Defining the centers of labor in urban area: Example of Belgrade

Abstract

Simplifying city organization and its a priori reduction on one urban center, leads potentially toward series of wrong conclusions. Followers of monocentrism base their starting points on the fact that central business city zone mostly remains the dominant center of labor although its relative significance is falling. That is why, for example, urban dispersion is still being defined on relatively simple parametric models, based on one gradient of density in relation to central business zone (here the gradient of density represents the unit of dispersion). However, conclusion on city dispersion based on such an approach may result from wrongly formulated model-mono-centric model in really existing polycentric urban context. Thus, the explanation for the existing gradient of density of working places may be their larger concentrations within sub centers located out of the central business zone (while the significance of the central business zone is falling, it may happen that the total aggregate concentration of working places is getting larger).

Pojednostavljivanje organizacije grada i njeno a priori svođenje na jedan urbani centar, potencijalno vodi nizu pogrešnih zaključaka. Pristalice monocentrizma svoje polazište baziraju na činjenici da, iako njen relativni značaj opada, centralna poslovna zona grada u većini slučajeva ostaje dominantan centar rada. Zato se urbana disperzija i danas često definiše relativno jednostavnim parametarskim modelima, zasnovanim na jednom gradijentu gustine u odnosu na centralnu poslovnu zonu (gradijent gustine ovde predstavlja meru disperzije). Međutim, zaključak o disperznosti grada zasnovan na ovakvom pristupu može proisticati iz pogrešno formulisanog modela - monocentričnog modela u realno postojećem policentričnom urbanom kontekstu. Tako, objašnjenje za postojeći gradijent gustine radnih mesta, mogu biti njihove veće koncentracije unutar subcentara lociranih izvan centralne poslovne zone (dok značaj centralne poslovne zone opada, može se dogoditi da je ukupna agregatna koncentracija radnih mesta veća).