ARE CENTER ACCESS ADVANTAGES WEAKENING - THE CASE OF OFFICE-COMMERCIAL MARKETS

This paper presents the first attempt to explore recent changes in off ice-commercial land value gradients within polycentric Los Angeles. Th e empirical results uncover substantial flattening in these gradients between 1989 and 1994. As such, they are consistent with conjectures t hat the recent information revolution is contributing toward the weake ning of spatial links between office-commercial activities and large b usiness centers, thereby leading to increasingly dispersed patterns of business location. Further empirical research, however, is needed to not only ascertain the continuation of observed trends but also to mor e conclusively link them to technological advances. To the extent that this research uncovers long-run, technology-induced spatial transform ations, urban spatial models may need to be revised to more accurately reflect dispersed patterns of office-commercial activity within post- industrial markets. (C) 1997 Academic Press.