycentric urban development (PUD). The purpose of this research project is to develop a benchmark that allows for a useful comparison between different PUD measurement frameworks. Although the relevance of analytical consistency relates to several aspects of PUD, two key dimensions will be singled out: (1) the specification of what constitutes a ‘center’ in a polycentric urban system, and (2) the identification of the ‘balance’ between centers as a measure of the degree of polycentricity. The project has conceptual, analytical, and empirical ramifications, and will result in tangible suggestions for future comparative analyses of PUD.

Keywords:Polycentric urban development

Disciplines:Urban and regional development, Urban and regional geography