Many researchers have used the density gradient from the negative exponential model to study the decentralization of population and housing units in urban areas. The density gradient is the rate of decline of density with distance from the center of the city. A decrease or flattening of the density gradient has been considered to be evidence of the decentralization of population or housing. And the density gradient has been used as a measure of the amount of centralization in an urban area that could be used to compare levels of centralization with other urban areas.
I have estimated the density gradients for 43 large urban areas for each of the census years from 1950 to 2010. And I have developed a separate, “pure” measure of centralization of housing units which I described in the previous post. I am calling this measure the centralization ratio. So this gave me the means of actually looking at the extent to which the density gradient was a good measure of centralization and decentralization.
First, I looked at changes in the density gradient over time and compared it to changes in the centralization ratio. The relationship was reasonably strong. It is appropriate to use the change in the density gradient as a measure of decentralization.
Then I looked at the relationship between the magnitudes of the density gradient and the centralization ratio at single points in time. This time, virtually no relationship. The density gradient does not work as a measure of the level of centralization in an urban area that could be used to make comparisons with other urban areas.
What gives? Why such different findings? The key lay in the fact that the density gradient is strongly inversely related to the size of an urban area. Using the density gradient to predict the centralization ratio resulted in no relationship. But add number of housing units in the urban area to the model, controlling for the size of the area, and a strong relationship emerged. And this is why the change in the density gradient works as a measure of change in centralization over time. The size of the urban area is being subtracted out when you look at the change (with the exception of any change in size over the period).
Someone committed to the idea that the density gradient is a good measure of centralization might object that I have only shown that the centralization ratio and the density gradient are different, not that one is a better measure of centralization. I think I make a good case for the use of the centralization ratio. Also, in developing the measure, I calculated other measures of centralization for a sample of a dozen areas and they were all highly correlated. And an anecdotal point: The three urban areas in my study with the highest centralization ratios were New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia. And all three had density gradients that were below the mean for the 43 large urban areas I looked at.
Urban Patterns 