What is the difference between monocentric and polycentric city structures? Provide an example of each.

• A. Monocentric cities have a single dominant CBD; polycentric cities have multiple urban centers or cores with significant functions; example (monocentric): an older single-CBD city; example (polycentric): a large metropolis with several business districts and regional centers.
• B. Monocentric cities have multiple centers; polycentric have a single CBD.
• C. Monocentric is about neighborhoods; polycentric is about districts within a CBD.
• D. Monocentric and polycentric refer to governance structures, not urban form.

Answer: (A)

Monocentric vs polycentric describes how a city distributes its centers of activity. In a monocentric city, there is a single dominant center—the central business district—that concentrates most employment, services, and amenities, with the rest of the city organized around it.

An older city with one main downtown is a classic monocentric example. In contrast, a polycentric city has several urban centers or cores that each host substantial employment and services, connected by transport networks. A large metropolis with multiple business districts and regional centers illustrates this pattern.

So the best choice captures the idea of one central CBD versus multiple centers of activity. The other descriptions mix up what drives urban form—neighborhoods, districts within a single downtown, or governance structures—not the arrangement of centers of activity.