This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Shearmur, R. Articles by Barbonne, R. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Intrametropolitan Employment Structure: Polycentricity, Scatteration, Dispersal and Chaos in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, 1996-2001

INRS-UCS, 385 Sherbrooke east, Montreal, Quebec H2X IE3, Canada, richard.shearmur{at}ucs.inrs.ca

William Coffey

Departement de Geographie, Université de Montréal, C. P. 6128, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montreal, Quebec H3C 3J7, Canada, william.coffey{at}umontreal.ca

Christian Dube

INRS-UCS, 385 Sherbrooke east, Montreal, Quebec H2X IE3, Canada, christian.dube{at}ucs.inrs.ca

Rémy Barbonne

INRS-UCS, 385 Sherbrooke east, Montreal, Quebec H2X IE3, Canada, remy.barbonne{at}ucs.inrs.ca

There is little consensus on where and how employment is decentralising in metropolitan areas. However, a number of key processes have been brought to light, and different cities have tended to display different processes: strong CBDs, suburban polynucleation, job dispersal, scattering, edgeless cities and perhaps 'keno capitalism'. This paper explores the distribution and growth of employment at a fine spatial scale. It is shown that, at this scale, there are very dynamic processes of growth and decline throughout metropolitan areas, but that these processes are organised at a wider scale by stable employment centres and by links between these centres. The structures and processes thus revealed suggest that the spatial economy of metropolitan areas should be approached as a chaotic system. From an empirical perspective, this means that, depending on the scale of analysis and the way data are considered, polynucleation, dispersal and chaos are all observed: this may partly explain the lack of consensus in the literature. The only process not evident within Canadian cities is scattering, but this process may in fact be occurring within some areas identified as suburban employment zones.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?