Spatial-functional patterns in the European urban system: metropolitan functions in small and medium-sized towns

The paper deals with spatial-functional patterns in the European urban system. Special attention is paid to metropolitan functions in small and medium-sized towns. Based on the assumption that metropolitan functions can also be found outside large cities, the location of metropolitan functions in three town size classes (small towns, small medium-sized towns and large towns) is examined. The results confirm the assumption that settlement size and the location of metropolitan functions are positively related: the larger the town or city, the stronger the metropolitan functions. The range of metropolitan functions is also more extensive in medium-sized towns than in small towns. In addition to the size of the town or city, its location also influences the expression of metropolitan functions. In small and medium-sized towns in spatial proximity to large urban centres, some functions can benefit from the spatial proximity to a large market and thus accommodate functions that would be expected in larger cities instead of in small and medium-sized towns. These borrowing-size effects can be observed for the two metropolitan subfunctions science and transport.