Shifting densities

Abstract

In this paper, the author adopt a time-geography approach to examine the temporal variation of urban density by analysing spatial load changes at different times of the day at the communal and community level. The evolution of means of transport coupled with the abandon of the notion of direct proximity to the urban dwelling place provide the basis for this new approach to the study of urban densities. The shift towards spatial specialisation within cities has lead to radical changes in the forms of urban mobility. In just a few generations, cities, formerly highly concentrated centres of population, have evolved into diffuse urban expanses. As a result, the intangible bonds between the dwelling place and the city have progressively disappeared giving way to a temporally-biased perception of urban space determined by existing methods of transport. Density variations have thus been used to measure urban mobility and transport requirements.