Influencing Variables on Urban Spatial Structure in Metropolitan Regions; a Study in the Contemporary Theoretical Approaches and Practices

ABSTRACT: Metropolitan regions as a result of the steady stream of urbanization in industrial period which have occurred during 20th century, become the engine of countries growth and development. In the process of formation and development in these areas, spatial structuring that define through two elements of population and activity with the communication structure interacting between them, has been effective on the overall performance and the characteristics of spatial structure in metropolitan regions. The main goal of this research is to study the most important factors influencing the trends in the spatial structure of metropolitan regions. Through studying the various theories and also the contemplation of metropolitan region samples in developed and developing countries, it is hoped that a better and deeper understanding of total trends of spatial changing will be reached. Besides the main reasons influencing these trends can be identified. The research method is comparative-analytical, and the study is done by the help of recent literature analysis and review on the spatial structure of metropolitan regions. Results show that in a general, metropolitan regions in developing countries have similar trends in their structure, but with time delay more than developed western examples. Moreover the four major factors: communication infrastructure, economic globalization, decentralization and more effective communication between agencies and companies have had the most influence on the spatial processes and changes.