A Method to Define Multiscalar Systems of Cities in France

This chapter guides us by the following main question: How can spatial functional organizations be analyzed and characterized through the lens of daily interurban commuting? To structure this work, three sub-questions will be used to explore the diversity of these forms of organization: How can geographical entities be constructed by grouping cities based on interurban commuting? How can we detect the existence of geographical entities operating at multiple scales? How can we characterize the diversity of spatial organization forms taken by these multiscalar geographic entities? The chapter presents a generic and parametric construction method that allows these entities to be defined according to commuter traffic between cities. It takes a closer look at how to construct geographical entities similar to urban systems and analyze their organization. The chapter presents a table that show descriptive statistics concerning the rate of stable workers within functional urban areas for different city sizes (data for whole of France).