In the last decade considerable empirical research on urban spatial structure has focused on the following themes: transitions from monocentric to polycentric density patterns; the formation of ‘edge cities’; polycentricity or dispersion ; the identification of employment centers; the relationship between commuting and employment sub-centres; and the application of GIS and spatial analysis to employment patterns. Equally important has been research on theoretical analyses of urban areas that deals with functional forms of polycentric density functions, the development of non-monocentric models, and how agglomeration theories underly the formation of polycentric employment centers and their configurations and characteristics.

Much of this literature is confined to North America and Europe, but the debates are also relevant to Sydney in the broader context of suburbanisation of population and employment, urban economic restructuring, emerging production spaces, equity of access to services, and urban sustainability. 

The aim of this paper is an empirical investigation of the changing spatial organization of economic activities and the functions of identified employment centres within the context of a polycentric and dispersed employment pattern.