Beyond smart cities: spatial distribution and regional scaling performance in European regions

The growing importance of inter-city and urban-rural relations has focused attention on the regional performance of regions in which smart cities are situated. This study examines the associations between regional spatial distribution and regional scaling performance (RSP), defined as the population-outcome scaling pattern across cities within a region. Using data for 18 European countries, including the UK, from 2000 to 2014, we estimate RSP across five dimensions: labor market, productivity, economy, education, and social equity. We then evaluate, through dimension-wise panel regressions, a synthesized RSP model, and regional spatial-pattern analysis, how RSP is correlated with two morphological spatial-distribution indicators, namely primacy (capturing the dominance of the largest city) and polycentricity (capturing the balance among urban centers). The findings show that spatial distribution is related to RSP in dimension-specific ways. Primacy is positively associated with productivity and economic scaling but negatively associated with labor-market scaling and the probability of belonging to the high RSP group, while polycentricity supports social-equity scaling but is negatively associated with education RSP. The interaction results further suggest that hierarchical concentration and networked balance are not simple alternatives: polycentricity reinforces the positive association between primacy and economic/productivity RSP, while primacy strengthens the positive association between polycentricity and social-equity RSP. These findings highlight the need for context-sensitive regional strategies that align spatial-structure interventions with specific performance priorities.