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City systems research: from morphology to relationality and positionality

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  • Nicholas A. Phelps

Abstract

Making reference to the ‘old’ concept of megalopolis I glance back to identify a future research agenda on city systems. Megalopolis happens to be not just a convenient scale around which to organize discussion but also a concept more seminal in its ‘putative relationality’ than often appreciated. The concept contains important seeds of subsequent and future research on city systems more generally or else prompts them to the extent that the scale of urbanization and functional urban relations may now exceed it. I suggest five themes within this agenda that speak to the underplayed and emergent (1) morphological, (2) informational, (3) incubatory, (4) relational properties of megalopolitan systems and how the latter property of city systems promises (5) a positionalist perspective that reaches beyond urban economic organization at the megalopolitan scale. I note in conclusion the possible additional benefits of this agenda in promoting a measure of intra- and inter-disciplinary dialogue on a subject otherwise characterized by fragmentation.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicholas A. Phelps, 2021. "City systems research: from morphology to relationality and positionality," International Journal of Urban Sciences, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 480-500, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rjusxx:v:25:y:2021:i:4:p:480-500
    DOI: 10.1080/12265934.2019.1637274
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