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Emerging megaregions: A new spatial scale to explore urban sustainability
... Faludi (2005) entitles the large conurbation stretching from Italy's Milan and Genoa to UK's Manchester and Liverpool as 'the blue banana'. Marull et al. (2013) delineates 11 megaregions in Europe and finds that Frankfurt- Stuttgart, Glasgow-Edinburgh, London, Paris, and Madrid are the most economically active megaregions. Typical examples of US mega-regions suggested in the literature include the Philadelphiae- Baltimoree-Washington region, the Great Lakes and the Northern California region (Metcalf and Terplan, 2007). ...
... Observations highlight that the megaregions have been keep- ing growing and expanding worldwide (Barrag?n and de Andr?s, 2015;Marull et al., 2013;Ortega et al., 2015;Vogel et al., 2010). They become more and more massive and present very complex patterns, morphologies and interrelations, totally distinct from the former urban forms a few decades ago (e.g., Taubenb?ck et al., 2014;UN-DESA, 2011). ...
... These two concepts emphasize the economic collaboration and specialized division rather than the polycentric spatial organization. However, the urban network paradigm suggests that we should extend the scope of analysis into polycentric organization beyond the metropoli- tan limits (Groth et al., 2011;Marull et al., 2013). Polycentric urban regions, mega-city region, and megaregion are all poly- centric concepts. ...
Megaregion has emerged as a new dimension of global urbanization. A megaregion approach based on polycentric strategy is deemed to enhance regional economic competitiveness. Numerous studies have highlighted the economic benefits, celebrated the spill-over effects, and outlined the creative potentials of contemporary megaregion policies in different nations worldwide. However, further policy instruments require the knowledge about the achievement and failure of megaregion policies that seek for spatial, economic, social, and environmental efficiency and sustainability. This paper introduces China’s megaregion policy and proposes an analytical framework for performance evaluation from four principle domains (rational urban growth, economic development, social equity, environmental protection) at three levels (internal collaboration, integral development, and overall development). Using a case of the Megaregion around Hangzhou Bay (MAHB), we find very limited success of China’s megaregion policy. In particular, the megaregion policy only accomplishes the economic goal, and fails to achieve the goals of rational urban growth, environmental protection, and social equity. A series of mechanism based regressions are established and show that the implementation duration of megaregion policy: (1) associates positively with the economic growth; (2) relates negatively to social equity and urban rational growth; and (3) has no significant relationship with improved environmental quality. Institutional fragmentation, no unified spatial planning, and inadequate legislation at megaregional level are the underlying causes of the expected performances within the policy context of governance itself. We finally propose some possible solutions and discuss the implications for spatial polycentric governance. The demonstrated methodological framework can be applicable to other megaregions around the world. This paper is thus believed to provide some new insights for land use policy.
... The development of the mega-region is cause and consequence of the densification and acceleration of socio-economic processes, resulting in increasing levels of complexity. From an economic point of view, the mega-region scale of organization appears to be accelerating global change (Grazi et al., 2008), concentrating a huge amount of world production and innovation, and is associated with higher levels of per capita income and creativity (Florida et al., 2008;Ross, 2009;Marull et al., 2013). However, an issue that has received less attention in the literature (exceptions are Wheeler, 2008;Trullén et al., 2013). ...
... For example, data showing trade flows across countries is available but data showing trade flows within countries has never been elaborated. For this reason, we use the 12 mega-regions delineated by Marull et al. (2013) for Europe in the years 1991 and 2007. This allows us to take into account the dynamics of networks. ...
... In this proposal, a mega-region is defined as an area characterized by a substantial physical contiguity of human settlements, a minimum threshold of light intensity (DN = 8), and a minimum diameter distance for the region of 2 km. 1 The megaregion is required to fulfil two criteria: it must be a contiguous lighted area with more than one major city or metropolitan region; and it must produce more than $100 billion in LRP (Light-based Regional Product) (Figs. 2 and 3). Two advantages of the elaboration of Marull et al. (2013) is, firstly, that light-based GDP is calculated at the level of NUTS3 units (provinces) and this means that the deviation is substantially lower than in the data calculated at the level of countries (i.e., in Florida et al., 2008); and, secondly, the authors provide measurements at several points in time (which can be updated) which facilitate a more dynamic perspective. The period of 16 years between the two extremes of the database is not very long. ...
Are the dynamics of mega-regions sustainable or not? We explore the hypothesis that increasing complexity in mega-regions implies less demands on resources needed to generate organized information, thereby making the systems more efficient and stable. This article aims to identify structural indicators for measuring urban networks at the mega-regional scale. We use night-time light data from the broad band near-visible infrared channel of the DMSP-OLS to monitor the dynamics of urbanization. We study the urban networks as graphs, where nodes are cities, and the main road and railway infrastructures represent the edges. We propose four indicators for measuring the complexity, polycentricity, efficiency and stability of networks of cities. These indicators are derived from studies and approaches such as the use of graphs and small-world networks that other authors have carried out to explain similar structures. In the article we apply the structural indicators to 12 European mega-regions. The main conclusion is that mega-regional urban systems respond to increasing complexity by adapting their relational structures to become more efficient and stable, and become more sustainable forms of organization. Consequently, it could be necessary to re-direct land use policies towards improving sustainability at the level of the mega-region.
... In Figure 4, Marull et. al (2013) mapped megaregions in Europe using Night-Time Light analysis, showing network of cities exceeding a metropolitan scale. Within the legend proposed I the figure, in by 2009 there were a total of 12 distinct megaregions. The study site is part of megaregion (1) Amsterdam, Brussels, Antwerp. In other studies, this megaregion extends and tu ...
... Megaregions of Europe in 2009. Map byMarull et al., (2013), red point added by thesis author pointing out the MAHHL study region ...
Free movement of goods and people is an essential component of the European Union. The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has brought about border closures and constraints on movements. Such restrictions undermine decades long visions for solidarity, an integrated EU and concepts of cross-border “megaregions” in Europe. This thesis argues that current developments on borders exposes integrational issues between EU countries. It questions how border-regions can be considered for future megaregional visions and proposals, particularly those including cross-border co-operations.
To find these scenarios of non-integration, a collection of stories from stakeholders within the urbanised tripoint area of Belgium-Germany-Netherlands throughout the pandemic was compiled. Alongside, megaregion visions that were presented in the conference “Next Generation Podium for Eurodelta” in May 2021 were analysed. These visions were evaluated according to the local stories.
The results show possible clashes – such as policies incohesion – current planned megaregional projects may come across. In understanding barriers from local stories, planners operating within border-regions can get general ideas of areas of uncertainty or risk. In conclusion, border-regions are argued as a space in which visions should be prototyped or reflected upon for future megaregional concepts that aim to grow across nations in the EU.
... Additionally, the degree rankings of the three central cities constantly fluctuated and adjusted, increasingly illustrating features of a polycentric urban system in the CYRM. This polycentric structure largely reflected a strong political and administrative-bureaucratic imprint on the spatial economic system [14]. In this context, provincial capitals have resource allocation priority over other cities. ...
... Based on the spatial pattern of degree centrality, Jiangxi Province greatly improved its inter-provincial relations with Hubei and Hunan provinces. and administrative-bureaucratic imprint on the spatial economic system [14]. In this context, provincial capitals have resource allocation priority over other cities. ...
Megaregions are the new engines of global and regional economic growth, and they often
are considered a principal urbanization platform in China. To understand megaregional processes’ responses to China’s regional policies, this study focused on two aspects of integration development in the Central Yangtze River megaregion between 2000 and 2014: The internal collaborative networks using enterprises’ headquarters-branch locations as a proxy measurement and the role of regional transportation in the integration networks. Based on a three-step network analysis, the Central Yangtze River megaregion was increasingly similar to a polycentric urban system with Wuhan, Changsha, and Nanchang as the dominant service cities, and there were some indications of a preliminary urban network formation. However, integration development remained a government-led administrative process with administrative boundaries that significantly influenced the network structure. A panel regression analysis further suggested that transportation accessibility to the three central cities was the key determinant of network participation for the peripheral cities compared to economic performance. This work contributes to the debate on the hierarchical-administrative properties of China’s megaregions and transportation implications of the economic integration process.
... To delimit megaregions a number of different methodologies exist that are based mainly on census data and a group of structural criteria including transport networks, demographic growth and land use (Lang and Dhavale, 2005;Dewar and Epstein, 2007). In this study, we use NTL satellite data (Marull et al., 2013), an improvement over official statistics since this type of data allows us to delimit urban systems and estimate indicators for non-administrative units of analysis. Thus, the main database used for defining megaregions consists of images from the satellite DMSP-OLS supplied by the NASA. ...
... We used a database consisting of three traditional variables obtained from Eurostat (economic growth -GDP, employment -GRE and knowledge -PAT), together with three other variables estimated using satellite data (energy consumption -PEC, urban growth -URG and urban density -URB). We use a technique based on satellite images, described in Marull et al., 2013 and founded on a strong direct linear relation between light intensities and the several indicators of urban development, that enables us to project the values of these variablesavailable at the country level -onto the related regional units with sufficient accuracy. In this way, the NUTS 3-year dataset is built. ...
... Per delimitar les megaregions existeixen diverses metodologies, que es basen principalment en dades censals i en un conjunt estructurat de criteris (com ara les xarxes de transport, el creixement demogràfic o el consum de sòl) (Lang i Dhavale, 2005;Dewar i Epstein, 2007). En aquest estudi s'utilitzen les dades satel·litàries NTL (Marull et al., 2013). Un dels beneficis d'utilitzar NTL davant de les estadístiques oficials (com ara les NUTS 3), és que permet delimitar sistemes urbans i estimar indicadors per unitats d'anàlisi no administratives. ...
... Es desenvolupa un model factorial (Thomson, 1951) mitjançant les següents etapes: i) Procés i assignació de dades: S'ha emprat una base de dades formada per tres variables tradicionals -activitat econòmica, treball i coneixement (GDP, GRE, PAT)-obtingudes d'Eurostat, i altres tres variables -consum d'energia, creixement i densitat urbana (PEC, URG, URB)estimades utilitzant imatges satel·litàries. Una tècnica basada en dades satel·litàries (Marull et al., 2013) permet la imputació dels valors de variables oficials (països) a unitats d'anàlisi funcionals (megaregions), amb suficient precisió per mesurar la xarxa de ciutats. ...
