The Urban Condition of Metropolitan Regions - Mapping Complex and Non- Discrete Attributes of the Territory at a Regional Scale

Abstract

Facing the growing importance of metropolitan regions in structuring socio-productive relations in the territory, it is crucial to accurately map their structure and extension, as starting point for the development of social, productive and environmental policies that are more sustainable, inclusive and efficient. For practical purposes, the analyzes usually delimit the urban systems in the territory according to political or administrative criteria. However, these delimitations do not usually have a direct correlation with the metropolitan structure: the urban condition of a territory reflects complex, multi-dimensional and multi-scalar historical socio-environmental processes that (re)produce the urban landscape. This urban condition is usually defined by the levels of creative synergy (also called synecism by some authors) that are direct function of attributes such as population density, population diversity and integration, and the intensity of encounters/exchanges (of goods, information, ideas) between them, as well as the ability to sustain those over time in the territory. However, these attributes are not very specific; this favors the use of qualitative, non-standard and discretionary indicators, chosen according to circumstantial objectives or information availability. This makes it difficult to carry out comparative and historical studies; but it also hinders the (co)construction of knowledge by integrating data from different methodological perspectives, contributions from different disciplines, and makes it very difficult to (re)constructing the object of study through successive approaches that address the many dimensions in which urbanization manifests itself. I propose to move towards a comprehensive and verifiable assessment of the urban condition at a regional scale, taking advantage of GIS to process data from standardized indicators, and to explore the socio-spatial dimension of urbanization to mapping accurately the levels of urban condition in a metropolitan region. In this instance, I present the results obtained for the Metropolitan Region of Córdoba (Argentina): the Multi-criteria Matrix approach allows integrating normalized indicators that are not directly comparable (population density, socioeconomic diversity and integration, availability of meeting and exchange spaces, connectivity of people trough mobility networks, etc.). The visualization of the results through GIS allows complex readings of multiple layers of information, integrating them in single-band images or as multiple stacked layers that shows each of the dimensions of the urban condition in the territory with great level of detail: even when the analysis covers a region of thousands of hectares, the minimum unit of information is 30 x 30 m. Due to the latter, the procedure can be applied at the neighborhood, local, regional or national scale, and allows direct comparisons between different urban systems, or historical studies in a particular case. As a result, not only the true extension of the metropolitan territory is made visible, but also the different levels of intensity of the urban condition in the territory. This highlights the profound inequalities present in local urban systems, but also reveals the existing potential of the territory to increase the quality of life of more and more people.