Metropolitan Urban Planning

For several centuries a trend toward concentration of activity and population in relatively few urban centers has been observed. This trend has been generally accelerating and spreading from the “developed” to the “developing” countries. For at least a century this centripetal trend has been supplemented by a centrifugal trend from urban centers to their [surroundings]. The resulting new form of human settlement has been recognized as a “Metropolitan Area” by the Census of the U.S.A., and under the same or another name, by many other countries. The Metropolitan Area is essentially defined as a commuter watershed, constituting a common labor and housing market. It has long been recognized that such a concentration leads to a substantial increase of activities and population well beyond its boundaries, up to a travel distance of about two hours from its center. Hans Blumenfeld, “Where Did All the Metropolitanites Go?” Personal Communication , March, 1982.