Deconcentration versus spatial clustering: changing population distribution in the Turku urban region, 1980–2005

Abstract

Many urban regions in developed countries have experienced major changes during the past few decades. The deconcentration trend of urban regions has been accompanied with new processes where traditional monocentric cities have been replaced by increasingly polycentric urban constellations. This study seeks to present evidence on how Finnish urban regions have developed in recent decades using the Turku urban region as an example. The results show that the Turku urban region has indeed become more polycentric when population distribution is considered. Global socio-demographic trends, the housing careers of young families and municipal planning policies were found to affect the changing population distribution. The paper is concluded by highlighting the
importance of scale in the development of Finnish urban regions. The fundamental factor in urban regional dynamics seems to be a conflict in scale, in which demographic processes influence the urban spatial structure on the regional scale whereas planning practices have predominantly effects on the municipal scale.