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Reducing Regional Disparities by Means of Polycentric Development: Panacea or Placebo?

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  • Evert Meijers
  • Krister Sandberg

Abstract

Reducing Regional Disparities by Means of Polycentric Development: Panacea or Placebo? In many territorial development strategies, both at the European and national scale, it is suggested that polycentric development is instrumental in reducing regional disparities. However, this widespread assumption lacks empirical justification, while also its theoretical base is weak. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it explores the theoretical bases of the assumed relation between a country?s urban system and regional disparities. Second, it tests the hypothesis that countries with a relatively polycentric national urban system are characterised by fewer regional disparities than are more monocentric countries. Evidence points in the opposite direction to what is generally expected: the more polycentric a country, the larger its regional disparities. This calls for critical reflection on the value of polycentric development as a concept to bring about cohesion. Keywords: Polycentric development, Regional disparities, Cohesion JEL classification codes: R11, R12, O18

Suggested Citation

  • Evert Meijers & Krister Sandberg, 2008. "Reducing Regional Disparities by Means of Polycentric Development: Panacea or Placebo?," SCIENZE REGIONALI, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2008(Suppl. 2), pages 71-96.
    • Handle: RePEc:fan:scresc:v:html10.3280/scre2008-sup005
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    Cited by:

    1. Paolo Veneri & David Burgalassi, 2011. "Questioning Polycentric Development and its Effects. Issues of Definition and Measurement for the Italian NUTS-2 Regions," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(6), pages 1017-1037, January.
    2. David Burgalassi & Chiara Agnoletti & Leonardo Piccini, 2019. "Polycentricity and regional development: an analytical framework and some evidence from Italy," Discussion Papers 2019/249, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    3. Luca Salvati & Margherita Carlucci & Efstathios Grigoriadis & Francesco Maria Chelli, 2018. "Uneven dispersion or adaptive polycentrism? Urban expansion, population dynamics and employment growth in an ‘ordinary’ city," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 38(1), pages 1-25, February.
    4. Paola Bertolini & Enrico Giovanetti & Francesco Pagliacci, 2011. "Regional Patterns in the Achievement of the Lisbon Strategy: a Comparison Between Polycentric Regions and Monocentric Ones," Department of Economics 0664, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    5. Antonio TACHE & Monica Tache & Sorin Daniel MANOLE, 2016. "Polycentricity functional analysis of the Romanian counties," Romanian Statistical Review Supplement, Romanian Statistical Review, vol. 64(6), pages 20-36, june.
    6. Paolo Veneri, 2010. "Urban Polycentricity and the Costs of Commuting: Evidence from Italian Metropolitan Areas," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(3), pages 403-429, September.
    7. Liang Zhang & Linlin Zhang & Xue Liu, 2022. "Evaluation of Urban Spatial Growth Performance from the Perspective of a Polycentric City: A Case Study of Hangzhou," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-20, July.
    8. Martijn Burger & Evert Meijers, 2012. "Form Follows Function? Linking Morphological and Functional Polycentricity," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(5), pages 1127-1149, April.
    9. Wenzheng Li & Stephan Schmidt & Stefan Siedentop, 2024. "Can polycentric urban development simultaneously achieve both economic growth and regional equity? A multi-scale analysis of German regions," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 56(2), pages 525-545, March.
    10. Evert Meijers, 2008. "Summing Small Cities Does Not Make a Large City: Polycentric Urban Regions and the Provision of Cultural, Leisure and Sports Amenities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 45(11), pages 2323-2342, October.
    11. Sabrina Iommi, 2013. "Polycentric Patterns and Housing Affordability: Does a Relationship Exist?," SCIENZE REGIONALI, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2013(3), pages 5-22.
    12. Dina Krasnoselskaya & Venera Timiryanova, 2022. "Do polycentric patterns influence the economic performance of municipalities? Empirical evidence from Russia," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(5), pages 1201-1222, October.
    13. Antonio TACHE & Monica TACHE, 2015. "Evaluation Of Functional Urban Areas In The North-East Region," Romanian Statistical Review Supplement, Romanian Statistical Review, vol. 63(11), pages 33-50, November.
    14. Mi Ye & Ben Derudder & Lei Jiang & Freke Caset & Yingcheng Li, 2023. "The Effects of Urban Polycentricity on Particulate Matter Emissions From Vehicles: Evidence From 102 Chinese Cities," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(3), pages 135-147.
    15. Weiyang Zhang & Ben Derudder, 2019. "How sensitive are measures of polycentricity to the choice of ‘centres’? A methodological and empirical exploration," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(16), pages 3339-3357, December.
    16. Peng Ji & Lilin Yuan, 2023. "Whether polycentric spatial structure is conducive to regional coordinated development: A study on urban agglomerations in China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 940-961, December.
    17. Vassilis Monastiriotis & George Petrakos, 2009. "Local Sustainable Development and Spatial Cohesion in the Post-transition Balkans: in search of a developmental model," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 29, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    18. Volgmann, Kati, 2012. "Neue Kerne in metropolitanen Räumen: Polyzentrische Strukturen und Funktionen im Metropolraum Rhein-Ruhr," Arbeitsberichte der ARL: Aufsätze, in: Growe, Anna & Heider, Katharina & Lamker, Christian & Paßlick, Sandra & Terfrüchte, Thomas (ed.), Polyzentrale Stadtregionen - Die Region als planerischer Handlungsraum, volume 3, pages 203-216, ARL – Akademie für Raumentwicklung in der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    polycentric development; regional disparities; cohesion jel classification codes: r11; r12; o18;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure

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