US SUBURBANIZATION IN THE 1980S

This paper measures and analyzes differences in rates of suburbanizati on during the 1980s among U.S. metropolitan areas which fit a monocent ric urban model. Three findings are of interest: (1) the average rate of suburbanization for U.S. metropolitan areas was the same in the 198 0s and the 1970s; (2) the monocentric urban model provides a good desc ription of population distribution for a diminishing number of urban a reas; and (3) variables that characterize the entire metropolitan area as well as those that measure disparities between the central city an d its suburban ring are important in explaining differences in rates o f decentralization. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved .