City-regional demographic composition and the fortunes of regional second cities

This paper asks whether meaningful differentiations between small and medium-sized cities – “regional second cities” – can be constructed based on their demographic composition, and how these cities differ among each other and from core cities. We investigate 64 regional second cities in eight British city-regions, based on the demographic...

Localising urbanisation trajectories: comparing the emergence of second-tier urban regions in Europe 1890-2011

This paper compares the emergence of urban regions around European second-tier cities based on population data between 1890 and 2011. It asks whether a characteristic trajectory of formation exists for those urban regions distinguishing them from the centrifugal growth typical of the early expansion stages of larger cities. The results are...

Secondary Yet Metropolitan? The Challenges of Metropolitan Integration for Second-Tier Cities

This paper discusses whether the areas where metropolitan integration can be beneficial for cities in general corresponds to the typical areas of disadvantage of many second-tier cities in Europe, and explores the implications of that convergence. Metropolitan integration entails functional, institutional and symbolic dimensions, whose...

Contrasts between first-tier and second-tier cities in Europe: a functional perspective

Second-tier cities have been experiencing renewed interest within policy and research contexts, which is reversing a tradition of relative neglect due to the long-standing focus on large cities and capitals. This paper compares European second-tier and first-tier cities with regard to the presence of urban functions and how these are spread over...

Overcoming barriers to institutional integration in European second-tier urban regions

Within the debates about the socio-economic advantages of cohesive urban regions, several barriers to institutional integration are said to exist, especially when a metropolitan government is absent and integration relies on inter-municipal cooperation. Some barriers are associated with different urban region structures, such as the...