Delineation of the urban influence area using the multi-criteria assessment method. the case of focşani city, romania

Abstract

The delineation of urban influence area has been analysed since the beginning of the 19th century and has also attracted the interest of specialists in the current period, as a result of the socioeconomic changes that have a strong impact on the evolution of urban agglomerations. The importance of delineating influence areas results from the need to quantify the polarization degree of cities and the extent to which they influence adjacent territories. The aim of this study is to delineate the influence area of Focşani city, a secondranked urban centre and the seat of Vrancea county. The main hypothesis of this paper is that Focşani city is able to structure the urban and rural surrounding areas through the influence and power of attraction it exerts on them. Authors use two comparative methods to delineate the influence area both theoretically (applying the Reilly-Converse formula) and empirically on the basis of a dynamic and comprehensive analysis using a set of key criteria: transport systems, economic, demographic, social and cultural aspects. Based on specific indicators for each of these criteria, authors analyse several data series (2002-2017) to identify transport areas, social and cultural areas, supply area, etc. Individualizing each influence area and overlapping them using GIS techniques led to the delineation of the influence area of Focşani city. Taking into consideration the intensity of territorial relationships established between Focşani city and the other settlements within Vrancea County, we identified that the influence area could be divided into three areas of primary, secondary and tertiary importance. The comparative analysis of the different indicators revealed, as a main conclusion, that Focşani city has influence on the entire territory of Vrancea County.