THE INDUSTRIAL COMPOSITION OF EDGE CITIES AND DOWNTOWNS - THE NEW URBAN REALITY

This article reports on research examining the industrial composition of edge cities in Ohio and their downtowns. Using the definition of ed ge cities devised by Joel Garreau, the authors identified 26 edge citi es and near-edge cities in Ohio. The research finds that Ohio edge cit ies are far more economically diverse places than was hypothesized, th at they tend to be highly specialized in terms of their industrial str uctures, and that they do not resemble the downtowns that they surroun d. The authors hold that edge cities have replaced a segment of downto wns, which are now only one component of specialized regional economic landscapes.