Regional Urbanization

A special issue of Urban Science (ISSN 2413-8851).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 December 2019) | Viewed by 23346

Special Issue Editors

Institute of Geography, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
Interests: knowledge economy; urban system; metropolitan region; regional governance
ILS-Institute for Regional and Urban Development Research, Dortmund, Germany
Interests: metropolization; polycentric urban regions; reurbanization; spatial planning

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The concept of regional urbanization describes the transition between urban and regional spaces where the duality between urban and suburban spaces dissolves. Recent developments of metropolises and their surrounding regions are shaped through divergent and partly contrary dynamics of concentration, as well as de-concentration processes of jobs and households within the urbanized region. Economic geography and regional studies mainly analyze the processes of metropolization (the concentration processes of economic functions) and regionalization (the de-concentration processes of economic functions) and focus on resulting polycentric and networked megaregions.

At the same time, studies in urban and population geography describe the concentration and deconcentration processes of people and households in urbanized regions with the concepts of reurbanization (the concentration processes of people and households) and suburbanization (the deconcentration processes of people and households).

Although traditionally addressed in different strands of geography, these economic and demographic processes do overlap and partly add to each other due to the comprehensive changes initiated by megatrends like the rising knowledge economy and digitalization. Thus, the Special Issue aims at an integrated discussion on processes influencing economic and demographic patterns of concentration and de-concentration in urbanized regions.

Prof. Dr. Anna Growe
Dr. Angelika Münter
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • metropolization
  • regionalization
  • suburbanization
  • reurbanization
  • political consequences
  • planning strategies
  • comparative analyses
  • knowledge economy
  • digitalization
  • commuting

