Espon project 143

“Study on Urban Functions»

General achievements

The partners• Lead : IGEAT (ULB), Belgium• Second partners :

– IGSO, Poland– LATTS, France– TSAC, Romania

• Period : march – october 2006

The project

• Build upon the work of project 1.1.1.

• => Recommendations for further research

• Main parts:

– Delimitation of the Functional Urban Areas (FUAs)

– Polycentricity and its performances

– Study of the Functional Specialization of the FUAs

Starting point : Espon 111 FUAs’ list.

FUA = Morphological Urban Areas (MUAs) and employment cores + Labour Pool

Strong MUA -> important factor for the performances of the FUA

Added: -> Delineation of the MUAs based on Nuts5• Density (> 650 inh./km2)

• Contiguity

• City > 20 000 inhabitants

-> Standardisation and improvement of the identification of the FUAs

• LP : municipalities that send > 10% of the active population to the core (but strong statistical difficulties)

• FUA > 50 000 inhabitants

Delimitation methodology of Functional Urban Areas

A simple FUA

But often much more complex structures

Correlation between Polycentricity and Economic growth

Economic weight and Functional specialization : a first approach

Aims for the future

• Better statistical tools and delimitations– More data needed at the NUTS-3 level (or even NUTS-4)– Systematisation of commuting data– Development of more indicators (tourism, national headquarters

pattern, scientific production, railway accessibility, weight of retired people in the economy, etc) -> a matter of time and/or data availability

– Systematisation of the frames of the Urban Audit and improvement of its statistical basis, in cooperation with Espon

• Polycentricity and sustainable development– Economic efficiency– Spatial equity– Environment issue