PHOENIX EDGE CITY ANALYSISDaniel J. Christen

ABOUT EDGE CITIES

The term “edge city” was first used by Joel Garreau in his book Edge City: Life On the New Frontier, written in 1991.

Edge cities are defined as “satellite” centers of employment and shopping located away from the CBD of a city.

The monocentric model poorly explains their character; thus other models that explain polycentric behavior are needed.

OTHER EDGE CITY ANALYSES

Scheer and Petkov, 1998 – Looked at the physical landscape of various cities (qualitative approach)

Redfearn, 2007 – Looked at employment centers by local regression

Suarez and Delgado, 2007 – Looked at density gradients, as well as trip attraction flows

Adolphson, 2009 – Looked at floor area ratio (FAR) and levels of surrounding accessibility

Yue, Liu, and Fan, 2009 – Looked at land-use patterns within cities

METHODOLOGY Identify edge cities based on

five criteria developed by Joel Garreau. Edge cities must meet all criteria.

Compare 1990 and 2007 data for the Phoenix metropolitan area.

Square footage is based on employment figures within particular industries. One retail employee equals 945 square feet of retail space, while one office employee equals 387 square feet of office space.

Buffers were used to include all census tracts within a half-mile distance from dominant tracts in order to not underestimate edge city limits.

RULE 1: “IS PERCEIVED BY THE POPULATION AS ONE PLACE”

RULE 2: “WAS NOTHING LIKE A CITY AS RECENTLY AS THIRTY

YEARS AGO”

10 Mile Radius

20 Mile Radius

PHOENIX 1955

PHOENIX 1995

RULE 3: “HAS MORE JOBS THAN BEDROOMS”

RULE 4: “HAS 600,000 SQUARE FEET OR MORE OF LEASABLE

RETAIL SPACE”

RULE 5: “HAS FIVE MILLION SQUARE FEET OR MORE OF LEASABLE OFFICE SPACE”

ANALYSIS RESULTS: RETAILSco

ttsd

ale

Air

park

/ K

ierl

and

Bro

adw

ay C

urv

e C

om

ple

x

Dow

nto

wn S

cott

sdale

Countr

y C

lub a

nd U

S-6

0

Ahw

atu

kee

Supers

titi

on S

pri

ngs

Mall

Bell R

oad a

nd I-1

7

Arr

ow

head T

ow

nce

nte

r M

all

Biltm

ore

Est

rella S

hoppin

g C

ente

r

Metr

oce

nte

r M

all

Lavin

e

Dow

nto

wn G

lendale

Dow

nto

wn S

urp

rise

Upto

wn P

hoenix

DO

WN

TO

WN

PH

OEN

IX

Deer

Valley

Suburb

an B

uck

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undance

Happy V

alley a

nd I-1

7

Dow

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esa

Para

dis

e V

alley M

all

East

Valley M

all (

Chandle

r)

Nort

hw

est

Bell R

oad C

orr

idor

Sun C

ity0

2,000,000

4,000,000

6,000,000

8,000,000

10,000,000

12,000,000

Retail Center Comparison between 1995 and 2007

2007 Retail SqFt 1995 Retail SqFt

ANALYSIS RESULTS: OFFICE

Sco

ttsd

ale

Air

park

/ K

ierl

and

Upto

wn P

hoenix

Bro

adw

ay C

urv

e C

om

ple

x

Biltm

ore

DO

WN

TO

WN

PH

OEN

IX

Deer

Valley

Metr

oce

nte

r M

all

Ahw

atu

kee

Dow

nto

wn S

cott

sdale

Countr

y C

lub a

nd U

S-6

0

Oco

tillo B

usi

ness

Park

Supers

titi

on S

pri

ngs

Mall

Lavin

e

Sun L

akes0

2,000,000

4,000,000

6,000,000

8,000,000

10,000,000

Office Center Comparison between 1995 and 2007

2007 Office SqFt 1995 Office SqFt

PHOENIX EDGE CITIES

CONCLUSION No “edge city” existed throughout the Phoenix

metropolitan area in 1990.

Four edge cities exist as of 2007. They include Biltmore, Uptown Phoenix, the Broadway Curve complex along I-10, and Scottsdale Airpark/Kierland.

Three other centers are close to edge city status. They include Metrocenter, Deer Valley, and Ahwatukee.

All edge cities have surpassed Downtown Phoenix in both retail space and office space.

Scottsdale Airpark/Kierland is the largest and most prominent edge city in the Phoenix metropolitan area.