Exploring the Dual Dichotomy within Urban Geography: An Application of Fuzzy Urban Sets

This study argues that the concept of fuzzy urban sets is particularly well suited to analyzing aspects of a dual dichotomy that characterizes much of the literature on urban geography. By treating individual urban areas ("cities," or in this case "Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Areas") as subsets of one aggregate fuzzy urban set, the method can address the dichotomy pertaining to the structure of urban systems within cities versus those among cities. By defining the membership criterion by which individual elements ("districts," or in this case "census places") are included in the fuzzy urban set, one can determine what kind of fuzzy urban set one is dealing with. In our empirical example, we use service employment as the key criterion. We argue that the method employed is more broadly applicable than the specific example used here, and indeed is well suited generally to addressing the dual dichotomy within urban geography