Els primers anys del segle XXI han consolidat dues transformacions substancials: i) el canvi d'escala dels sistemes urbans, estructurant-se en megaregions composades de denses xarxes de ciutats interrelacionades (Ross, 2009); ii) i la limitació de les nocions tradicionals de creixement i de desenvolupament sostenible (Constanza et al., 2009) per afrontar la complexitat de les organitzacions humanes en noves unitats espacials. La dimensió que assoleixen aquests nous sistemes urbans megaregionals, així com la seva complexitat interna en termes d'interconnexions entre ciutats (Marull et al., 2015), posa en qüestió si aquestes xarxes de ciutats d'escala megaregional són sostenibles en les seves múltiples dimensions interrelacionades, i si les nocions tradicionals continuen servint per avaluar la seva sostenibilitat, o es convenient transitar cap a nocions basades en l'anàlisi dels sistemes complexos (Baynes, 2009).
... The parameter values of the overall network structure indicate the whole function of all the nodes in the urban system structure. We use the method of calculating parameter values of overall network structure, which includes the values of network density, the centrality, out-centrality, in-centrality and intermediary centrality are calculated by formulas (3)- (6), as shown in Table 1. Table 1 shows that the network density is only 0.151, much lower than a normal network density value(We calculated the density values of networks by population in the Jinjinji area, the Yangtze River Delta area, the Pearl River Delta area, north-eastern China, the Yellow River Basin area, and the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River area, among others. ...
Urbanization in sparsely populated areas is critical for sustainability. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is a typical example of an ecologically fragile region that plays a crucial role in China’s ecological safety and water resource protection. We use a social network analysis to illustrate the structure of the urban system on the plateau and find that the agglomeration and diffusion capabilities of the core nodes are weak, which presents an obstacle to the sustainable development of the urban system. Nevertheless, we find that the intermediate nodes—which serve multiple integration functions for the various cultures, ethnic groups, and religions in the region—are core nodes that divide the dispersed cities and towns into four subgroups that function as small worlds (The cities and towns within one subgroup connect closely and each subgroup is organized independently somehow from others). Based on this finding, we suggest implementing a “double-layer” urban system to promote the sustainable urban development of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. This “double-layer” system breaks the usual urbanization trend, in which cities grow in size and their distribution becomes more concentrated; instead it provides a feasible way to maintain urban sustainability in a sparsely populated area.
... It is found that urban expansions not only lead to regional fragmentation, but also generate new regional associations, and the huge spatial scale will help to form new regional networks and spatial associations across metropolitan areas [11]. The study of urban agglomeration in this stage changes from qualitative to quantitative models, and the cellular automata simulation, the multiple linear regression and the gravity model become analytical tools to study the evolution of urban agglomeration [12][13][14]. In addition, the night-light data and the traffic data are more and more widely used in urban agglomeration study [15,16]. ...
This study uses a quasi-experimental method, Geographic Regression Discontinuity Design (GRDD), to evaluate the actual effect of establishing Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta urban agglomerations on enterprise innovation. GRDD is a design in which a geographic boundary splits the units into treated and control areas in an as-if random fashion, and the shortest distances from each enterprise’s location to the boundary of urban agglomeration calculated by ArcGIS are considered as the running variable. The actual effect can be identified by the probability of receiving treatment jumps discontinuously at the known cutoff. It is shown that the establishment of Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta urban agglomerations can significantly improve the enterprise innovation, and this outcome is verified by rigorous robustness tests including the placebo test with pseudo-boundary, the bandwidth sensitivity test, the parametric test with different functional forms and the extreme value test. Further, the influence mechanisms of state-level urban agglomerations promoting enterprise innovation are explored by Staggered DID. It is confirmed that the urban agglomeration construction can promote enterprise innovation through financial support and regional coordination channels.
... It is confirmed that urban expansions not only lead to regional fragmentation, but also generate new regional associations, and the huge spatial scale will help to form new regional networks and spatial associations across metropolitan areas [7]. The study of urban agglomeration in this stage changes from qualitative to quantitative models, and the cellular automata simulation, the multiple linear regression and the gravity model become analytical tools to study the evolution of urban agglomeration [8][9][10]. In addition, the night-light data and the traffic data are more and more widely used in urban agglomeration studies [11,12]. ...
Based on the data of listed enterprises in China from 2007 to 2019, this study uses the quasi-natural experiment method (staggered DID) to explore the actual impact of the establishment of state-level urban agglomeration on the innovation activities of enterprises and the heterogeneous impact caused by regional differences. It is found that state-level urban agglomerations play the role of “incubator” for enterprise innovation, and the establishment of urban agglomerations can not only effectively encourage enterprises to increase R&D investment, but also greatly increase the quantity of innovation output of enterprises. It is worthwhile to note that the establishment of state-level urban agglomerations has no significant impact on R&D investment and the innovation output of enterprises in the eastern region. As far as the western region is concerned, the incentive effect of the establishment of urban agglomeration on the innovation output of enterprises is significantly positive at 1% significance level, while the incentive effect on the R&D investment of enterprises is positive but not statistically significant.
... In the 1951 gap in decadal growth rate between state and country was seen all-time highest in the study period it was recorded 21% (Figure 4). In the 2011 census, the year gap in decadal urban population growth between state and country becomes much wide (Siemiatycki, 2013;Marull, et al. 2013). ...
This investigation aims to examine the changes in trend, pattern, and concentration of urbanization at the district level in Maharashtra state of India for the period 1961 to 2011. The study is primarily based on the secondary data were collected from various census of India. The decadal growth rate (DGR), location quotient (LQ), Karl parson's correlation coefficient method (CC), and rank-size rule (RS) were applied to find out the growth rate, concentration, influence of other factors on urbanization and regional disparity successively. The computed LQ index of the urban population is high in Mumbai (2.1), Mumbai-suburban (2.1), Thane (1.7), and Pune (1.35) districts of western Maharashtra as compared to the districts of Marathwada, Vidarbha, Konkan and North Maharashtra divisions. The estimated values of rank-size demarcate the uneven pattern of urbanization and interpret the regional urban disparity. The high positive correlation exhibits between the district wise concentration of urban population with human development index (HDI) 0.79 and school density (SD) 0.74 whereas it negatively associates with the forest cover (FC)-0.04. This study may help urban planners and policymakers for proper urban planning and sustainable development of cities as well as decentralization of urban centers to minimize the urban regional disparity.
... Kerala has witnessed two severe floods in 2018 and 2019 and several disasters in the recent past (Sudmeier-Rieux and Estrella, 2019). In this context, a regional delineation based on ecological sensitivity analysis and watershed-based planning is suitable (Krishnan V. and Firoz C., 2020;Marull et al., 2013;Vinod Kumar et al., 2020). It is ideal because identifying the flood plains and eco-sensitive regions in an RUC settlement where settlements spread out along a more extended region will augment the regional planning. ...
Kerala State in India has a unique Rural-Urban Continuum (RUC) settlement pattern where it is difficult to distinguish between urban from rural. However, like all the Indian States, the RUC settlements of Kerala are also divided into rural and urban, and this dichotomous classification forms the basis of spatial planning, governance, and management. The current situation has resulted in the spread of urban characterized settlements towards the environmentally fragile areas of the state. Despite several discussions regarding the RUC nature of settlements, details about the spatial characteristics of Kerala are missing in the literature. Accordingly, the paper explores the RUC settlement pattern of Kerala in two parts. The first part assesses the RUC pattern based on the existing Indian census definition. The result reveals that the urban and rural definitions do not hold validity in Kerala. The second part explores the settlements based on the topographic distribution, followed by a detailed analysis of the spatiotemporal dynamics of the built areas in three levels of detailing. The study reveals a spread of built-up areas across diverse topography and variation among the built-up areas of different urban areas. While the lowland regions indicated a dominance and clustering of built-up patches, in the midlands and towards the highland study areas, the built-up areas are smaller and more fragmented with an affinity towards the transportation corridors. Therefore the study helped characterize the spread of reclassified settlements and the changes in built-up areas across diverse topography and emphasized the requirement to move away from dichotomous classification as followed in some developed countries. The study recommends an RUC code for Kerala and an Eco-sensitive Regional Planning approach for a better spatial planning process. A modified and refined planning framework is also proposed as a final output from the research.
... e past two decades have seen globalization and informatization that greatly reshape global economic geography and the rise of a network society, and mega cities and regions have become the spatial units that host the fiercest interplay between globalization and localization [1][2][3]. As globalization and urbanization have progressed, urban competition has gone beyond individual cities, and it is increasingly about position and functional connections in divisions of labor, especially competition, and cooperation in urban networks. ...
Globalization and informatization have significantly reshaped the map of the global economy. Mega cities and regions have become the battlegrounds in the interplay between globalization and localization, with megaregions becoming the most globally significant spatial configurations in this regard. However, academics and government departments disagree on how to define the spatial boundaries of megaregions. In this study, on the basis of highway traffic flow data between cities, we integrate the community detection and core-periphery profile algorithms to characterize the city networks in China and identify the city groups and delineate the core structures of city groups, which are the underlying megaregional structures in China. Based on this, we identify 21 megaregions among city groups in China, including the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, and Chengdu-Chongqing megaregions, and preliminarily delineate their spatial boundaries. On the whole, there are spatial differences among China’s megaregions to a certain extent. Central and eastern China have numerous, large, and a high density of megaregions, while the western region has relatively few megaregions. The latter also differs notably from mature megaregions in terms of rank sizes, urban systems, and functional divisions of labor. Generally, this study develops a novel analytical framework for identifying the functional regions of megaregional space in China from a perspective of relational geography, with methodological implications for other fields of inquiry.
... While it included some highly dynamic regions and cities, which formed part of international networks, it also included other regions in profound retrogression and/or isolation. Furthermore, and perhaps most relevant, these different and unequal ideas of territorial structuring transcended state borders and, thus, formed supra-state macro-regions [30][31][32][33][34]. Conversely, another central facet of the ESDP is the support for a poly-centrism [35,36] that foments development and cohesion, counterbalancing structures that are often very centralized and taking advantage of a historical legacy comprising urban centres spread far and wide, including the large rural areas of much of Europe. ...
