TERFRY, James Peter - 1990

The Urban Industrial Structure of the Halifax Census Metropolitan Area

The purpose of this study is to outline and attempt to explain the spatial distribution of industry in the Halifax - Dartmouth area. Within this general explanation, the relationship between industrial (manufacturing) location and a number of key factors: namely, transportation facilities, population densities, economic rent forces, and government policy will be investigated.

In order to initially determine the overall role manufacturing plays in the metropolitan area's economy the economic base of the Halifax Census Metropolitan Area is examined. Secondly, the spatial distribution of manufacturing firms and manufacturing employment throughout the area is presented. Finally, by analysing the relationship between industrial location and the aforementioned factors the manufacturing location pattern of the study area is examined in detail.

It is concluded that the four locational factors all play a significant role in determining the location of industry. However, it was also found that no one key locational factor was dominant in the region. It was concluded that the metropolitan Halifax industrial parks have had a great impact on the local geography of manufacturing. Over the past thirty years, these parks have expanded greatly as their site and situation characteristics made them a focus of local industrial development.