Commercial Land Use: Industrial Zones

This map shows how commercial activity is distributed within urban areas and the impact of commercial services on the urban landscape, by mapping what proportion of stores (hence jobs) in an urban area that are found in industrial zones. Industrial zones are extensive areas zoned for industrial use that nowadays are home to wholesalers, big-box retailers and a variety of services and small office buildings. These are specialized destinations, often oriented to other businesses; not the kinds of places you stumble upon by accident. As the most recent form of commercial concentration, they are most often found in rapidly growing cities, especially the largest cities. Since industrial zones support a wide range of specialized activities they usually benefit from commercial specialization as indicated by the index of centrality. The distribution indicates that cities in Ontario and the Prairies have higher values than cities in Quebec, the Atlantic region and British Columbia.