Urban Economic Structures as Multidimensional Networks: A Complex Systems Framework for Analyzing Economic Development Trajectories

Figure 4

Juxtaposition of two MSAs highlighting only differences between the two. Using network 1 (N = 68), Muskegon, Michigan and Blacksburg, Virginia are identical in terms of industry structure, meaning that they share the exact same set of industries present. Yet in a multidimensional space, substantial differences between the two emerge, particularly in terms of college degrees. Note also that Blacksburg has many more unique entities within the dense network core. Links with value less than 0.4 are not shown.