The Impact of Suburban Population Growth on Central City Service Functions

The present study investigates the relationship between suburban population growth and service functions performed in central cities of 168 SMSAs. While most sociologists acknowledge that the suburban population influences the service structure of central cities, the degree of that influence appears to have been underestimated. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis demonstrate that the suburban population has a large impact on central city retail trade, wholesale trade, business and repair services, and public servicesprovided by central city governments. More detailed examination of the public sector shows that the suburban population, in general, and the commuting population, in particular, exerts strong effects on police, fire, highway, sanitation, recreation, and general administrative functions in the central cities. The impact of the suburban population on these central city public services remains strong when controls such as central city size and age, annexation, per capita income of central city residents, and percentage of the central city population that is nonwhite are introduced.