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 288 KiB  
Article
Framing the Debate on Suburbanization in North America and Germany Conceptually—Edward Soja’s Concept of “Regional Urbanization” Revisited
by Marius Mlejnek, Petra Lütke and Gerald Wood
Urban Sci. 2020, 4(1), 3; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/urbansci4010003 - 10 Jan 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4817
Abstract
This article is on imaginaries of the urban. Here, we develop a critical view on urban and regional developments in capitalist countries and scrutinize explanation patterns anchored in a rigid urban–suburban dichotomy that tend to disregard the complex processuality of current urbanization forms. [...] Read more.
This article is on imaginaries of the urban. Here, we develop a critical view on urban and regional developments in capitalist countries and scrutinize explanation patterns anchored in a rigid urban–suburban dichotomy that tend to disregard the complex processuality of current urbanization forms. This contribution focusses on the impact societal change has on spatial and societal structures as well as on forms of socialization in urban regional contexts. As a starting point, we deliberately address current debates on suburbanization from which we first derive research desiderata and then conceptually position the debate. The main aim of the paper is to underscore the importance of the conceptual debate on postmodern urban development which is inextricably linked with the so-called LA school of urbanism and in particular with Edward Soja. In the conceptual part of the paper, we start from Edward Soja’s concept (Postmetropolis, 2000) on postmodern urban development in which overarching urbanization processes materialize on a continuum from center to periphery. His theoretical positionings offer a number of possibilities for analyzing and interpreting socio-economic, socio-structural, and socio-cultural urbanization processes. Essentially, we are offering a conceptual discussion of current urban regional processes based on Edward Soja’s theorizations (Soja, 2011) that take the socio-structural, socio-economic, and socio-cultural pluralities and complexity of Regional Urbanization into account. We contend that the seminal contribution of Edward Soja lends itself to a comprehensive and up-to-date understanding of processes of urbanization, including suburban developments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Regional Urbanization)
24 pages, 11031 KiB  
Article
Regional Urbanisation through Accessibility?—The “Zweite Stammstrecke” Express Rail Project in Munich
by Fabian Wenner, Khoi Anh Dang, Melina Hölzl, Alessandro Pedrazzoli, Magdalena Schmidkunz, Jiaqi Wang and Alain Thierstein
Urban Sci. 2020, 4(1), 2; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/urbansci4010002 - 08 Jan 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4538
Abstract
Transport accessibility is one of the most significant locational factors for both households and firms, and thus a potentially self-reinforcing driver of urban development. The spatial structure and dynamics of accessibility hence have the potential to alter the locational choices of households and [...] Read more.
Transport accessibility is one of the most significant locational factors for both households and firms, and thus a potentially self-reinforcing driver of urban development. The spatial structure and dynamics of accessibility hence have the potential to alter the locational choices of households and firms significantly, leading to concentration and de-concentration processes. In spite of recent innovations in automotive technologies, public transport systems remain crucial for the functioning of metropolises. In this paper, we use the case of public transport in the Munich Metropolitan Region (MMR) in Germany to (1) discuss whether public transport in the past has contributed to regional urbanisation, the blurring of urban and suburban spaces; (2) model future accessibility changes due to the ongoing mega-infrastructure project “second trunk line” (“Zweite Stammstrecke”) for suburban trains and their likely effects on processes of regional development; (3) compare the balance of accessibility and functional density at stations in the MMR and (4) recommend a planning strategy based on an integrated urban and transport planning philosophy. We argue that particularly the monocentric design of the project means that it will intensify and extend the scope of suburbanisation and metropolisation, while planning should aim for a greater regionalisation of economic activity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Regional Urbanization)
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18 pages, 3578 KiB  
Article
Regional Urbanization and Knowledge-Intensive Business Activities (KIBS): An Example of Small and Medium-Sized Cities in the Greater Stuttgart Region (Germany)
by Madeleine Wagner and Anna Growe
Urban Sci. 2020, 4(1), 1; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/urbansci4010001 - 19 Dec 2019
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4047
Abstract
The objective of this paper is to understand the role of small and medium-sized cities as economic locations, and as potential anchor locations, in grounding processes of regional urbanization in the knowledge economy. Based on quantitative occupational data, the deconcentration processes of knowledge-intensive [...] Read more.
The objective of this paper is to understand the role of small and medium-sized cities as economic locations, and as potential anchor locations, in grounding processes of regional urbanization in the knowledge economy. Based on quantitative occupational data, the deconcentration processes of knowledge-intensive business activities are analyzed for the Greater Stuttgart Region in southern Germany. The way in which the different knowledge bases used in knowledge-intensive business activities influence spatial patterns of economic activity in the surrounding area of the core city, including small and medium-sized towns, is discussed. The knowledge bases differentiated in this paper are analytical, synthetic and symbolic knowledge. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Regional Urbanization)
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32 pages, 12582 KiB  
Article
Place-Making through the Creation of Common Spaces in Lima’s Self-Built Settlements: El Ermitaño and Pampa de Cueva as Case Studies for a Regional Urbanization Strategy
by Samar Almaaroufi, Kathrin Golda-Pongratz, Franco Jauregui-Fung, Sara Pereira, Natalia Pulido-Castro and Jeffrey Kenworthy
Urban Sci. 2019, 3(4), 112; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/urbansci3040112 - 10 Dec 2019
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 7803
Abstract
Lima has become the first Peruvian megacity with more than 10 million people, resulting from the migration waves from the countryside throughout the 20th century, which have also contributed to the diverse ethnic background of today’s city. The paper analyzes two neighborhoods located [...] Read more.
Lima has become the first Peruvian megacity with more than 10 million people, resulting from the migration waves from the countryside throughout the 20th century, which have also contributed to the diverse ethnic background of today’s city. The paper analyzes two neighborhoods located in the inter-district area of Northern Lima: Pampa de Cueva and El Ermitaño as paradigmatic cases of the city’s expansion through non-formal settlements during the 1960s. They represent a relevant case study because of their complex urbanization process, the presence of pre-Hispanic heritage, their location in vulnerable hillside areas in the fringe with a protected natural landscape, and their potential for sustainable local economic development. The article traces back the consolidation process of these self-built neighborhoods or barriadas within the context of Northern Lima as a new centrality for the metropolitan area. The analysis of urban form and mobility, heritage and environmental challenges, governance, and social integration leads to a proposal for neighborhood upgrading, capacity building with participatory processes, and a vision for future local development to decentralize the traditional metropolitan centers, which can be scaled to other peripheral neighborhoods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Regional Urbanization)
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