Territorial cohesion policies are a priority for the European Union. For over thirty years,
they have aimed not only to provide greater social and economic development across all European
space, but also to contribute to balancing g internal social and economic inequalities. On the other
hand, European institutions have adopted regional scale as the optimal to achieve this broad goal.
Consequently, the ability of these policies to solve the problems faced by some of these regions has
been one of the most widely researched areas in numerous scientific disciplines. This article aims
to assess the impact, over a fifteen-year perspective, of cooperation funds focusing on a specific
area, the cross-border, and, in particular, the border area separating Spain and France. Specifically,
the analyses of data from operative programmes IV and V of the INTERREG-A projects produces
contradictory results. While the aim of European institutions was to use the European Territorial
Cooperation instrument to achieve a greater, better real impact of funds in cross-border areas, and to
progress towards territorial cohesion, the results show that, conversely, they have largely contributed
to reinforcing unequal development. In the analysed border, the dynamics are an increasing distance
between the more and less developed areas in the direct border space, and a privilege of urban areas,
even if they are far from the borderline. A relevant conclusion of the text is that these unexpected
results are partly a consequence of the design of the European programmes.
... A significant literature has focused on the sustainability of mega urban regions with a qualitative approach, such as Laquian (2011) which establishes a typology of these and corresponding governance structures in the Asian context. In the case of Europe, Marull et al. (2013) use econometric analysis to see the economic and ecological advantage of integrated urban regions. Feng et al. (2018) introduce a method to measure the level of polycentricity of an urban mega-region. ...
Network percolation has recently been proposed as a method to characterize the global structure of an urban system form the bottom-up. This paper proposes to extend urban network percolation in a multi-dimensional way, to take into account both urban form (spatial distribution of population) and urban functions (here as properties of transportation networks). The method is applied to the European urban system to reconstruct endogenous urban regions. The variable parametrization allows to consider patterns of optimization for two stylized contradictory sustainability indicators (economic performance and greenhouse gases emissions). This suggests a customizable spatial design of policies to develop sustainable territories.
... It is an urban organization defined as a network of metropolitan areas and their surrounding areas. Compared with the concepts of individual cities and urban agglomerations, megaregions have larger areas and can better reflect the characteristics of urban areas [42,43]. Due to geographical complexity, regional divergence is witnessed for different megaregions, it is important to characterize the developmental trajectory of different urban megaregions [44]. ...
Urban land use/cover and efficiency are important indicators of the degree of urbanization. However, research about comparing their changes at the megaregion level is relatively rare. In this study, we depicted the differences and inequalities of urban land and efficiency among megaregions in China using China’s Land Use/cover Dataset (CLUD) and China’s Urban Land Use/cover Dataset (CLUD-Urban). Furthermore, we analyzed regional inequality using the Theil index. The results indicated that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Great Bay Area had the highest proportion of urban land (8.03%), while the Chengdu-Chongqing Megaregion had the highest proportion of developed land (64.70%). The proportion of urban impervious surface area was highest in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Great Bay Area (75.16%) and lowest in the Chengdu-Chongqing Megaregion (67.19%). Furthermore, the highest urban expansion occurred in the Yangtze River Delta (260.52 km2/a), and the fastest period was 2000–2010 (298.19 km2/a). The decreasing Theil index values for the urban population and economic density were 0.305 and 1.748, respectively, in 1980–2015. This study depicted the development trajectory of different megaregions, and will expect to provide a valuable insight and new knowledge on reasonable urban growth modes and sustainable goals in urban planning and management.
... Dizdaroglu and Yigitcanlar, 2014) to megaregions (e.g. Marull et al., 2013) and from individuals to the global society and from local ecosystems to the biosphere. Yet, some scales are operational more than others (Wu, 2013). ...
This paper presents a multi-scale and GIS-based investigation approach whose goal is to quantify the consequences of a climate change scenario (2041-2050) on the energy demand of buildings by comparison to a past scenario (1991-2000) applied to the city of Stuttgart. Energy simulations are made at building scale while taking into account the surrounding urban microclimates. The investigation method combines 1) numerical modelling using TEB and TRNSYS, 2) design of experiments (DOE) statistical analysis for data pre- and post-processing, and 3) GIS techniques. The outcome of the study is the heating and cooling energy demands summed up at city block level and displayed in 2D GIS maps. The results reveal that i) warmer urban microclimates occur, ii) with less heating and more cooling of buildings required if future versus past reference climate data are used. Spatial differences in the results within the city are found depending on the geometrical and thermal characteristics of the individual city blocks and buildings.
... PMRs have been extensively reported in Europe (e.g., Rhine-Main and Rhine-Ruhr region in Germany, Liverpool, Manchester, London, Paris-Ile-de-France, Northern Switzerland, Holland, and Dublin) [9,10] and the United States (e.g., Southern California, Texas Triangle, Great Lakes, and Florida) [4]. In Asia, new forms of PMRs are visible in Japan (Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe), Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City), and Philippines [11]. ...
Urban spatial structure is a critical component of urban planning and development, and among the different urban spatial structure strategies, ‘polycentric mega-city region (PMR)’ has recently received great research and public policy interest in China. However, there is a lack of systematic understanding on the spatiality of PMR from a pluralistic perspective. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the spatiality of PMR in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA) using city-level data on gross domestic product (GDP), population share, and urban income growth for the period 2000–2013. The results reveal that economically, the YRDUA is experiencing greater polycentricity, but in terms of social welfare, the region manifests growing monocentricity. We further find that the triple transition framework (marketization, urbanization, and decentralization) can greatly explain the observed patterns. Although the economic goals are accomplished with better spatial linkages and early economic development policies, inequality in spatial distribution of public services and the continuing legacy of central planning remain barriers for the YRDUA to emerge as a successful PMR. The results of this research offer meaningful insights on the impact of polycentric policies in the YRDUA and support policymakers in the implementation of appropriate urban spatial development strategies.
... Dizdaroglu and Yigitcanlar, 2014) to megaregions (e.g. Marull et al., 2013) and from individuals to the global society and from local ecosystems to the biosphere. Yet, some scales are operational more than others (Wu, 2013). ...
This paper reports on the newly developed multi-criteria urban sustainability system CAMSUD (version 1.0) including the theoretical and analytical process underlying its development. CAMSUD stands for Comprehensive Assessment Method for Sustainable Urban Development. First, an extensive comparative analysis of five well-known urban rating systems is reported: CASBEE-UD, LEED-ND, BREEAM Communities, DGNB-NSQ and Green Star Communities. These rating systems are selected based on their widespread use, their numerous parallels in content, but also contrasting features, which give clear evidence on consensual and non-consensual items related to sustainability understanding and implementation. The analysis items revolved around their development drive, conceptualization, domain of applicability, technical content, practicality, measurability, and certification. Hence, this comparison identified the convergences and divergences of these systems and their potential for further optimization in view of highlighted strengths and weaknesses. Based on that analysis, the second part of the paper depicts the first version (1.0) of CAMSUD, including:
1. the prevailing key concepts in its development as well as its 40 compliance criteria structured in eight thematic categories;
2. the logic chain of criteria interactions and their effects on an appropriate measuring and scoring.
3. the linkage between CAMSUD and the German sustainability-related legislation (laws, acts, standards and guidelines) as proof of compliance, and
4. the comparative analysis of a database consisting of 160 sustainable urban projects using CAMSUD 1.0 in order i) to illustrate the handling of urban sustainability in practice and ii) to demonstrate its practical usability and to assess the current version for possible optimization.
The motivation for and the outcome of CAMSUD is also to serve as a theoretical basis for a computational decision-making tool to be developed (ECAMSUD), which peculiarity is to manage topic, scale and time related-criteria interactions responsible in probable redundancy or failure in scoring. By this means, CAMSUD strives to offer an alternative for a transparent and traceable framework for self-critical analysis and compromise finding when handling complex and cross-disciplinary urban development processes.
... Marull, Galletto, Domene, and Trullén (2013) Companies that … incorporate social and environmental aspects without compromising profit into their operations. ...
The ambiguity and polysemy of the concept of sustainability is a problem often faced by researchers. The existence of definitions that are not operative, diverse and sometimes contradictory represents a difficulty for the election of a suitable concept of sustainability. Even most of the research works whose title includes the term sustainability do not define what it is, which eventually, constitutes a methodological error. This leads the researchers to avoid defining sustainability, or to study it indirectly through the study of social and ecological variables of certain systems. The present work analysed the meanings conveyed by the concept of sustainability according to researchers. The uses that researchers make of the term sustainability were employed to reveal such meanings. Four uses were identified, which allowed the identification of four meanings of the concept of sustainability. This concluded that the meanings of the concept of sustainability are neither many nor as ambiguous as other authors point out, and that this classification of uses and meanings could be employed to avoid frequent errors made by researchers.
... Such limitations gave rise to a broad set of varying concepts, definitions, and methods. Functional urban regions (Antrop, 2004;Forman, 2008), urban ecoregions (Schneider et al., 2010), territories in between (Alexander Wandl et al., 2014), mega-city (Fuchs et al., 1994), mega-region (Marull et al., 2013;Taubenböck et al., 2014), meta-city (McGrath and Pickett, 2011), megapolitan region (Gustafson et al., 2014), and landscape urbanisation (Bai et al., 2012), are among the multitude of concepts used to describe urbanisation. Thus, it challenges researchers and planners to conceive and use a set of explicit indicators that can help address this https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.09.028 ...
Urbanisation is transforming landscapes across the world. As the urban matrix is extending across all landscape types, new spatial configurations have blurred the former contrast between urban and non-urban land uses. The spatial complexity of urbanisation challenges current landscape-scale assessments based on land cover methods and standard Boolean classifications of urban–rural. In this study, we quantify urbanisation as a continuous spatial process based on Technomass, a three-dimensional indicator that accounts for anthropogenic material stocks in the form of buildings and technical infrastructures. The aim is to perform a spatially explicit quantification of urbanisation degrees across the landscape by more accurately capturing the volumes of different types of anthropogenic stocks. The use of the technomass as an explicit indicator can more accurately describe the complex spatial structure of urbanisation. This allows a robust characterisation of urbanisation degrees at the landscape scale, useful for different ecological assessments. The research was conducted in the functional urban areas of Ostrava (Czech Republic) and Katowice (Poland), where cross-boundary asymmetric landscape configurations can be observed. This spatial characterisation of urbanisation can help to improve innovative and inter-disciplinary approaches used in landscape ecology, urban ecology, industrial ecology and spatial planning.
