de Goei, B., Burger, M., Van Oort, FrankG. and Kitson, M. (2010). Functional polycentrism and urban network development in the Greater South East UK: Evidence from commuting patterns, 1981-2001 Regional Studies, 44(9):1149--1170.

In contemporary literature on changing urban systems, it is often argued that the traditional central place conceptualization is outdated and should be replaced by a network view that emphasizes the increasing criss-crossing pattern of interdependencies between spatial units. This paper tests how urban networks develop by looking at commuting patterns in the Greater South East, United Kingdom, for the period 1981–2001. Although the empirical results indicate that the Greater South East cannot be currently characterized as a polycentric urban region or an integrated urban network, there is some evidence for urban network development at the local, intra-urban, level, and a decentralization of the system at the regional, inter-urban, level.