Geographic clustering of firms and urban form: a multivariate analysis

This paper provides an empirical framework that applies spatial statistics methods to assess the relation between the change in the geographical clustering of firms and the emergence of urban form. We contend that where firms locate and eventually cluster give rise to the way commercial and industrial land uses are organized over space, which in turn defines the shape of urban form. Accordingly, the objectives of our work are twofold: (1) to identify the extent and shape of firm clustering and co-location at the intra-metropolitan level, and (2) examine how the change in the geographic clustering of different industries contributes to decentralization and the evolution of urban form. Spatial statistics methods and tools were vital and helped to fulfill these objectives.