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This case study illustrates that some Canadian cities are not as compact and centralized as conventional wisdom would have us believe. The spatial structure of Kitchener CMA is shown to be 'dispersed' based on empirical trends towards lower population densities, outward spreading of jobs, retailing and other activities, CBD decline, increased open space, a transportation system that is singularly dependent on auto use, and an overriding demand for residential settings deemed to be 'private' and 'rural-like'. The paper acknowledges factors unique to the case study locale that have precipitated dispersed city form. It argues that some other Canadian cities can be expected to share fundamental features of Kitchener's dispersed city form, most notably metropolitan areas that amalgamate two or more historically autonomous cities, but also smaller metropolitan areas and/or ones specialized in manufacturing industry. As regards Canadian cities in general, the paper also makes the point that most parts of all cities built since World War II are primarily dispersed in form. Conceptually, this paper explains dispersion as a change in balance between three sets of factors - 'space', 'proximity'; and 'place'that configure in the locational decision making that underlies urban development.
Key words: city form, decentralization, dispersion, space, proximity, place, urban development
Cette tude de cas revele l'existence dune plus grande dispersion urbaine au Canada quon ne le laisse gdnralement entendre. Plusieurs facteurs rendent compte du fort niveau de dispersion de la structure spatiale de la region metropolitaine de Kitchener : densite residentielle en decroissance, mouvement de l'emploi ainsi que des activites commerciales et autres vers la peripherie, quantite grandissante d'espaces verts, un systeme de transport oriente presqu'exlusivement vers Vautomobile et une predilection pour les secteurs residenties qui offrent de grandes quantites despace prive ainsi qu'une proximite de la campagne. Cet article attritue la dispersion urbaine de Kitchener a certains facteurs qui sont propres a cette agglomeration. Il soutient egalement la these selon laquelle d'autres regions metropolitaines canadiennes partagent les caracteristiques de Kitchener qui en font une agglomeration dispersee. Ceci est le cas notamment des agglomerations qui resultent d'une fusion de plusieurs centres, de celles qui sont de petite et de moyenne taille et, enfin, de celles ou le secteur manufacturier joue un grand role. L'article maintient aussi que dans, toutes les agglomerations...