European Cities in Globalization: A Comparative Analysis Based on the Location Strategies of Advanced Producer Services

Today there is a key question that lurks behind any consideration of Europe and its cities: is this foundation core zone of the modern world-system showing symptoms of dropping out of the contemporary core zone? It certainly appears that in the period of crises since 2008, Europe has been falling behind other major world-regions. Dubbed the “austerity region” of the world, such an interpretation sees Europe as the first part of the world-economy core to be subject to what are effectively structural adjustment programmes, largely self-imposed but still resulting in a process of peripheralization. Although uneven in impact, this is clearly a result of Europe’s states failing to adequately manage and regulate the economic activities within their territories. However it is far too soon to say whether such a monumental global economic shift is happening but we can investigate the current unevenness of economic globalization amongst European states. We compare three of these states that represent different degrees of potential peripheralization: Spain showing the stronger symptoms, Germany with least symptoms, and Britain somewhere in between. Our study is based upon an original analysis of advanced producer services that combines comparisons between countries and relations between cities

Strategic coupling between finance, technology and the state: Cultivating a Fintech ecosystem for incumbent finance

The rise of Fintech challenges established financial centres and incumbent financial institutions to rethink their strategies to remain obligatory passage points in the age of digitizing finance. To appreciate these changes, it is important to maintain theoretical interchange between developments in financial geography and economic geography, its parent discipline. In this paper, we argue that the ways in which evolutionary economic geography impacts strategic coupling in global financial networks are crucial to grasp tomorrow’s geographies of Fintech. Through an in-depth examination of Brussels, we analyse the potential of Fintech opening a window of locational opportunity in financial services. Belgium has put together a strategy to seize this window by leveraging its politically neutral image and Brussels’ existing niche in financial collaboration and infrastructural plumbing. The latter status is exemplified by the presence of global players SWIFT and Euroclear. We analyse how Belgian entrepreneurs and politicians assess Brussels’ locational resources, and strategically couple big financial institutions with small tech startups in order to cultivate a Fintech ecosystem in the service of incumbent finance, constituting a Fin-Tech-State triangle. As such, we document and analyse how the coalescence of finance and technology offers new opportunities for secondtier financial centres, while highlighting the difficulties in reaping these in practice

A Global 'Urban Roller Coaster'? Connectivity Changes in the World City Network, 2000-2004

Taylor P. J. and Aranya R. A global 'urban roller coaster'? Connectivity changes in the world city network, 2000-2004, Regional Studies. A network model is used to assess the nature of change in intercity relations from 2000 to 2004. Data are collected for 2004 on the office networks of the same global service firms that were used to describe global connectivities for 315 cities in 2000. This allows a new cross-sectional geography of connectivities to be produced for 2004, and for changes in connectivities between 2000 and 2004 to be computed. Simple visualization and statistical techniques are used to explore the data. A distinction is made between 'normal change' and 'exceptional change' and only two cases of the latter are definitely identified: cities in both the USA and sub-Saharan Africa are generally losing global connectivity in relation to the rest of the world. Thus 'normal change' predominates and the paper concludes that contemporary intercity change does not correspond to Castells' image of an 'urban roller coaster'. [image omitted] Taylor P. J. et ARANYA R. Des 'montagnes russes urbaines' mondiales? Les changements de la connectivite du reseau de grandes villes a l'echelle mondiale, Regional Studies. On se sert d'un modele de reseau pour evaluer le caractere du changement dans les rapports intervilles de 2000 a 2004. On recueillit des donnees pour 2004 aupres des reseaux de bureau pour les services aux entreprises mondialises qui ont ete employes afin de decrire la connectivite mondiale de 315 grandes villes en 2000. Cela permet la realisation d'une nouvelle geographie transversale de la connectivite pour 2004 et le calcul des changements de la connectivite entre 2000 et 2004. On emploie de simples techniques de visualisation et statistiques pour examiner les donnees. On fait une distinction entre le 'changement normal' et le 'changement exceptionnel', et on n'identifie indubitablement que deux cas de ce dernier: en regle generale, les grandes villes aux Etats-Unis et en Afrique-Noire perdent de la connectivite mondiale par rapport au reste du monde. Ainsi, le 'changement normal' predomine et on conclut que le changement interville contemporain ne correspond pas a l'image des 'montagnes russes urbaines' d'apres Castells. Mondialisation Grandes villes a l'echelle mondiale Reseau de villes a l'echelle mondiale Changement mondial Taylor P. J. und Aranya R. 'Eine weltweite ,urbane Achterbahn'? Anderungen im Weltstadt-Netzwerk, 2000-04, Regional Studies. Mit Hilfe eines Netzwerkmodells bewerten wir die Art der Veranderungen in zwischenstadtischen Beziehungen im Zeitraum von 2000 bis 2004. Erfasst wurden Daten des Jahres 2004 uber die Niederlassungsnetzwerke derselben weltweit tatigen Dienstleistungsfirmen, die im Jahr 2000 zur Beschreibung der weltweiten Verknupfungen fur 315 Stadte genutzt wurden. Hierdurch konnte eine neue, sektionsubergreifende Geografie der Verknupfungen fur 2004 erstellt werden, und die Veranderungen der Verknupfungen zwischen 2000 und 2004 liessen sich berechnen. Zur Analyse der Daten kamen einfache Visualisierungs- und Statistiktechniken zum Einsatz. Unterschieden wurde zwischen einer ,einfachen' und einer ,aussergewohnlichen' Veranderung; von der letzteren liessen sich nur zwei Falle definitiv identifizieren: Die Stadte in den USA und im subsaharischen Afrika verlieren generell an weltweiten Verknupfungen im Verhaltnis zum Rest der Welt. Die ,normalen' Veranderungen herrschen also vor, und wir ziehen den Schluss, dass zeitgenossische zwischenstadtische Veranderungen nicht Castells' Bild einer ,urbanen Achterbahn' entsprechen. Globalisierung Weltstadte Weltstadt-Netzwerk Globale Veranderung Taylor P. J. y Aranya R. Una 'montana rusa urbana' global? Cambios de conexion en la Red Urbana Mundial, 2000-04, Regional Studies. Con ayuda de un modelo de redes evaluamos la naturaleza de cambio en las relaciones interurbanas de 2000 a 2004. Recogimos datos para 2004 en las redes de oficinas de las mismas empresas de servicios globales que se utilizaron para describir las conexiones mundiales para 315 ciudades en 2000. Esto nos permite crear una nueva geografia transversal de conexiones para 2004 y calcular los cambios en las conexiones entre 2000 y 2004. Para explorar estos datos utilizamos tecnicas sencillas de visualizacion y estadistica. Se distingue entre 'cambio normal' y 'cambio excepcional' y solo dos casos de este ultimo se han identificado de modo definitivo: las ciudades en los Estados Unidos y en Africa subsahariana estan perdiendo normalmente conexion global con relacion al resto del mundo. De este modo predomina el 'cambio normal'. Terminamos argumentando que el cambio interurbano contemporaneo no se corresponde con la imagen que da Castells de un 'montana rusa urbana'. Globalizacion Ciudades del mundo Red urbana mundial Cambio globalGlobalization, World cities, World city network, Global change,