... City is not an isolated system (Marull, Galletto, Domene, & Trull?n, 2013). The description of urban system requires further improvements ( Paez, 2007) and innovation ideal is needed to solve challenges of urban system science ( Groffman et al., 2017). ...
City, urban systems and their evolution are classical interdisciplinary issues in urban studies. Most traditional classical theories have different drawbacks because of the inherent limitations of their basic disciplines. Therefore, a general theoretical framework is urgently needed to interpret city, urban systems and their evolution. This study proposed a novel theoretical framework of urban systems and their evolution (the GUSE theory) to explain the processes and features of origin, spatial pattern and evolution of regional urban systems. We firstly proposed definitions of coverage, city and urban system based on Graph Theory method; then built models and indices to interpret and evaluate growth and evolution of urban system by combining the model of spatial interaction flow with the “urban tree (UT)” hypothesis. Numerical simulation is finally conducted to illustrate the GUSE theory and verify the stability of the proposed models. The GUSE theory in this study can provide significant theoretical basis for regional research, such as urban system study and planning.
... Even these concepts are related, they accentuate varied connotation of this emerging spatial organization. In this research, we adopt the concept of "megaregions" to stress the functional characteristics of city-regions [3], which is deemed to be a new spatial scale to explore urban sustainability [6]. ...
This paper presents a spatial analysis of likely/potential hotspots of sustainability issues in Mainland China through an empirical investigation of patterns of ecological vulnerability in and of China's megaregions. To be specific, this paper assesses the level of patterns of the ecological vulnerability of 16 megaregions through an indicator system, which includes soil erosion, desertification, ecosystem vulnerability, key ecological areas, and water and land resources. Empirical results reveal that while most megaregions are located in the less vulnerable areas, there are a couple of megaregions with a vulnerable basis of ecological environment. These megaregions consist of Chengdu-Chongqing, Guanzhong Tianshui Economic Zone, Shandong Peninsula Wuhan City Circle, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, and Liaoning Coastal Belt. Furthermore, a typology of these megaregions is identified based on their development level and ecological vulnerability.
... We live in an age of cities[9].By the end of this century, it is likely that most of the world's population will be living in one type of city or another, as urbanization and globalization become norm. This fast urbanization appears to promote large production and innovation, and is related with higher levels of per capita income and creativity[10][11][12]. However, an issue that has received less attention in the literature (exceptions are[4]and[6]) is that the fast urbanized world also becomes huge consumers of resources. ...
China is the fastest urbanizing area in the world. Nowadays, increasingly complex urban systems not only create more socioeconomic output (such as GDP), but also bring more infrastructural costs, which intensifies the contradiction between large populations and relatively scarce resources. Thus, urban research has to focus on urban efficiency toward efficient, inclusive, and sustainable urbanization instead of urban size. Aiming at “land” in man-land relationship, urban size research mainly explores location factors. However, proposed by Michael Batty, social interaction is the driving force for urban efficiency, stressing on “man” in man-land relationship. Recently, our increasing ability to collect and share data on many aspects of urban life has begun to supply us with better clues to the properties of cities. Human activity can be effectively reflected using night-time light imageries. Making use of Suomi-NPP night-time light data, the Night Light Urban Efficiency Index (NLUEI) was proposed to quantitatively evaluate the urban efficiency, then this index was applied to 282 cities in China to calculate their urban efficiency. Results showed that 60.5% of these cities obtained the same result via NLUEI and social-tie density model from MIT. Compared to “2013 urban competitiveness blue book” published by CASS (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences), seven cities in top ten cities published by CASS also emerged in top ten cities according to NLUEI, and other three cities were all energy cities with low NLUEI. It is demonstrated that (1) NLUEI is a straightforward and objective index for evaluating the urban efficiency and (2) NLUEI works well in China and has great potential in urban management.
... Although it is beyond our scope here, the two paradigms may well have implications and connections with still other urban theories, such as those of ecological footprints (Toth and Szigeti 2016), industrial ecology (Chertow 2000), power laws of urban size (Bettencourt and West 2010), political ecology (Bennett 2010), the megaregion (Marull et al. 2013), the metacity (McGrath and Shane 2012), and the continuum of urbanity (Boone et al. 2014). ...
The contrast between ecology in cities and ecology of cities has emphasized the increasing scope of urban ecosystem research. Ecology in focuses on terrestrial and aquatic patches within cities, suburbs, and exurbs as analogs of non-urban habitats. Urban fabric outside analog patches is considered to be inhospitable matrix. Ecology of the city differs from ecology in by treating entire urban mosaics as social–ecological systems. Ecology of urban ecosystems incorporates biological, social, and built components. Originally posed as a metaphor to visualize disciplinary evolution, this paper suggests that the contrast has conceptual, empirical, and methodological contents. That is, the contrast constitutes a disciplinary or “local” paradigm shift. The paradigm change between ecology in and ecology of represents increased complexity, moving from focus on biotic communities to holistic social–ecological systems. A third paradigm, ecology for the city, has emerged due to concern for urban sustainability. While ecology for includes the knowledge generated by both ecology in and ecology of, it considers researchers as a part of the system, and acknowledges that they may help envision and advance the social goals of urban sustainability. Using urban heterogeneity as a key urban feature, the three paradigms are shown to contrast in five important ways: disciplinary focus, the relevant theory of spatial heterogeneity, the technology for representing spatial structure, the resulting classification of urban mosaics, and the nature of application to sustainability. Ecology for the city encourages ecologists to engage with other specialists and urban dwellers to shape a more sustainable urban future.
... Cities are not isolated systems, but linked together to form networks (Boix and Trullén 2007;Marull et al. 2013). A network of cities is a structure where the nodes are the cities connected by different kinds of links through various flows (Boix and Trullén 2007). ...
The aim of this paper is to develop a methodology for identifying various dimensions of the spatial
configuration of urban systems in Iran from an interaction perspective. Through the provision of empirical
evidence of different types of flows of people including air passenger flows, passenger flows by bus and
car, this paper compares the resulting spatial constellations of these flows through the innovative use of
indices to systematically describe and measure five dimensions of an urban system’s spatial configuration
that include: (1) centrality and dominance of vertices, (2) network cohesion, (3) network strength, (4)
network symmetry, and (5) communities and levels. The findings show that although the spatial
configurations of different flows are not the same, all were characterized by having a significant distance
within a polycentric urban system due to the primacy of the Tehran metropolis. In regard to passenger
flows by car and bus, it was found that for various functional regions, there was a balanced distribution of
centrality and urban hierarchy evident in Iran. By contrast, air passenger flows were not able to determine
centrality within a national urban hierarchy because of the limited distribution of centers for air travel in
Iran at higher levels of spatial organization.
... Ross (2008) pictures the new scale of a megaregion by "the neighborhood is a critical building block for a city, cities are now the building blocks for megaregions". From a spatial point of view, identifying and delineating megaregions is debate to varying approaches: Marull, Galletto, Domene, and Trullen (2013) use standard subdivisions of countries -European NUTS3 bordersto delimit their analysis on megaregions. The Regional Planning Association in the USA created a scoring system using criteria such as population and employment levels as well as connectivity, and projects these spatially on administrative units of counties (Hagler, 2009). ...
Megaregions are important phenomena of globalization's new urban scale and form. These regions are considered the drivers of global economy, innovation, technology and the labor market. In combination with the global megatrend of urbanization, new dimensions and patterns are evolving conceptualized e.g. by this term ‘megaregion’. Using multi-source and multi-temporal satellite data we classify urban footprints and their spatial evolution since the 1970s of five selected megaregions across the globe, namely the megaregions of Southern California anchord by Los Angeles in USA and the Mexican border area, the mega-region São Paulo–Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, the Nile delta anchord by Cairo in Egypt, the mega-region Amsterdam–Rotterdam, Ruhr–Cologne, Brussels–Antwerp and Lille in Europe, and the megaregion Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong in China. Based on this geospatial data set, we develop a spatial metric to measure spatial connectivity between cities based on the continuity of settlement patterns. The network of cities within the particular megaregions is based on demographic information. The result is on the one hand an evaluation of the spatial continuity of settlements between the cities within the networks. On the other hand, comparisons whether the settlement patterns in megaregions across the globe are similar or not are performed. We conclude with the finding that three types of megaregions can be spatially classified and one suggested megaregion is spatially not yet connected.
... Here the focus is on leading simpler, lower consumption lifestyles, where energy production is decentralized to the scale of the household/community, supporting local business is prioritized over global corporations, and slower-speed modes of transportation (walking, bicycles, public transit) take precedent over the clamour for ever-faster modes (larger freeways, more high-speed rail, greater airport capacity). Research is already beginning to examine the potential contribution of mega regions to economic development and the objective of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (Benner and Pastor, 2011;Fleming, 2015;Marull et al., 2013;Ross et al., 2015;Wheeler, 2009Wheeler, , 2014. ...
This chapter argues that the rhetoric and can-do bravado which currently surrounds megaregions has raced too far ahead of the sustained theoretical and rigorous empirical work needed to support many of the assertions, assumptions, claims and investments being made in the belief that megaregions do constitute globalization’s new urban form. Critically examining the foundations upon which the megaregion discourse has been constructed, this chapter conceptualizes the position occupied by the megaregion in debates prior to the onset of globalization, and then discusses how the concept has been reawakened during globalization. It then explores four separate, yet interrelated, lines of argumentation which cut into the megaregional debate as it is currently constructed and form the basis for developing a more critical approach toward megaregional research: (1) the megaregional gaze; (2) megaregional form and function; (3) imagined megaregions; and (4) the role of social actors. Concluding with some cautionary remarks about the challenges and opportunities for near-future megaregional research, the chapter moves megaregional debate forward from questions of definition, identification and delimitation to questions of agency (who or what is constructing megaregions), process (how are megaregions being constructed) and specific interests (why are megaregions being constructed); a task that requires a more political and more historical perspective on megaregions. | Free access: http://dx.doi.org/10.4337/9781782547907.00007
This article uses new methods and evidence from satellite data on night lighting to assess the urban network structure of 100 European metropolitan regions. Its aim was to develop indicators to test the hypothesis that complex urban networks are more efficient economically and less dependent on energy consumption owing to better information organization. It uses NPP-VIIRS NTL satellite data on night lighting (NTL) and employs a topographical representation of NTL intensities to detect urban centers. Based on the distribution of NTL intensities in urban centers represented as a Lorenz curve, it develops two new indicators of monocentricity and polycentricity to evaluate large-scale urban network structures. The results show that polycentric urban networks create more innovation, which allows them to be more economically efficient and less dependent on energy consumption. Further research should study in greater detail the relationships between urban network structures and their social, economic, and ecological performances.
