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A Tale of Four Cities: Intrametropolitan Employment Distribution in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Ottawa – Hull, 1981 – 1996

Author

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  • Richard Shearmur

    (INRS-Urbanisation, 3465 Durocher, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2X 2C6)

  • William J Coffey

    (Université de Montréal, CP 6128, Succ. CV, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3C 3J7)

Abstract

Since the late 1980s there has been considerable interest in the intrametropolitan location of economic activity. A growing number of studies examine in detail the spatial structure of particular metropolitan areas, or present comparisons at a relatively aggregated spatial and sectoral level. From these studies, certain authors have deduced a general pattern of metropolitan spatial development—one involving the suburbanisation of economic activity and the weakening of the central business district. The scarcity of comparable data covering different cities renders these generalisations somewhat tentative, however. In this paper we use a unique database to compare the spatial structures, and their evolution over time, for the four largest Canadian metropolitan areas: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Ottawa – Hull. These data allow highly disaggregated spatial (census-tract level) and sectoral (thirty economic sectors) analyses. The results, which illustrate the existence of three distinct patterns of development amongst these four metropolitan areas, call into question the existence of a single model. In doing so they also raise a series of questions regarding possible explanations for these differences.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Shearmur & William J Coffey, 2002. "A Tale of Four Cities: Intrametropolitan Employment Distribution in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Ottawa – Hull, 1981 – 1996," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 34(4), pages 575-598, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:34:y:2002:i:4:p:575-598
    DOI: 10.1068/a33214
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    1. Benjamin Duquet & Cédric Brunelle, 2020. "Subcentres as Destinations: Job Decentralization, Polycentricity, and the Sustainability of Commuting Patterns in Canadian Metropolitan Areas, 1996–2016," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-25, November.
    2. Amaya Vega & Aisling Reynolds-Feighan, 2008. "Employment Sub-centres and Travel-to-Work Mode Choice in the Dublin Region," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 45(9), pages 1747-1768, August.
    3. Jaume Masip Tresserra, 2012. "Identifying the Employment and Population Centers at regional and metropolitan scale: The Case of Catalonia and Barcelona," ERSA conference papers ersa12p70, European Regional Science Association.
    4. Rachel Guillain & Julie Le Gallo & Céline Boiteux-Orain, 2004. "The evolution of the spatial and sectoral patterns in Ile-de-France over 1978-1997," ERSA conference papers ersa04p59, European Regional Science Association.
    5. Markus Moos & Andrejs Skaburskis, 2007. "The Characteristics and Location of Home Workers in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(9), pages 1781-1808, August.
    6. Paolo Veneri, 2018. "Urban spatial structure in OECD cities: Is urban population decentralising or clustering?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 97(4), pages 1355-1374, November.
    7. Andrew Robert Watkins, 2009. "The Dynamics of Urban Economies: Melbourne 1971 to 2006," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 46(8), pages 1553-1576, July.
    8. Ron Buliung & Randy Bui & Ryan Lanyon, 2012. "When the internet is not enough: toward an understanding of carpool services for service workers," Transportation, Springer, vol. 39(5), pages 877-893, September.
    9. Muñiz, Ivan & Sánchez, Vania, 2018. "Urban Spatial Form and Structure and Greenhouse-gas Emissions From Commuting in the Metropolitan Zone of Mexico Valley," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 353-364.
    10. Legrain, Alexander & Buliung, Ron & El-Geneidy, Ahmed M., 2016. "Travelling fair: Targeting equitable transit by understanding job location, sectorial concentration, and transit use among low-wage workers," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1-11.
    11. Arauzo Carod, Josep Maria, 2015. "Agglomeration vs. dispersion of economic activities in the districts of Paris," Working Papers 2072/246965, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    12. Jaume Masip Tresserra, 2012. "Does Employment Density death? Towards a new integrated methodology to identify and characterize Sub-Centres," ERSA conference papers ersa12p71, European Regional Science Association.
    13. Cats, Oded & Wang, Qian & Zhao, Yu, 2015. "Identification and classification of public transport activity centres in Stockholm using passenger flows data," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 10-22.
    14. Ahmed El-Geneidy & Ron Buliung & Ehab Diab & Dea van Lierop & Myriam Langlois & Alexander Legrain, 2016. "Non-stop equity: Assessing daily intersections between transit accessibility and social disparity across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA)," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 43(3), pages 540-560, May.
    15. BOITEUX-ORAIN, Céline & GUILLAIN, Rachel, 2003. "Changes in the intra-metropolitan location of producer services in Ile-De-France (1978-1997): do information technologies promote a more dispersed spatial pattern," LEG - Document de travail - Economie 2003-06, LEG, Laboratoire d'Economie et de Gestion, CNRS, Université de Bourgogne.
    16. Rachel Guillain & Julie Le Gallo & Celine Boiteux-Orain, 2006. "Changes in Spatial and Sectoral Patterns of Employment in Ile-de-France, 1978-97," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 43(11), pages 2075-2098, October.
    17. Ali Durmuş & Sevkiye Sence Turk, 2014. "Factors Influencing Location Selection of Warehouses at the Intra-Urban Level: Istanbul Case," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 268-292, February.
    18. Carlos Marmolejo Duarte & Carlos Aguirre Nuñez & Eduardo Chica Mejia & Claudia Perez Prieto & Jaume Masip Tresserra, 2011. "Polycentrism in the Spanish metropolitan system: an analysis for 7 metro areas," ERSA conference papers ersa11p119, European Regional Science Association.
    19. Paolo VENERI, 2010. "The Identification of Sub-centres in Two Italian Metropolitan Areas: a Functional Approach," Working Papers 343, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    20. Sider, Timothy & Alam, Ahsan & Zukari, Mohamad & Dugum, Hussam & Goldstein, Nathan & Eluru, Naveen & Hatzopoulou, Marianne, 2013. "Land-use and socio-economics as determinants of traffic emissions and individual exposure to air pollution," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 230-239.
    21. Breandan Ó hUallacháin & Timothy F. Leslie, 2007. "Producer Services in the Urban Core and Suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(8), pages 1581-1601, July.
    22. Josep Roca Cladera & Carlos R. Marmolejo Duarte & Montserrat Moix, 2009. "Urban Structure and Polycentrism: Towards a Redefinition of the Sub-centre Concept," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 46(13), pages 2841-2868, December.
    23. Zeynep Elburz & Vedia Dokmeci, 2012. "The Spatial Distribution Of Fire Services In Izmir," ERSA conference papers ersa12p1014, European Regional Science Association.

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