Indicator: All flows Average Distance Index

For most flows, the average distance increases as one moves away from the European core towards the periphery of ESPON space. The longer the average distance for a given flow, the more visible the cen-tre-periphery system becomes for the entire ESPON space. However, for shorter-range flows, there might be a different system than the dominant one.
A synthetic matrix of 11 flows shows the shortest distances in the metropolitan systems of Prague and Budapest (focus on flows to and from the two capitals), as well as in a relatively large number of regions in Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. On the other hand, the longest average distances are seen in Iceland and Cyprus, followed by northern Norway, Crete, and Athens, and in Andalusia, Algarve, and Lisbon. The pan-European picture shows a compact core area (dominance of low average flow distances) including Germany, Denmark, Benelux, northern France, Switzerland, Austria, Czechia, and Hungary, as well as England, northern Italy and western Poland. Within this area, several metropoli-tan areas, including Paris, Franfurt, Brussels, Berlin, Prague, and Budapest, are characterised by larger average relationship distances. Around this zone, the indicator of average distance increases signifi-cantly and then decreases again in the vicinity of some metropolises. We may assume that these me-tropolises balance the polycentric structure of the European settlement network. They take over some of the interactions for which the EU core becomes too geographically distant. Madrid, Rome, Athens, War-saw, and Bucharest play this role. In the most peripheral zone the increase in the distance of average flows is determined additionally by their attractiveness for migration and tourism.