Rapid urbanisation has not only affected the division of urban administrative regions and economic development but also caused changes in land use patterns and urban-rural conflicts. Apart from being the main determinants of regional integration, urban agglomerations also represent a new form of spatial organisation to realise coordinated regional development. This study investigates China’s national urban agglomeration development planning, which is guided by government decision-making and various plans aimed at sustainable land use. We use the TF-IDF algorithm, NVivo and statistical methods to analyse the keywords of urban agglomeration policies and the correlation between keywords. We also compare the positioning goals, focus areas and development paths of urban agglomeration policies. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) Urban agglomeration development planning mainly focuses on industrial construction, with additional emphasis on ‘ecology’, ‘service’, ‘cooperation’, ‘innovation’ and ‘region’ (2) On the basis of development and cooperation, urban agglomeration development planning puts forward research objectives and positioning suitable for development; (3) Urban agglomeration development should further develop modern agriculture, emergency systems, ecological construction and internal cooperation. This study’s findings describe new ideas found by comparing urban agglomeration policies, which is helpful to understand the basis of formulating urban agglomeration development planning policies in China, and look forward to the long-term planning for the development of regional integration characteristics in China.
The aim of this study was to use satellite imagery of metropolitan regions to develop a method for predicting the evolution of Night-Time Light (NTL) and design a mathematical cellular automata model to predict urban progress scenarios. In order to validate the model with real data, we used NTL for 1992–2012 from the European NUTS-2 region of Catalonia. Lighted surface scenarios (as an estimate of urban expansion) were calculated using variations in light intensity (as an estimate of economic activity). In all, we applied the model to twelve NUTS-3 European metropolitan regions. The model gives us three kinds of useful information related to urban surface areas: the main one is a NTL urban surface baseline, which in turn was used in calibration/validation processes; the second one is a regression line for NTL intensity and economic activity, which could be improved with further research; finally, we found a good coarse approximation to urban shape in urban progress scenarios. Since NTL is available for the entire globe, the model could be used to study urbanization dynamics in metropolitan regions for which, in particular, socio-economic data is not available at this territorial scale, and even megaregions emerging as global economic units.
The ongoing COVID‐19 crisis has put the relationship between spatial structure and disease exposure into relief. Here, we propose that mega regions – clusters of metropolitan regions like the Acela Corridor in the United States are more exposed to diseases earlier in pandemics. We review standard accounts for the benefits and costs of locating in such regions before arguing that pandemic risk is higher there on average. We test this mega region exposure theory with a study of the US urban system. Our results indicate that American mega regions have born the early brunt of the disease, and that three mega regions are hotspots. From this standpoint, the extent more than the intensity of New York's urbanization may be implicated in its COVID‐19 experience. We conclude that early pandemic risk is a hitherto unrecognised diseconomy operating in mega regions. This paper proposes that large ‘mega‐region’ formations like the Acela Corridor in the US are more vulnerable to pandemics early in their onset. Our analysis of COVID‐19 fatalities in the US supports this. COVID‐19 did not start in mega‐regions, but mega have borne an outsize share of fatalities.
Historical societies reshaped their environment in various ways; by clearing forest, cultivating crops, mining, and modifying waterways. Evidence of these activities persists in palaeoenvironmental archives, which represent comprehensive histories of human activity in a landscape. Analysis of settlement networks across landscapes is another common approach to investigating how past societies operated, but these analyses rarely incorporate palaeoenvironmental data. Here, we combine these two data sources to examine past socio‐political relationships in a society that experienced disruption and transformation. Applying network analysis, and using settlement histories built from palaeoenvironmental proxies for occupation and land use, this paper reconstructs population dynamics at several key nodes (cities) within the Khmer kingdom of Southeast Asia, before and after the climate stress and political upheaval of the 14th–15th centuries ce. Our results reveal how the Khmer city network transformed across space and the nature of the relationships that existed within the network prior to its disruption.
Water scarcity as a serious global issue has been challenging the human beings. Despite broad research on water scarcity from global to local scale, there is lack of comprehensive understanding of water scarcity in urban areas, particular in the megaregion which is a cluster of a number of cities with dense human activities and close interactions between each other cities. In this study, we took one important megaregions of China, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) megaregion, as a case study to analyze the spatial-temporal trajectories of water scarcity and the driving forces. First, we developed a new water scarcity index system that could separately assess the spatial variation of physically- and human-induced water scarcity. Second, we explored the relations between water scarcity and the multi-manifestation of urbanization in terms of demographic, social, landscape, and economic aspects. The results showed: 1) the overall water scarcity varied spatially and temporally across different cities in the BTH megaregion; the physically- and human-induced water scarcity was not spatially coincident; most the variation in water scarcity was due to human-induced water scarcity; 2) urbanization primarily affected the human-induced water scarcity; the economic urbanization had the strongest negative impacts, whereas the landscape urbanization had positive effects; non-urban water utilization, such as agricultural water use, strongly competed for water use with regional urbanization. Overall, the results highlight the importance of optimizing economic development mode and controlling agriculture water use to alleviate the water scarcity of megaregion. The general framework used in this study can be applied to other megaregions in China and to some other developing countries that have similar water scarcity problems.
Urbanization is becoming the most important human social change in the world, especially in developing countries. However, what is the process of urbanization? What forces are driving the urbanization process? This paper summarizes five main processes of urbanization through various aspects of urbanization in different countries, including economic growth and development, demographic change, social transformation, reshaped and stretched urban spaces, and shrinking cities. Based on the comprehensive method of analyzing urbanization, this paper sorts out five driving forces of urbanization, which are industrialization, modernization, globalization, marketization and administrative/institutional power. The author tries to contribute to the healthy development of urbanization in developing countries through the analysis of process and driving force in urbanization.
The concept of megaregions is increasingly put forward among academics and policy makers as a new scale of economic co-ordination and social organisation. A megaregion is most commonly understood as an economic unit that comprises an agglomeration of cities and its less dense hinterlands, which are linked through infrastructure, economic connections, settlement patterns and land use, topography, an environmental system or a shared culture and history that together shape a common interest for the wider region. While there is an extensive literature on the potential benefits of a megaregion, work has been more limited in terms of identifying megaregions in an international context. This paper introduces an approach to delineate potential megaregions in the OECD.
The full text can be downloaded at http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/f4734bdd-en
As a global phenomenon, megaregions are now and will continue to be the main form of urbanization, especially in developing countries including China. Although megaregions have been viewed as the most powerful formation to accelerate urbanization, the unprecedented regional growth and the uneven urban-region sprawl between different cities are emerging as critical problems. Despite many concerns about rapid regional growth from social and economic perspectives, not much is known about the multi-scale dynamic of urban-region sprawl in terms of land use. In this study, we examined the two most important megaregions of China, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region (B-T-H) and the Yangtze River Delta region (Y-R-D), to understand their urban-region sprawl patterns and the relevancy of multiple spatial scales among different types of cities. The analysis included directly identifying the developed land from remotely sensed data collected between 1980 and 2010. The results showed that (1) at the regional scale, although both megaregions expanded rapidly during 1980–2010, the obvious difference existed in their regional sprawl patterns. The sprawling rate of Y-R-D was obviously higher than that of B-T-H, implying the megaregions implemented quite different development strategies. (2) At the city scale, both the dominant and non-dominant cities within the megaregions had distinct contributions to the regional sprawl of the mega cities. The greatest contribution from the dominant cities was the fast expansion of the main urban areas; the greatest contribution of the non-dominant cities was the fast rural sprawl. Overall, the varied spatial differences in the regional sprawl of China’s megaregions highlight that sustainable regional development requires multi-scale joint development plan management, not only considering the synergy of cities with different sizes, but also the synergy between urban and rural areas.
Megaregions have become the principal geographic units for countries to participate in the global economy, which is often a composite of numerous urban clusters which are distributed in different cities. In China, a megaregion is regarded as a key urbanization platform, according to the National Plan on New Urbanization published in 2014. In this context, it is imperative to understand the spatial patterns of and the changes occurring in megaregions. For instance, what are the universal rules or differences related to urban cluster growth between different megaregions in the process of rapid urbanization, and are there differences in the growth of urban clusters with different sizes? Focusing on these issues, this study discusses the uneven growth of clusters in five of the largest megaregions in China using the rank-size rule, based on land-cover data interpreted from time-series satellite imagery during the period 1990–2010. The results show that the cluster size distribution of each of these megaregions obeyed the rank-size rule, and the size distribution of the clusters became more uneven and was tilted toward larger clusters between 1990 and 2010. These factors should be considered in the implementation of the National Plan on New Urbanization in China and the designation of urban macro planning and urban layout optimization in other countries those are experiencing rapid urbanization.
The Euro-Mediterranean region is facing a growing demographic expansion and urban
development and is characterized by a high dependence of energy and a fragile situation in relation
to water balances, especially in the South-East urban areas. The purpose of this article is to
examine the applicability of the night-time light (NTL) imagery for exploring the socio-metabolic
performance of a new functional scale of urban development that exceeds the metropolitan scale:
the megaregions. Megaregions are emerging global economic units, the result of the concentration
of production facilities, innovation and consumer markets with important resource consumption.
