A new definition of the urban network of Catalonia: cohesion areas

Abstract

This article presuposes the existence of a new concept of the city. It is no longer of a focal or nodal nature but has become a functionally, conceptually and perceptionally diffuse entity. The basically self-sufficient and clearly defined city of the past has become, over a considerable period of time and to a more marked degree in recent years, a diffuse space, with much wider and, to a large extent, undefined limits.
Bearing this in mind, the main objective was to determine the size (define the limits) of this new city. In general terms, the basic and principal parametre which can be used to delimit the city -diffuse or real cities or urban areas- is the daily work mobility.
The Census questionnaire of 1981 and the Population Register of 1986 were used as data sources. The parametre chosen to interpret the relationship between residence and place of work was the origin-destination and destination-origin relationship established between two municipalities. Once an extreme value was determined, the concept of cohesion was defined.
Many of the true cities defined through the work diplacement parametres possess other urban attributes which reinforce their roles as foci/instigators of regional dynamics and as structured cities. Proof of this fact is offered through a comparison of the results of the cohesion model and the results of different studies which analyse the urban network of Catalonia.