Regional Interaction
In the most general terms, a regional urban system may be defined as any network of interdependent urban places. Rank-Size-Rule states that any significant change in one city will have consequences for other cities in the system. Individual cities can rise or fall in the rankings: what endures are the relations, hierarchies, and the system. In explanations for urban system stability as a result of regional interaction, we are presented with an empirical regularity that has been observed and debated for more than half a century. On one side are theorists who generally emphasize the order, regularity, symmetry, and predictability of the empirical relationships. On the other side are those who emphasize unique circumstances, historical context, and regional contingency.
Western North Carolina Characteristics
A short drive from most major U.S. markets, and with commercial air service direct to Asheville Regional Airport, the Western North Carolina region is home to some of the finest resorts, golf courses, spas, scenery, festivals and attractions in the world. The region, which is bordered by southwest Virginia, eastern Tennessee, northeast Georgia, and upstate South Carolina, is in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
With its central East Coast location and excellent transportation network, Western North Carolina is approximately equidistant to Chicago, New York, Tampa and New Orleans, and the Great Lakes, Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico are all within 500 miles. Seventy five percent of the United States population is within a day’s drive of Western North Carolina.
The landscape in this region boasts the highest mountain (Mount Mitchell), deepest gorge (Linville Gorge) and highest waterfall (Whitewater Falls) in the eastern United States; the oldest river in North America (New River); and the two most visited National Park lands in the country (the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Great Smoky Mountain National Park).
With its central East Coast location and excellent transportation network, Western North Carolina is approximately equidistant to Chicago, New York, Tampa and New Orleans, and the Great Lakes, Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico are all within 500 miles. Seventy five percent of the United States population is within a day’s drive of Western North Carolina.
The landscape in this region boasts the highest mountain (Mount Mitchell), deepest gorge (Linville Gorge) and highest waterfall (Whitewater Falls) in the eastern United States; the oldest river in North America (New River); and the two most visited National Park lands in the country (the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Great Smoky Mountain National Park).
Blue Ridge Parkway
The Blue Ridge Parkway is America's most visited National Park unit and is known as "America's favorite drive." Its 469 miles connect the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina to the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Along the way, the Blue Ridge Parkway offers stunning views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, forests, and pastoral landscapes, with abundant hiking trails, picnic areas, campgrounds, and interpretive signage.
Authorized as a public works project during Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal," the Blue Ridge Parkway was built by primarily by private contractors and the Works Progress Administration. Today, the completed Blue Ridge Parkway is a remarkable testament to his vision and is enjoyed by millions of visitors each year. Planners saw long-term benefits for the project as well, recognizing that tourism would strengthen the economy of communities surrounding the Parkway.
Authorized as a public works project during Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal," the Blue Ridge Parkway was built by primarily by private contractors and the Works Progress Administration. Today, the completed Blue Ridge Parkway is a remarkable testament to his vision and is enjoyed by millions of visitors each year. Planners saw long-term benefits for the project as well, recognizing that tourism would strengthen the economy of communities surrounding the Parkway.
Agglomeration Economies
In 2003, the United States Congress designated the region as the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area in recognition of its unique character, culture and natural beauty. In addition to the wonderful quality of life enjoy in Western North Carolina, the 27-county region boasts: A fiber optics network and broadband connectivity that puts them light years ahead of other largely rural regions; Available and affordable certified industrial buildings and sites; Organized networks of entrepreneurs and investors; A transportation infrastructure that includes two interstates with easy access to three more; and a variety of vibrant cities and towns.
In the case of Asheville and its relationship to other urban areas, both in the immediate vicinity of the Western North Carolina region and beyond, both empirical regularity and historical context shed light on regional interaction. For those inclined to search for regularity and organization in spatial patterns, rank-size stability is compelling evidence of some kind of systemic process. Allen Pred’s Innovation Diffusion Theory has provided one persuasive explanation in regard to Asheville’s variable growth and development patterns. Building on the observation that smaller cities tend to have much more volatile rates of growth and decline when compared to the more stable rates in larger cities, many scholars hypothesize that information and competition maintain an overall status quo:
“Over the medium to long term, urban population growth is a function of the number of innovations originating within a city’s economy or successfully adopted from outside sources. Larger cities, with larger economies, are likely to produce more innovations, thus attracting migrants to the city and helping to ensure that residents do not leave for other cities. Therefore, the sheer size of large cities ensures a strong and steady stream of innovations, which in turn contributes to a steady source of population growth. Smaller cities must depend more on adopting innovations that diffuse from other, usually larger, centers.”
A broad stream of recent research documents the continuing importance, even in today’s digitally-lubricated global economy, of agglomeration economies: benefits that companies gain by locating near functionally-related companies. This environment is especially important to “new economy” and “high-tech” creative workers, who in any event are often defined by the blurred boundaries between work, play, education, recreation, as well as baby-boomer retirees.
In the case of Asheville and its relationship to other urban areas, both in the immediate vicinity of the Western North Carolina region and beyond, both empirical regularity and historical context shed light on regional interaction. For those inclined to search for regularity and organization in spatial patterns, rank-size stability is compelling evidence of some kind of systemic process. Allen Pred’s Innovation Diffusion Theory has provided one persuasive explanation in regard to Asheville’s variable growth and development patterns. Building on the observation that smaller cities tend to have much more volatile rates of growth and decline when compared to the more stable rates in larger cities, many scholars hypothesize that information and competition maintain an overall status quo:
“Over the medium to long term, urban population growth is a function of the number of innovations originating within a city’s economy or successfully adopted from outside sources. Larger cities, with larger economies, are likely to produce more innovations, thus attracting migrants to the city and helping to ensure that residents do not leave for other cities. Therefore, the sheer size of large cities ensures a strong and steady stream of innovations, which in turn contributes to a steady source of population growth. Smaller cities must depend more on adopting innovations that diffuse from other, usually larger, centers.”
A broad stream of recent research documents the continuing importance, even in today’s digitally-lubricated global economy, of agglomeration economies: benefits that companies gain by locating near functionally-related companies. This environment is especially important to “new economy” and “high-tech” creative workers, who in any event are often defined by the blurred boundaries between work, play, education, recreation, as well as baby-boomer retirees.