One of the benefits of NTL data, in front of national statistics, is that it allows delineating and
estimate indicators for functional analysis units that do not necessary coincide with administrative
boundaries. Based on NTL we delineate a number of Euro-Mediterranean urban regions and
megaregions and we characterize them in terms of sustainable development indicators (water use
and primary energy consumption). Results show a significant relationship between sum of lights
(SL), water and energy use and urban form. The positive relationship between resource
consumption, population and GDP/income/wealth indicates that future increases of water and
energy use are likely in certain areas of the Euro-Mediterranean urban regions and megaregions
with significant growth previsions (for instance southern and middle east countries). This work
contributes to the debate on the essential properties of a regional economy optimizing
environmental performance at the level of the megaregion.
In recent years, some advocates for social equity have sought to develop new solutions to urban poverty and build new forms of political power at a metropolitan or regional scale. The evolution of American urban areas into sprawling megaregions raises a concern that these “regional equity” advocates today may be facing the same dilemma as urban reformers in the 1960s: They are arriving to a new policy table just as the scale of the economy is shifting up and out. In trying to assess how the potential emergence of megaregions affects opportunities for addressing equity, the authors examine the Northern and Southern California megaregions and argue that “thinking megaregionally” may help to identify some new issues for equity organizing, but there are important challenges: (1) the issues most likely to gain traction at a megaregional scale seem to be primarily related to infrastructure and the environment and may not have the immediacy usually associated with successful mobilization of constituencies and (2) even if the issues are megaregional, the policy levers are likely to be local, state, and federal, rendering the megaregional scale less immediate in a policy sense as well. The authors nonetheless suggest that there may be growing opportunities in the years to come, and analysts concerned with equity and social movement may want to conduct further research in this area.
This paper introduces a series of 11 studies on the relationships between large Western cities (Paris, London, Brussels, Vienna, Barcelona, Athens, New York, Providence) and their surrounding territories over a long historical time period. The concept of hinterland is introduced to designate a rural territory structured by its function of supplying the city with food, fuel, water and other material. The papers question the usefulness of this concept in the current globalized world, where cities are often considered as simple nodes of a network of worldwide trade exchanges, but where new citizen aspirations for reconnecting urban and rural territories are emerging.
In their treatment of development, researchers in the property sector tend to adopt positivist methodologies which emphasise the application of rational decision-making techniques by utility-maximisers within a mainstream economics paradigm. While considerably increasing our understanding of the development process, such research offers a partial view of its subject from a particular perspective. Recently, alternative methodological and theoretical approaches have evolved which strive to understand the wider institutional context of the development process. The paper critically reflects on these institutionalist approaches in order to develop a research framework which blends economic and social analyses of property development processes. The paper draws upon (re)interpretations of the authors' recent research to address the following points. First, that the economic structuring of development is a product of and, in turn, affects social processes. This is illustrated by a consideration of the price mechanism in the property market. Secondly, that social structures and processes are as important as their economic equivalents in 'explaining' property development. This is addressed by a discussion of the ways in which recent shifts in the social organisation of the property sector are reframing the strategies of development actors, leading to new structures of property provision and use. The paper concludes by arguing for the need to develop an understanding of property development processes which combines a sensitivity to the economic and social framing of development strategies with a fine-grain treatment of the locally contingent social responses of property actors.
There is a degree of uncertainty in the measurement and/or validation of national and sub-national economic data such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In some circumstances it can be very useful to have alternative measures of numbers like GDP to provide evidence for the validation or invalidation of claims of some nations or regions regarding their economic productivity. This research explores the feasibility of developing predictive relationships between observed changes in nighttime satellite images derived from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program's Operational Line scan System (DMSP-OLS), and changes in population and Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Collection of data on economic variables, especially sub-national income levels, is problematic, due to various shortcomings in the data collection process. Additionally, the informal economy is often excluded from official statistics. Nighttime lights satellite imagery and the LandScan population grid provide an alternative means for measuring economic activity. We have developed a model for creating a disaggregated map of estimated total (formal plus informal) economic activity for countries and states of the world. Regression models were developed to calibrate the sum of lights to official measures of economic activity at the sub-national level for China, India, Mexico, and the United States and at the national level for other countries of the world, and subsequently unique coefficients were derived. Multiplying the unique coefficients with the sum of lights provided estimates of total economic activity, which were spatially distributed to generate a spatially disaggregated 1 km 2 map of total economic activity.
An increasing amount of research is now being conducted on topics at the interface of regional science and the environment. This research is both theoretical and empirical and the broad objective of this research is to analyze the numerous environmental implications of problems in regional science. Given the burgeoning interest in research in the above mentioned topics, there now exists a substantial literature on regional science and the environment. Therefore, our objective in this chapter is to review the principal themes in this sizable literature. Specifically, we focus on five key issues and these issues are regional economic development, natural resources, environmental regulation, geographic information systems, and regional climate change. Our review is both retrospective and prospective. We discuss what has been achieved thus far and the likely future directions of research on regional science and the environment.
We developed a new methodology for the assessment of landscape and ecological connectivity at regional scale. This method has been entirely formalized using mathematical language, is supported by a topological analysis of a 1:25,000 scale land use map, and has been developed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The method allows the elaboration of a diagnose of the connectivity of terrestrial landscape ecosystems, on the basis of a previously defined set of ecological functional areas, and a computational cost-distance model which includes the barrier effect. This last component takes into consideration the type of barrier, the distance impact, and the adjacent land use and vegetation type. We defined two new compound indices: one for ecological connectivity and another for the barrier effect. The practical interest of our model is that it not only allows a cost-effective assessment of the current situation, but it has predictive capabilities, allowing the quantitative assessment and comparison of the impacts resulting from different planning scenarios or different infrastructure alternatives on the landscape and ecological connectivity.The application of this model to the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (BMA), 16% of which is currently classified as urban, showed that 65% of the BMA area is currently occupied by functional ecological areas, and that 18% is covered by artificial barriers, although they have a direct negative impact on 56.5% of the area. The model also allowed the identification of vulnerable spots, including 1.7% of the BMA that has a critical importance for ecological connectivity, as well as the network of landscape linkages and ecological corridors that offer a high restoration potential. Further applications of this methodology assessing the impacts of regional and urban plans on ecological connectivity, suggest than it could easily be extrapolated to other regions.
The potential use of satellite observed nighttime lights for estimating carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions has been demonstrated in several previous studies. However, the procedures for a moderate resolution (1 km2 grid cells) global map of fossil fuel CO2 emissions based on nighttime lights are still in the developmental phase. We report on the development of a method for mapping distributed fossil fuel CO2 emissions (excluding electric power utilities) at 30 arc-seconds or approximately 1 km2 resolution using nighttime lights data collected by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s Operational Linescan System (DMSP-OLS). A regression model, Model 1, was initially developed based on carbon emissions from five sectors of the Vulcan data produced by the Purdue University and a nighttime satellite image of the U.S. The coefficient derived through Model 1 was applied to the global nighttime image but it resulted in underestimation of CO2 emissions for most of the world’s countries, and the states of the U.S. Thus, a second model, Model 2 was developed by allocating the distributed CO2 emissions (excluding emissions from utilities) using a combination of DMSP-OLS nighttime image and population count data from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) LandScan grid. The CO2 emissions were distributed in proportion to the brightness of the DMSP nighttime lights in areas where lighting was detected. In areas with no DMSP detected lighting, the CO2 emissions were distributed based on population count, with the assumption that people who live in these areas emit half as much CO2 as people who live in the areas with DMSP detected lighting. The results indicate that the relationship between satellite observed nighttime lights and CO2 emissions is complex, with differences between sectors and variations in lighting practices between countries. As a result it is not possible to make independent estimates of CO2 emissions with currently available coarse resolution panchromatic satellite observed nighttime lights. However, the nighttime lights image in conjunction with the population grid can help in more accurate disaggregation of national CO2 emissions to a moderate resolution spatial grid.
Wheeler S. Regions, megaregions, and sustainability, Regional Studies. The rapid expansion of urbanized regions is problematic for sustainable development. Urbanization at large scales has inherent sustainability problems, and planning institutions and governance mechanisms have had limited success at the metropolitan scale, let alone at a megaregional one. A vision of more sustainable regional development includes an emphasis on balanced local communities to reduce regional mobility demands; the management of land, resources, and population to live within regional limits; efforts to improve equity and build social capital; and on economic development that strengthens the quality of the region's social and ecological systems rather than the quantity of production and consumption.
Wheeler S. Régions, mégarégions et durabilité, Regional Studies. L'expansion rapide des régions urbanisées est un problème pour le développement durable. L'urbanisation à grande échelle induit des problèmes inhérents de durabilité et les instances de planification ainsi que les mécanismes gouvernementaux ont connu un succès limité à l'échelle métropolitaine sans parler du niveau mégarégional. Une vision du développement régional plus durable nécessite de mettre l'accent sur l'équilibre des communautés locales afin de réduire les demandes en mobilité régionale, la gestion des terres, les ressources, le souhait des populations de vivre à l'intérieur des limites régionales, des efforts pour améliorer l'équité et construire un capital social; il faut mettre l'accent sur le développement économique qui renforce la qualité des systèmes sociaux et écologiques de la région plutôt que sur la quantité de la production et de la consommation.
Planification régionale Région Mégarégion Métropole Durabilité Développement durable
Wheeler S. Regionen, Megaregionen und Nachhaltigkeit, Regional Studies. Die rasche Expansion urbanisierter Regionen ist für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung problematisch. Eine großflächige Urbanisierung ist mit inhärenten Nachhaltigkeitsproblemen verknüpft, wobei die Planungsbehörden und staatlichen Kontrollmechanismen aber auf metropolitaner Ebene bisher nur wenig Erfolg hatten – von der megaregionalen Ebene ganz zu schweigen. Eine Vision einer nachhaltigeren Regionalentwicklung ist verknüpft mit einer Betonung von ausgeglichenen lokalen Gemeinschaften zur Verringerung des regionalen Mobilitätsbedarfs, mit einer Steuerung von Land, Ressourcen und Bevölkerung für ein Leben innerhalb der regionalen Grenzen, mit Bemühungen zur Verbesserung der Gerechtigkeit und zum Aufbau von Sozialkapital sowie mit einer Betonung einer Wirtschaftsentwicklung, die die Qualität der sozialen und ökologischen Systeme der Region stärkt, statt die Quantität von Produktion und Konsum zu steigern.
