The Functional Region

Alvin SimmsDept. of Geography

The Functional Region

• The functional region, is a region defined exclusively from human activity!

Interactions and Functional RegionsInteractions and Functional Regions

Identify how people , business and public services interact within rural or urban areas.

How does this interaction affect travel patterns?

Analysis of interactions provide insight to distribution of economic activities and social services!

This type of analysis can reveal inequalities in the distribution of services, industries or resources.

Interaction and Distance Relationships Help Define Functional Region Boundaries

What Are Functional Regions?

Analysis of interactions represents a functional approach to regional planning!

Functional regions and interactions amongst communities ignore administrative boundaries

A functional region is a complex structure of communities and linkages …

where there may exist a dominant community (centre) through which a majority of interactions flow.

Also interested in lower order centres!

Economic Zones

Paradigms of the Dominant Centre

The Walter Christaller Model.

• According to this model, a dominance relationship is established between several orders of the hierarchy.

• This relationship implies that a centre of a lower order must rely on a centre of higher order for goods and services not being supplied.

Paradigms of the Dominant Centre:The Alan Pred Model.

• Adaptation of Christaller’s model by Pred provided more flexibility.

• The hierarchical structure becomes less rigid, but more complex.

• In this instance centres of the same order are not necessarily of the same hierarchical level.

• This indicates that some centres offer more diversified goods and services than other centres, even if they are of the same size.

Paradigms of the Dominant Centre:The Alan Pred Model

Interdependency implies that central places can exchange

similar goods and services.

Complementarity enables several centres of a similar order

to specialize in specific activities and supply themselves in

goods and services they do not have from other centres.

The Classic Centre-Periphery Interaction ModelIs it appropriate for Newfoundland & Labrador?

Centre Periphery

ScarceLabour

AbundantCapital

AbundantLabourFlow of people, materials

and products created by demand for services

Demands for goods/services yields payments and interactions between centre and periphery

Shortage of labour in centre creates stimulus for labour flows/migration from periphery

Supply of labour from periphery will create labourshortage in periphery and raise wages and incomes

AdequateCapital

AdequateLabour

Capital flows to peripheryScarceCapital

Functional Regions

Dominant centres tend to reflect the centralization of economies and public services

Within a region dominant centres can shift due to changing economic circumstances.

Communities that make up the functional region, other than the dominant centre, become residential rather than employment centres.

The geographical extent of functional regions are both temporally and spatially dynamic!

Investigated Network or Interactions Between Communities

Investigated Network or Interactions Between Communities

A methodology for identifying functional regions

Set Factor (s)LabourHealthPublic/Private ServicesEconomic Linkages

Evaluate links and interactionaccording to factor classes

Extract patterns and identify functional regions and centres

Analyze characteristics and viability of functional regions

[1] Decision support information!

[2] Implications for policy and governance!

Interregional flows stimulated by growth of a townSource: Adapted from Barkley, Henry and Bao (1996)

Firms in the innovative or growingstage of product life cycle locate in town to benefit from agglomeration economies, markets and specialized labour

Firms in mature stage ofproduct life cycle locate inrural areas to take advantageof low wages and land costs

Firms and/or employment

Rural residents migrate to town forbetter access to employment and urban lifestyle

Rural labour commutes totown for employment.

Urban families relocate torural residences because oflower housing costs andperceived higher quality of life

People

Spending in rural markets declines due to increased competition from town producers

Town growth providesexpanding market for rural producers

Spendingon goods& services

Negative effect on peripheryPositive effect on peripheryFlow Type

Interregional flows stimulated by growth of a townSource: Adapted from Barkley, Henry and Bao (1996)

Rural to town migration is selective of the better educated and more highly skilled rural residents

Town centres are the generators and diffusers of information and Innovation for surrounding rural areas.

Social attitudes in rural areas are transformed by the "demonstration effects" of expanding markets in the town

Knowledge and

technology

Rural funds are invested in towns to take advantage of relatively rapidly growing goods and services markets

Funds of town residents are invested in rural areas to take advantage of relatively low labour and land costs

Investment funds

Flow Type Positive effect on periphery Negative effect on periphery

Expanding "grey" spending power attracted to rural areas by high quality environments

Attraction of urban locations for younger time-poor/money rich households to dominant centres

A new demographicprofile

Spread of knowledge , culture and business networks across province

Strong spatial clustering of innovation dynamics within cities

Dynamics of innovation and learning

Improvements in communication infrastructures reduces friction of distance

Drive for economic diversification in all areas.

Benefits arising from spatial economic clustering and strong economicinfrastructures.

Changing patterns ofeconomicactivities

Tendencies to spatial dispersalTendencies to spatial

agglomerationIntegrating and mediating forces

Dynamics of changing functional regional boundaries: The role of integrating and mediating forces

Dynamics of changing functional regional boundaries: The role of integrating and mediating forces

Transformation of capacity easier under smaller jurisdictions.

Strategic planning with a spatial focus easier in large agglomerations

Government and policy making

Promotes the discovery of nature and the importance of preserving rural cultural inheritance

Encourages use of resources within existing agglomerations

Environmental sustainability

Search for locales which foster the expression of identify

Ability in urban areas to foster multiple identities

New bases for culture, identity and citizenship

Urban values increasingly widespread.

Attraction of nature and rurality and avoidance of urban tensions

Attraction of urban lifestyles and socio-spatial concentration of similar lifestyle groups

Social change and differentiating lifestyles

Integrating and Mediating Forces

Tendencies to spatial agglomeration

Tendencies to spatial dispersal

Functional Regions Study

Generally functional regions are defined by a single interaction, such as labour flows!

Current research examining multiple interactions (e.g. health, other government services, private services, etc.)

Analysis will identify overlaps or gaps between different functional regions.

Analysis will identify the role and function of communities within the regions as will as their relationship with dominant centres.

Analysis of socio-economic and demographic characteristics will help determine both the viability of the functional region and the communities that make up the region.