Metropolis and Region

"What kinds of economic activities are performed in and around the large cities of the United States? The authors of this extensive monograph attempt to provide an answer. Working with the elementary notion that a city exists through a series of exchange-or input-output-relations with other cities and non-urban areas, the authors construct a functional classification of large cities. In the process they summarize much of the literature on the subject of location and provide any new analyses of existing bodies of data. This monograph … represents a major contribution to our knowledge of regional economics. Massive compendia of data are rarely exciting. Yet many of them prove to be extremely valuable, both as reference works and as starting points for further research. This monograph should be no exception." – Theodore R. Anderson, State University of Iowa