Regionalplanung Regionen Megaregionen Metropolitan Nachhaltigkeit Nachhaltige Entwicklung
Wheeler S. Regiones, megaregiones y sostenibilidad, Regional Studies. La rápida expansión de regiones urbanizadas es un problema para el desarrollo sostenible. La urbanización a gran escala presenta problemas inherentes de sostenibilidad y las instituciones de planificación y los mecanismos de gobierno tienen un éxito limitado a nivel metropolitano, no digamos ya a escala megaregional. Para obtener un desarrollo regional con una visión más sostenible se debería dar prioridad a las comunidades localmente equilibradas para reducir las demandas de movilidad regional, a la administración de las tierras, los recursos y la población que vive en límites regionales; a los esfuerzos para mejorar la igualdad y crear capital social y a un desarrollo económico que refuerza la calidad de los sistemas sociales y ecológicos de la región en vez de centrarnos en la cantidad de producción y consumo.
Planificación regional Regiones Megaregiones Metropolitano Sostenibilidad Desarrollo sostenible
Does urban form affect travel choices and thus CO2 emissions by individuals? If this is the case, then urban form and policies that influence it deserve serious attention in the context of long-term climate policy. To address this issue, we examine the impact of urban density on commuting behavior, and the consequences for CO2 emissions. The empirical investigation is based on an instrumental variable approach (IV), so as to take account of endogeneity of residence location. We decompose travel demand into components related to modal split and commuting distance by each mode.
Sustainability assessment methods are primarily aimed at global, national or state scales. However, modelling sustainability at finer spatial scales, such as the region, is essential for understanding and achieving sustainability. Regions are emerging as an essential focus for sustainability researchers, natural resource managers and strategic planners working to develop and implement sustainability goals. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of current sustainability assessment methods - ecological footprint, wellbeing assessment, ecosystem health assessment, quality of life and natural resource availability - at the regional scale. Each of these assessment methods are tested using South East Queensland (SEQ) as a case study. It was selected because of its ecological and demographic diversity, its combination of coastal and land management issues, and its urban metropolitan and rural farm and non-farm communities. The applicability of each of these methods to regional assessment was examined using an evaluation criteria matrix, which describes the attributes of an effective method and the characteristics that make these methods useful for regional management and building community capacity to progress sustainability. We found that the methods tested failed to effectively measure progress toward sustainability at the regional scale, demonstrating the need for a new method for assessing regional sustainability.
Humanity has just crossed a major landmark in its history with the majority of people now living in cities. Cities have long been known to be society's predominant engine of innovation and wealth creation, yet they are also its main source of crime, pollution, and disease. The inexorable trend toward urbanization worldwide presents an urgent challenge for developing a predictive, quantitative theory of urban organization and sustainable development. Here we present empirical evidence indicating that the processes relating urbanization to economic development and knowledge creation are very general, being shared by all cities belonging to the same urban system and sustained across different nations and times. Many diverse properties of cities from patent production and personal income to electrical cable length are shown to be power law functions of population size with scaling exponents, beta, that fall into distinct universality classes. Quantities reflecting wealth creation and innovation have beta approximately 1.2 >1 (increasing returns), whereas those accounting for infrastructure display beta approximately 0.8 <1 (economies of scale). We predict that the pace of social life in the city increases with population size, in quantitative agreement with data, and we discuss how cities are similar to, and differ from, biological organisms, for which beta<1. Finally, we explore possible consequences of these scaling relations by deriving growth equations, which quantify the dramatic difference between growth fueled by innovation versus that driven by economies of scale. This difference suggests that, as population grows, major innovation cycles must be generated at a continually accelerating rate to sustain growth and avoid stagnation or collapse.
This paper uses a global dataset of nighttime light emissions to produce an objectively consistent set of mega-regions for the globe. We draw on high resolution population data to estimate the population of each of these regions. We then process the light data in combination with published estimates of national GDP to produce rough but useful estimates of the economic activity of each region. We also present estimates of technological and scientific innovation. We identify 40 mega-regions with economic output of more than $100 billion that produce 66 percent of world output and accounts for 85 percent of global innovation.
We developed a new methodology for the assessment of landscape and ecological connectivity at regional scale. This method has been entirely formalized using mathematical language, is supported by a topological analysis of a 1:25,000 scale
land use map, and has been developed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The method allows the elaboration of a diagnose of the connectivity of terrestrial landscape ecosystems, on the basis of a previously defined set of ecological
functional areas, and a computational cost-distance model which includes the barrier effect. This last component takes into consideration the type of barrier, the distance impact, and the adjacent land use and vegetation type. We defined two new
compound indices: one for ecological connectivity and another for the barrier effect. The practical interest of our model is that it not only allows a cost-effective assessment of the current situation, but it has predictive capabilities, allowing the quantitative assessment and comparison of the impacts resulting from different planning scenarios or different infrastructure alternatives on the landscape and ecological connectivity.
The application of this model to the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (BMA), 16% of which is currently classified as urban, showed that 65% of the BMA area is currently occupied by functional ecological areas, and that 18% is covered by artificial barriers, although they have a direct negative impact on 56.5% of the area. The model also allowed the identification of vulnerable spots, including 1.7% of the BMA that has a critical importance for ecological connectivity, as well as the network of landscape linkages and ecological corridors that offer a high restoration potential. Further applications of this methodology assessing the impacts of regional and urban plans on ecological connectivity, suggest than it could easily be extrapolated to other regions.
Our civilization is constantly conducting large-scale experiments that could be used more often than they actually are to develop the foundations of a disturbance ecology. […] Man becomes very powerful by using external energy to move materials, especially along the horizontal plane. Horizontal transport destroys the mosaic of patches that could each have its own independent development. […] Man creates systems to control and amplify flows of external energy that become more and more powerful. […] By looking at energy subsidies we can gain a better understanding of the role that external energy plays in ecosystems.
Ramon Margalef, Teoría de los sistemas ecológicos, 1993
The concept of “the city” —as well as “the state” and “the nation state” —is passé, agree contributors to this insightful book. The new scale for considering economic strength and growth opportunities is “the megaregion,” a network of metropolitan centers and their surrounding areas that are spatially and functionally linked through environmental, economic, and infrastructure interactions.
Recently a great deal of attention has been focused on the emergence of the European Union and on European spatial planning, which has boosted the region’s competitiveness. Megaregions applies these emerging concepts in an American context. It addresses critical questions for our future: What are the spatial implications of local, regional, national, and global trends within the context of sustainability, economic competitiveness, and social equity? How can we address housing, transportation, and infrastructure needs in growing megaregions? How can we develop and implement the policy changes necessary to make viable, livable megaregions?
By the year 2050, megaregions will contain two-thirds of the U.S. population. Given the projected growth of the U.S. population and the accompanying geographic changes, this forward-looking book argues that U.S. planners and policymakers must examine and implement the megaregion as a new and appropriate framework.
Contributors, all of whom are leaders in their academic and professional specialties, address the most critical issues confronting the U.S. over the next fifty years. At the same time, they examine ways in which the idea of megaregions might help address our concerns about equity, the economy, and the environment. Together, these essays define the theoretical, analytical, and operational underpinnings of a new structure that could respond to the anticipated upheavals in U.S. population and living patterns.
The population of the United States will likely grow by 40 percent by 2050 with the growth concentrated in eight to ten megaregions, connected networks of metropolitan areas. Planners in the United States have begun to plan for these large regions. Their work raises four persistent questions: what is a megaregion, and how does one determine where a megaregion exists? Why plan at the scale of megaregions rather than at metropolitan, state, and national levels? What are appropriate methods and useful data for megaregion planning? When is the megaregion a useful scale for policy and planning?
This paper extends the debate on corridor effectiveness at regional planning scale, by exploring the contribution to landscape connectivity of a proposed ecological network and the remaining non-urbanized matrix in the Barcelona Metropolitan Region (BMR). Using the Ecological Connectivity Index, we evaluated the expected connectivity loss after the development of the approved urban plans in the region. Thus, we compared the baseline (present-day) and the projected (after planned urban development) connectivity scenarios for total, forest and agricultural habitats. Then, we estimated the mitigation in connectivity loss when successively removing from plans those development sectors included in protected sites, first order corridors, and second-order corridors of the ecological network, and in the rest of land matrix. Estimations were done for all the BMR and for inside versus outside the set of sites currently protected.The ecological network and the rest of matrix contributed equally to mitigating the expected connectivity loss, but while the former was more effective for forest habitats, the latter was especially constructive for croplands. This was due to a heterogeneous distribution of habitats, protected reserves and urban development areas. Still, connectivity preservation within protected sites appeared to be highly dependent on what is going on outside the ecological network, as we observed in particular for agricultural habitats. This result extends at regional scale the statement that no park is an island, but is highly affected by the land use and land cover dynamics of its surroundings.
The nature and form of the urban environment is a critical determinant of the sustainability of our society, as it is responsible directly for a large proportion of consumed energy, and influences indirectly the patterns and modes of energy consumed in everyday activities. We examine the current state of research into the energy and greenhouse gas emissions attributable directly or indirectly to urban form. Specifically, we look at the embodied (construction) and operational energy attributable to the construction, maintenance and use of residential dwellings, and we review the literature on the relationship between urban structure and private travel behaviour. While there is clear evidence from both intra- and inter-city comparisons that higher density, transit-oriented cities have lower per-capita transport energy use, the effect of housing density on residential (in-house) energy use is less clear. More detailed research is needed to examine the relationships between urban form and overall energy use.
Night-time satellite imagery acquired between October 1994 and March 1995 is here exploited to derive economic and energy-related global maps. By considering the lit area of a city, and combining this with ancillary statistical information, an analysis was performed designed to investigate the potential of night-time imagery for quantitative estimation of global socioeconomic parameters. An attempt to estimate global urban population using correlations of lit area and urban populations to derive country-level relationships accounted for over 90% of the quoted total. Furthermore, the total lit area of a country has a statistically significant high correlation value with other parameters, specifically Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and total carbon dioxide (CO2) emission. The new technique is limited by the spatial resolution of the sensor and the poorer correlation using night-time lights for centrally-planned economies. These findings offer great potential for synoptic global mapping of such parameters in the future.
