From Functional to Social Centrality: A Sociotope-Based Analysis of a Settlement Centre in a Polycentric Urban Region

The development of polycentric urban regions has strengthened the role of suburban settlements as secondary centres. However, centrality continues to be assessed primarily through the concentration of urban functions and amenities, while its social dimension remains insufficiently explored. This study extends the application of sociotope mapping from public open spaces to the assessment of social centrality in suburban settlement centres. The proposed framework was applied to Veternik, a suburban settlement within the urban region of Novi Sad in Serbia, combining functional and spatial analysis, a questionnaire survey, the Relative Importance Index, and GIS-based sociotope mapping. Functional and spatial analysis identified the existing urban functions, amenities, and their spatial organisation, while the questionnaire survey examined residents’ everyday patterns and frequency of centre-use activities. The Relative Importance Index ranked the relative importance of these activities, and GIS-based sociotope mapping visualised the resulting centre-use values. The findings indicate that Veternik exhibits relatively developed functional centrality, whereas its social centrality remains limited, particularly when considered in relation to users’ perceptions of the centre of Novi Sad. The study demonstrates the potential of sociotope mapping as a complementary framework for assessing social centrality and supporting the planning of socially sustainable suburban settlement centres.