Identification and classification of urban centers based on public transport passenger flows data

Abstract

Urban regions worldwide tend to evolve from monocentric to a more complex distribution of activities. Measuring urban structures is thus essential for supporting an evidence-based spatial planning policy. This paper presents a methodology to identify and classify urban centres based on automatic transport flow data. Urban activity centres are identified based on the spatial distribution of travel flows. Urban centres are then classified and characterized based on the temporal distributions of incoming and outgoing flows, postulating that urban structure and the spatial distribution of activities are manifested in distinctive travel patterns throughout the day. The twostage methodology was applied to Metropolitan Stockholm in Sweden using multi-modal public transport passenger flows. Stockholm was known for its long-term monocentric planning with a dominant central core and radial public transport system. Although the regional planning policy embraces a shift towards a polycentric planning policy, the results indicate that this has not been realized insofar.