Changes in the Coincidence of the Boundaries and Populations of Central Cities

Several factors are investigated that affect the use of annexation by central cities of Urbanized Areas to retain decentralized populations. A multi-variate model of the responses of central cities to over- and underboundedness is presented and evaluated. Two distinct patterns were suggested by the model, one for cities experiencing significant levels of annexation and the other for cities whose response to decentralization did not include annexation. The results suggest that expected predictors (e.g., central city density, extent of suburbanization, credit) of the extent to which cities recoup their dispersing populations do affect changes in boundary coincidence through their influence on both annexation and the level of out-movement.

Duke Scholars

Author Kenneth G. Manton Trinity College of Arts & Sciences