Hierarchy and Centralities in Facilities and Services

Mohamed Hilal () and Virginie Piguet ()
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Mohamed Hilal: CESAER - Centre d'économie et de sociologie rurales appliquées à l'agriculture et aux espaces ruraux - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Dijon - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement
Virginie Piguet: CESAER - Centre d'économie et de sociologie rurales appliquées à l'agriculture et aux espaces ruraux - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Dijon - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement

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Abstract: This chapter examines centrality through the local provision of goods and services. Using the French Permanent Database of Facilities (BPE, 2017), 10,774 service centers are identified and classified at the municipal level through a hybrid clustering method, distinguishing four levels (local, intermediate, structuring, major) without exogenous thresholds. Results show that 31% of municipalities concentrate 87% of the population and structure access to services within a nested hierarchy. Centrality depends on the co-presence of facility bundles rather than solely on population size or employment. Service areas reveal a territorial organization combining monocentric and polycentric patterns. The analysis highlights strong spatial disparities in vulnerability, particularly for isolated centers in low-density areas, supporting a service-based approach for territorial policy design.

Keywords: facilities; accessibility; service provision; urban hierarchy; small towns; centrality; rural areas; France; spatial planning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Published in Julie Fen-Chong; Cécile Tannier. Centralities and Hierarchies of Networks and Territories, ISTE; WILEY, pp.145-176, 2025, Sciences, Geography and Demography, 9781789452181

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05570585

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