Key surface density, length, and time-scales as a function of galactocentric distance, illustrating that shear is the dominant mechanism shaping the identified NGC 524 clouds. Left: galactocentric distance profiles of the molecular gas mass surface densities measured for each identified GMC (Σ_gas; dark blue data points), required for each identified GMC to withstand shear (Σ_shear; orange data points), and azimuthally averaged over the galaxy disc (Σ_{gas, disc}; light blue data points and curve). Middle: galactocentric distance profiles of the radii measured for each identified GMC (R_c; dark blue data points) and required for each identified GMC to be destroyed by shear (R_t; orange data points). The pale grey dashed horizontal line indicates the synthesized beam size. Right: galactocentric distance profiles of the molecular gas disc free-fall (τ_ff; black data points and curve), each identified GMC free-fall (τ_{ff, c}; grey data points), orbital (τ_orbit; green data points and curve) and shear (τ_shear; orange data points and curve) time-scales. In all panels, the dark grey dashed vertical lines indicate the positions of the two molecular gas rings.