An integrated approach of gravity modelling and spatial planning: the example of US megaregions

ABSTRACT

Many theoretical works aim to describe the spatial structure of the US, where spatial relations have undergone continuous change. The authors describe the economic spatial structure of the US through bidimensional regression analysis based on a gravity model. The spatial image of megaregions can be examined by can be examined through comparison with the authors' practical results. To what extent does the structure of the economic space justify megaregional delimitations? The most important economic spatial structural changes between 2001 and 2020 have also been identified. Moreover, the forces behind changes, which are seen as potential for development, are examined. Our goal is not to create and present a new model that overwrites the existing ones, but rather to contribute to deeper understanding of the US economic spatial structure and its relation to megaregions through a new methodological approach.

KEYWORDS:

• US
• megaregions
• gravity model

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 https://www.bea.gov/

2 The forces affecting the border regions could, of course, be taken into account, but we did not have Mexican and Canadian GDP data that could be compared with the US data.

3 http://www.spatial-modelling.info/Darcy-2-module-decomparaison

4 The program is suitable for plotting the directions of displacement with arrows, but their presentation is omitted due to the opacity resulting from the large number of arrows.