Metropolitan structure analysis by detection of employment subcentres: the case of Bogotá

Abstract

Bogotá, Capital of Colombia, is one of the largest and most influential cities in Latin America, and certainly, the most productive urban agglomeration throughout the country concentrating much of its population, employment and tertiary sector in a wide variety of services. The aim of this study is to analyze the urban structure of Bogotá at the metropolitan level from the perspective of employment density and commuting. For this purpose were applied methods of employment density peaks, reference thresholds, parametric functions and a functional method of interaction value for the detection of sub-centers and further characterization of the metropolitan structure. It was found a high degree of monocentrism and were detected two urban systems; one that brings together the whole territory of the capital and absorbs 12 neighboring municipalities, which gravitates around a 11 kilometers corridor on the eastern side of the main town; and another of smaller proportion, consisting of five municipalities at the west of the capital, that nevertheless, presents high capacity to retain its resident employed population and works as an independent piece of the central city