Polycentrism Imposes Sprawl in the Process of Decentralizing Employment in Intermediate Mexican Cities

Abstract

Changes in the spatial structure of intermediate cities that are not integrated into a major urban system is a subject insufficiently studied, despite the high percentage of the population living in them. Various studies applied to large metropolises have found that were employment grows the most is neither in the main center nor in subcenters, but rather in sprawl areas. In this research the employment subcenter of seventeen intermediate Mexican cities are identified and delimited, in order to subsequently measure the evolution of the weight of employment in the main center, in the subcenters and in the sprawl areas between the years 2000 and 2020. The results obtained pointed out that intermediate cities, increasingly decentralized, tend mainly towards polycentricity, which presents relevant advantages in terms of territorial planning.