household size and urban spatial change: end of an era?

A dominant demographic trend of the last few decades has been the declining size of householdsin Western industrialized countries. Following closely upon the Baby Boom, thedevelopment became a major topic of discussion for almost two decades. The basis for, andconsequences of, these changes have been well covered in the demographic literature, buttheir spatial implications have received less attention. Yet the, phenomenon has had a profoundspatial impact at every level of the urban system. Recent statistics indicate that householdsize continues to decline, but does so at a rapidly decreasing rate. The present paperconsiders the spatial repercussions of this trend. More specifically, the paper has three aims.(1) The paper summarizes and puts into present-day perspective, a volume of research conducteda decade ago upon the spatial impact of declining household size upon the U.S.urban system (Sinclair, 1991). (2) Considers more recent demographic developments, askingwhether the impact of declining household size upon the urban system is declining orcoming to a close, (3) Considers other demographic developments which might he takingthe place of declining household size in driving the urban system. In sum, the paper attemptsto answer the question. Is an era, which has signifycantly impacted the U.S. urbansystem, coming to a close?