71 research outputs found
External relations of German cities through intra-firm networks – a global perspective
This paper adopts a global perspective to investigate
external relations of German cities, both transnationally
and on the national scale. At the centre of the
analysis are the locational strategies of major advanced
producer service firms that link the cities in which they
operate through a multitude of flows. Using an interlocking
network model and data on the organizational structure of
leading business service firms, the paper measures and interprets
the extent to which German cities were integrated
in the world city network in 2008. The global positions and
national network patterns of 14 major German cities are
explored, as well as the sectoral strengths and geographical
orientations of their external relations. The paper concludes
with an assessment of the trajectory of German cities in
the world city network between the turn of the twenty-first
century and the onset of the current financial crisis. The
analysis reveals a geography of advanced producer services
that is polycentric in character but does not map directly
onto the distribution of other metropolitan functions.
In a longitudinal perspective, German cities experienced an
absolute and relative decline in global network connectivity
between 2000 and 2008, which raises questions about
the changing strategic importance of German cities in the
world city network
Discussing imaginative geographies: Derek Gregory on representation, modernity and space
Discussing imaginative geographies: Derek Gregory on representation, modernity and spac
Interpreting identities: Doreen Massey on politics, gender, and space-time
Interpreting identities: Doreen Massey on politics, gender, and space-tim
Small town development and urban illiteracy: comparative evidence from Leicestershire marriage registers 1754-1890
"Based on the analysis of Anglican marriage registers for the period 1754 to 1890, the article explores patterns of illiteracy in three small Leicestershire [England] towns with contrasting economic functions. Illiteracy levels were closely related to urban occupational and social structures, which also affected distinct gender differentials. Evidence [of] the effect of literacy on age at marriage and marriage distance suggests that demographic behaviour and spatial interaction were determined more by socio-economic factors than by the possession of literacy skills. Literacy attainment, however, was linked to extended marriage distances when both spouses could sign the register." [excerpt
Framing city networks through temporary projects: (trans)national film production beyond ‘Global Hollywood’
This paper advances research on external urban relations by drawing attention to the role of
temporary project-based economic organisation in the formation of inter-firm links between
cities. Through a novel empirical examination of (trans)national co-production in the motion picture industry, we reveal how such projects transcend the boundaries of individual
production clusters and link urban centres within specific network configurations. Stripping away the ‘top layer’ of Hollywood’s commercially successful feature films, we undertake a social network analysis of film productions in four markets across three continents – China, Germany, France and Brazil – to provide a unique comparative analysis of networked urban geographies. Our findings show that film production networks are grounded in existing structural relations between cities. The spatial forms of these networks range from
monocentric in the case of the French film market, to dyadic in the case of China and
Brazil, to polycentric in the case of the German film market. Conceptually, we argue that
adopting an inter-firm project-based approach can account for the ways in which complex
patterns of inter-firm production relations accumulate to form (trans)national city-networks. Viewing city networks in this way provides an important alternative perspective to
dominant conceptualisations of global urban networks as formed through corporate intrafirm
relations
Transnationale Organisationsstrukturen, vernetzte Städte: ein Ansatz zur Analyse der globalen Verflechtung von Metropolregionen
Die jüngere Diskussion um die wirtschaftliche Bedeutung von Metropolregionen
identifiziert nicht zuletzt in Deutschland eine zunehmende transnationale
Verflechtung der großen städtischen Zentren. Ausgehend von der Vorstellung, dass
heute alle Städte mehr oder weniger in weltweite Beziehungen eingebunden sind,
stellt der Beitrag einen methodischen Ansatz vor, mit dem sich interurbane
Verflechtungen unter Globalisierungsbedingungen empirisch erfassen lassen. Diese
von der Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network (GaWC)
entwickelte Konzeptionalisierung eines „Weltstadtnetzwerks“ beruht auf der Analyse
der Standortnetze global agierender Dienstleistungsfirmen, lässt sich aber auch auf
andere Organisationen übertragen, um zu einem umfassenderen Weltstadtprofil zu
gelangen, das politische, kulturelle und soziale Verflechtungen einbezieht
Megaregions: foundations, frailties, futures
In the first section we aim
to critically examine the foundations upon which the megaregion discourse has been
constructed. In so doing, we conceptualize the position occupied by the megaregion in
debates prior to the onset of globalization, and then discuss how the concept has been
reawakened during globalization. The second section then explores four separate, yet
interrelated, lines of argumentation which cut into the megaregional debate as it is
currently constructed and form the basis for developing a more critical approach toward
megaregional research. We conclude with some cautionary remarks about the
challenges and opportunities for near-future megaregional research
I feel as if I've been able to reinvent myself - a biographical interview with Doreen Massey
I feel as if I've been able to reinvent myself - a biographical interview with Doreen Masse
Megaregions reconsidered: urban futures and the future of the urban
We live in a world of competing urban, regional and other spatial imaginaries. This
book’s chief concern has been with one such spatial imaginary – the megaregion. More
particularly, its theme has been the assertion that the megaregion constitutes
globalization’s new urban form. Yet, what is clear is that the intellectual and practical
literatures underpinning the megaregion thesis are not internally coherent and this is the
cause of considerable confusion over the precise role of megaregions in globalization.
This book has offered one solution through its focus on the who, how and why of
megaregions much more than the what and where of megaregions. In short, moving the
debate forward from questions of definition, identification and delimitation to questions
of agency (who or what is constructing megaregions), process (how are megaregions
being constructed), and specific interests (why are megaregions being constructed) is
the contribution of this book.
The individual chapters have interrogated many of the claims and counter-claims
made about megaregions through examples as diverse as California, the US Great Lakes, Texas and the Gulf Coast, Greater Paris, Northern England, Northern Europe,
and China’s Pearl River Delta. But, as with any such volume, our approach has offered
up as many new questions as it has provided answers. In this concluding chapter, we identify some of these questions as part of an ongoing reconsideration of megaregions
and reformulation of a programme of research for those of us interested in megaregions
and global urban studies more broadly.
One of the main unresolved questions to arise out of this book is the status and
position of the ‘megaregion’ within global urban studies. This extends much further
than the immediate focus of this book, so one of our aims in this final chapter is to
connect the contribution(s) of this collection to contemporary debates centred on urban
futures and the future of the urban. The book has presented multiple pathways into the
megaregion debate and we have identified four to develop further in this chapter, which
are: (1) competing or complementary spatial imaginaries; (2) megaregional
glocalization; (3) utopian/dystopian urban dreams; and (4) urban history, periodization
and temporality.
To foreground this, we begin with three examples which caught our eye in the
short period we were writing this chapter. They serve as an important reminder both of
the continuing influence of megaregions within popular public discourses and the need
for the type of more critical analysis that this book promotes
Class of their own
Leading universities still cluster in established centres, but within a shifting global framework. Australia including Melbourne is one of the knowledge nodes emerging outside of North America and Europe, write Michael Hoyler and Heike Jöns
- …