Urban and economic dipoles in Greece based on commuting

Abstract

In spatial planning, the organisation of cities into polycentric urban areas and networks has become a trend in recent years, whilst among the Greek scientific community there is talk of dipoles between medium-sized Greek cities. The primary aim of the formation and enforcement of the dipoles is the weakening to an extent of the two metropolitan centres - of Athens and Thessaloniki - and the increase of the regions' competitiveness. Despite the literature on dipoles, there is still no official definition of the notion nor a method for identifying the formation of a dipole between two cities. The present paper examines the possible function of dipoles in Greece by assessing the daily commuting flows between neighbouring cities as the determining criterion. The commuting flows between two cities suggests a daily operational relationship between them with important social, economic and environmental consequences.