New ways of life: is polycentrism tackling dispersal in Mediterranean metropolises?: a first approach

Abstract

Metropolization has become the prevailing way of life in a world where 53% of its population lives in cities. Nevertheless, urban expansion has followed different models beyond suburbs and sprawl, in metropolises where CBDs do not more over score on the concentration of neither population nor employment. This paper explores how life organizes in polycentric metropolises. Using time-density analysis multiple-purpose subcentre has been detected in Barcelona’s metro area. Results suggest that 70% of time used out of home by inhabitants is spent in time-dense subcentres, so such nodes do have an important paper in the structuration of urban life in contemporary metropolises. According to multiple regression models time-density in Barcelona’s area is basically explained by the absence of suburb-like neighborhoods and the diversity of economic activities, at the time that street-level retail and cultural facilities (e.g. art galleries, museums, etc.) reinforce the temporal use of urbanized land. At Spain level, with exception of Zaragoza, all the remaining 6 main metropolitan areas show a polycentric nature coexisting with a still important CBD. These findings may improve the 2050 and beyond design agenda for regional and urban planning.