University of California Transportation Center

This paper presents an empirical analysis of subcenter growth. We develop a series of hypotheses based on the theoretical concepts that have been proposed as explanations for the emergence and growth of subcenters. We then conduct tests of these hypotheses using 1970-80 data from the Los Angeles region. We find that subcenters containing fast-growing industries tended to grow rapidly, and so did those close to airports. There is weak evidence that large subcenters and those located near downtown Los Angeles grew more slowly in proportional terms, possibly indicating diseconomies of scale due to congestion.