The Emergence of Centrality in a Transition Economy: Comparing Land Market Dynamics Measured Under Monocentric and Semiparametric Models

Abstract

This paper focuses on the emergence of Krakow's historic core as the city's economic center after Poland's economic reforms of 1989 - reforms that introduced market forces into land markets. Using a semiparametric approach to identify pricing centers, an evolving and polycentric price surface is revealed. While the traditional city center emerges as the dominant node, the evolution of the price surface is far more complex than that found using alternative approaches. Accordingly, it yields superior explanatory power compared to simpler monocentric models and should caution against their use in metropolitan areas in transition or those that are polycentric.