Polynuclearity as a Spatial Measure of Urban Sprawl: Testing the Percentiles Approach

Piotr Lityński and Piotr Serafin
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Piotr Lityński: Department of Spatial Management, Cracow University of Economics, 27 Rakowicka St., 31-510 Cracow, Poland
Piotr Serafin: Department of Socio-Economic Geography, Cracow University of Economics, 27 Rakowicka St., 31-510 Cracow, Poland

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 7, 1-17

Abstract: Polynuclearity and polycentricity are spatial phenomena which overlap each other in the context of urban sprawl, and this sometimes hinders the possibility of clearly distinguishing the two. Hence, the basic goal of the article is to indicate the differences between polycentricity and polynuclearity as well as their conceptualization and operationalization as urban sprawl features. The article indicates that the main differences between polycentricity and polynuclearity boil down to functional connections. However, empirical exemplification was made in relation to the agglomeration of Cracow, Poland using an urban morphology approach based on 1 km 2 square grids. Among the conclusions, it can be found that the identification of the central core is an important stage of research. If at least two cores appear then polynuclearity is identified and then polycentricity can be further identified. Testing of four mathematical approaches to identifying the central core showed that the most accurate results are given by the 95th percentile, i.e., the grids within the 95th percentile of building density qualify for the central core. It is also necessary to remove grids with extremely high building density from the analyses.

Keywords: polycentric city; polynuclearity; urban sprawl; square grids; urban morphology; spatial policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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