Identifying Metropolitan Regions in Europe

1. Metropolitan Regions in Europe Dr. Karl Peter Schön Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brussels 22. September 2011 Quelles perspectives pour les métropoles en Europe? IAU Ile de France Europe

2. How to identify metropolitan regions • The ‚classical‘ geographical approach: • Preselect administrative units with „urban“ characteristics • based on population size, density, or other morphological indicators • identify larger regional units (commuting areas, cont. build-up areas), • Then add indicators for metropolitan, international, global importance • And analyse to which degree urban areas are „metropolitan“, i.e. involved in global processes NUTS ? Does pop matter? Comparable data?

3. Alternative approach • Start from (global) functions rather than territorial units: • modern societies are organised in subsystems which are based on functional specialisation • five important subsystems are: politics, economy, science, transport, culture • All these subsystems are globalizing, following their own specific (spatial) patterns. • Where are global functions located?

4. Reversed approach • Instead of asking: • „Where in Europe are the most significant concentrations of population („urban areas“) and what „metropolitan“ characteristics do these areas have?“ • we asked: • „Where in Europe are the most significant concentrations of metropolitan functions and how do they constitute a European pattern of „metropolitan areas“?“

5. Index of metropolitan functions • 5 functional areas • Politics, Economy, Science, Transport, Culture • 16 group of indicators • 38 indicators • The 38 normalised indicators are additively combined to 16 groups of indicators, these to an index for each functional area, these again combined to a summary index of metropolitan function

7. Requirements for the indicators • All 38 indicators meet the following requirements: • Cover the whole European territory (CoE) • Standard definition for all countries • Reliable unofficial statistical data • Exact geocoding of all data (LAU-2 or exact coordinates)

8. LAU-2 locations with metropolitan function • About 120.000 LAU-2 units all across Europe form the territorial reference of the analysis • On a single indicator base, 8.480 units have any metropolitan function (= 7 %)

20. Concentration of metropolitan functions • Out of 120.000 LAU-2 units • 8.480 (=7%) have any metropolitan function • The top 480 (MFI > 1) represent 78% of all MF • The top 184 (MFI > 3) represent 63% of all MF • On a country base: • Germany = 16% • UK =12% • France = 10% • Italy = 8% • Spain = 6% • These 5 together: 52% • … and the Pentagon: ~ 50%

21. Concentration of metropolitan functions • MFI index points per 1 Mio population: • Luxembourg = 55 • Switzerland =17 • Sweden = 14 • Belgium = 12 • Norway = 12 • Denmark, Austria, Netherlands = 10 (each)

23. Regionalisation by density functions • Metropolitan regions are constructed through GIS methods using density functions and travel time isochrones • Based on 60 minutes travel time by car 125 metropolitan regions can be identified.

27. Some characteristics • These resulting 125 metropolitan regions • Account for 10% of the total area • Concentrate 50% of Europe‘s population (=350 mio inh.) • And 65% of Europe‘s GDP (=8.500 bn €) • And 80% of all metropolitan functions

31. Next steps • Analyse NUTS3 – MR overlays • Estimate statistical data for MR units • Analyse structures and trends of socio-economic characteristics for metropolitan regions

33. FIRST INCOMPLETE DRAFT

34. http://www.bbsr.bund.de/cln_032/nn_147528/BBSR/EN/Publications/OnlinePublications/2011/ON012011.htmlhttp://www.bbsr.bund.de/cln_032/nn_147528/BBSR/EN/Publications/OnlinePublications/2011/ON012011.html