Beyond Polycentricity: The Dispersed Metropolis, Los Angeles, 1970-1990

Abstract

This paper examines the distribution of employment among subcenters in the Los Angeles metropolitan region in 1970, 1980, and 1990, defined in terms of trip generation rates rather than employment densities. The results show that the number of subcenters declined from each analysis year to the next, and that the proportion of regional jobs in all subcenters is small and fell from year to year, even when the number of subcenters is held constant (i.e., 1970 subcenters, 1980 subcenters, or 1990 subcenters). The results suggest that the Los Angeles region may be more accurately described as a dispersed than as a polycentric metropolis.