The present work explores the synergies between socio-metabolic energy use and landscape patterns, starting from the hypothesis that there is a complex and changing relationship between the efficiency in both the societal use of energy, and land-use, and the ecosystem functioning of the whole land matrix of the Barcelona Metropolitan Region (BMR). It first compares changes in the social metabolism (i.e. the total energy or material throughput of the economy) and in landscape structure and function from 1850 to the present in three municipalities of the Vallès county (N of the BMR), as a first attempt to establish a link between the societal uses of land and energy together with their impact on landscape patterns. Secondly, the study explores the role of natural versus rural landscapes on the maintaining of basic functional properties such as connectivity in the whole BMR. We base our analyses on parametric methodologies that describe both structural and functional properties of landscapes, aimed at assessing the landscape efficiency of both energy-use and land-use planning. The first comparison reveals that the simultaneous loss of energy efficiency and land-use efficiency from the mid-19th century to present can be tracked by changes in the functional landscape structure. The second study shows the importance of the traditional rural landscapes in maintaining the ecological quality of non-built-up land. In consequence, the organized complexity of the land system necessary to host biodiversity and basic ecological processes cannot be guaranteed if the agro-forestry mosaic is not taken into account, together with the network of protected areas.
This paper seeks to provide a picture of sustainability of the Northern Territory by analysing a number of sustainability indicators across indigenous status and remoteness class. The paper seeks to extend current socio-economic statistics and analysis by including environmental considerations in a ‘triple bottom line’ or ‘sustainability assessment’ approach. Further, a life-cycle approach is employed for a number of indicators so that both direct and indirect impacts are considered where applicable. Whereas urban populations are generally doing better against most quantitative economic and social indicators, environmental indicators show the opposite, reflecting the increasing market-based environmental impacts of urban populations. As we seek to value these environmental impacts appropriately, it would be beneficial to start incorporating these results in policy and planning.
Four out of five European citizens life in urban areas, and urban form – like the density or compactness of a city – influences daily life and is an important factor for both quality of life and environmental impact. Urban planning can influence urban form, but due to practicality needs to focus on a few indicators out of the numerous indicators which are available. The present study analyses urban form with respect to landscape metrics and population-related indicators for 231 European cities. Correlations and factor analysis identify the most relevant urban form indicators. Furthermore, a cluster analysis groups European cities according to their urban form. Significant differences between the clusters are presented. Results indicate that researchers, European administration and urban planners can select few indicators for analysing urban form due to strong relationships between single indicators. But they should be aware of differences in urban form when comparing European cities or working on planning policies for the whole of Europe.
Previous studies of DMSP-OLS stable night lights have shown encouraging agreement between temporally stable lighted areas and various definitions of urban extent. However, these studies have also highlighted an inconsistent relationship between the actual lighted area and the boundaries of the urban areas considered. Applying detection frequency thresholds can reduce the spatial overextent of lighted area (“blooming”) but thresholding also attenuates large numbers of smaller lights and significantly reduces the information content of the night lights datasets. Spatial analysis of the widely used 1994/1995 stable lights data and the newly released 1992/1993 and 2000 stable lights datasets quantifies the tradeoff between blooming and attenuation of smaller lights. For the 1992/1993 and 2000 datasets, a 14% detection threshold significantly reduces blooming around large settlements without attenuating many individual small settlements. The corresponding threshold for the 1994/1995 dataset is 10%. The size–frequency distributions of each dataset retain consistent shapes for increasing thresholds while the size–area distributions suggest a quasi-uniform distribution of lighted area with individual settlement size between 10 and 1000 km equivalent diameter. Conurbations larger than 80 km diameter account for < 1% of all settlements observed but account for about half the total lighted area worldwide. Area/perimeter distributions indicate that conurbations become increasingly dendritic as they grow larger. Comparison of lighted area with built area estimates from Landsat imagery of 17 cities shows that lighted areas are consistently larger than even maximum estimates of built areas for almost all cities in every light dataset. Thresholds > 90% can often reconcile lighted area with built area in the 1994/1995 dataset but there is not one threshold that works for a majority of the 17 cities considered. Even 100% thresholds significantly overestimate built area for the 1992/1993 and 2000 datasets. Comparison of lighted area with blooming extent for 10 lighted islands suggests a linear proportionality of 1.25 of lighted to built diameter and an additive bias of 2.7 km. While more extensive analyses are needed, a linear relationship would be consistent with a physical model for atmospheric scattering combined with a random geolocation error. A Gaussian detection probability model is consistent with an observed sigmoid decrease of detection frequency for settlements < 10 km diameter. Taken together, these observations could provide the basis for a scale-dependent blooming correction procedure that simultaneously reduces geolocation error and scattering induced blooming.
Regional economics has a long tradition in analytical research and policy modelling, with the aim to enhance our understanding of regional competitiveness conditions and of the emergence, persistence, and mitigation of spatial socio-economic disparities. Unequal regional development in our open economy has prompted a long-lasting debate on the validity and usefulness of economic growth theories in a regional context. This paper aims to review various contributions to regional growth theory and regional policy analysis. It addresses both established regional growth theories and modern growth theories based on, for example, endogenous growth concepts. The paper also broadens the discussion by drawing attention to the importance of network ramifications and environmental sustainability for regional development. It concludes with the formulation of an agenda for future research.
Cities are complex dynamic entities. From a thermodynamic perspective, they represent open systems, constantly importing and exporting energy and matter across their boundaries; the output invariably being less ordered due to irreversible internal processes (dissipation). In analogy to natural ecosystems, the uptake, transport and storage of substances in urban sites as well as their transformation can be considered equivalent to urban metabolism. Apparently inspired by progress that has been made in the study of natural ecosystems, a range of tools based on thermodynamics have recently been applied to better understand this urban metabolism and how it can be optimised. In this paper we review progress that has been made in both domains (i.e. natural and anthropogenic ecosystems). In particular, we consider applications of entropy, energy, exergy and (the quasi-thermodynamic) emergy. We attempt to qualitatively defi ne a seemingly general dichotomy between the explanatory power of a given thermodynamic concept and its calculability. We conclude that whilst thermodynamic considerations indisputably provide a general framework for understanding cities and their evolution, further research is needed for them to become operational representations of urban metabolism and indicators of sustainability. We suggest possible pathways for achieving this.
Mega urban regions are not a passing phenomenon. They are likely to persist and to enlarge their economic footprints because they benefit from the advantages of market scale, agglomeration economies, location, and the increasing concentration of talented workers. Metropolitan regions which are polycentric, relatively well managed, and have invested heavily in transport infrastructure are able to contain some of the problems attendant upon a concentration of people and industry. Moreover, with energy and water resources becoming relatively scarce and many countries anxious to preserve arable land for farming, the economic advantages of densely populated urban areas are on the rise because they have a lower resource utilization quotient. During the next 15 years, mega urban economies could coalesce in three Southeast Asian locations: Bangkok, Jakarta, and the Singapore-Iskander Development Region (IDR, South Johor). The Bangkok and Jakarta (Jabotabek) metropolitan regions have passed the threshold at least in terms of population size but they have yet to approach the industrial diversity, dynamism, and growth rates of a Shanghai or a Shenzhen-Hong Kong region. Singapore, if coupled with IDR, has the potential butit is still far from being an integrated urban region. This paper examines the gains from closer economic integration and the issues to be settled before it could occur. The paper notes that a tightening of localized economic links between two sovereign nations through the formation of an urban region would involve a readiness to make long-term political commitments based on a widely perceived sense of substantial spillovers and equitably shared benefits. Delineating these benefits convincingly will be essential to winning political support and a precondition for a successful economic flowering.
The term 'habitat fragmentation' is often used inconsistently and as a broad umbrella for many patterns and processes that accompany landscape change. This has made it a panchreston or an explanation or theory used in such a variety of ways as to become meaningless. The panchreston problem has hampered efforts to understand and mitigate the negative impacts of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity, and has contributed to several largely unproductive debates. To overcome the panchreston problem, we suggest that the focus of future work needs to be specified more clearly within several key themes that comprise the broad domain of habitat fragmentation. Here, we outline three of these key themes and provide unambiguous terminology to help overcome the panchreston problem.
A city can be conceived as a complex self-adaptive system. The multiple interactions among its structural elements and dynamic agents, its organization on multiple time-space scales, its exchanges with the external context, its irreversible dynamics, are signs of complexity. Some concepts from the evolutionary thermodynamics, such us the theory of dissipative structures, could be extended to the city in order to investigate its behaviour. This theoretical framework suggests to analyze the city in terms of entropy and negentropy production. An emergy analysis (spelled with an "m") of an urban region is presented in order to investigate how cities maintain their organization (and decrease their entropy) by virtue of constant energy inflows from the external environment. As a result, a non-homogeneous spatial pattern of emergy density is shown as an attempt to investigate the multiple relations and energy exchanges that take place in an urban region. This approach to urban studies introduces a new energy-based vision to understand cities.
Recent theories of regional growth and local development emphasise the roles of agglomeration and knowledge as the main determinants of growth, whereas the theories of the networks of cities remark that growth is a process not only within cities but also between cities. The objective of this paper is to measure the factors that affect the evolution of different intensities of knowledge in a region's cities. An adaptation of the OECD knowledge classification is used to divide the industries by knowledge intensity and to model the determinants of these intensities in a spatial context. Results suggest that higher growth rates are associated with higher levels of technology and knowledge. The growth of the different kinds of knowledge is related to local and spatial factors (agglomeration and network externalities) and each knowledge intensity show a particular response to these factors. Copyright (c) 2007 the author(s). Journal compilation (c) 2007 RSAI.
Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips stock price has been predicted using the difference between core and headline CPI in the United States. Linear trends in the CPI difference allow accurate prediction of the prices at a five to ten-year horizon.
Beyond Megalopolis: Exploring America's New Megapolitan Geography. Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech
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The thermodynamics of the city. Evolution and complexity science in urban modelling
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City-systems in Advanced Economies
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About urban mega regions: knowns and unknowns. Research Work-ing Paper 4252
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Yusuf, S., 2007. About urban mega regions: knowns and unknowns. Research Work-ing Paper 4252. World Bank Policy.