The knowledge economy, hub airports and accessibility. A location based perspective.

The airplane is gradually creating a completely new spatial pattern as did other kinds of transportation modes in the past. Successively, international airports have gone through a morphogenesis from original pure infrastructure facilities into multimodal and multilayered spatial growth poles and center of competences. Landside infrastructure investments have converted airports and their hinterland into spaces of highest accessibility. The airports unique locational advantages and the growing segment of non-aviation activities on the part of the airport operators have made airports an advantageous business location for knowledge-intensive industries. At the same time airports have become a crucial asset for city-regions especially those competing on a European or international spatial level for future-oriented enterprises and highly skilled employees. The paper asks about the general interplay between airports, air transport and the knowledge economy. What are the contributions of the knowledge economy that explain the economic effects of airports on the spatial structure? What kinds of knowledge economy linked locational patterns have already emerged around airports? What is their spatial relationship to more traditional locations for example within the core cities? Why does an array of knowledge-based companies relocate their business activities at spaces of highest accessibility such as international airports? This paper analyzes aviation induced spatial patterns and processes of specialization around European airports, especially around those with hub function. First results show that airports and their vicinities have become attractive sites for real estate developments and property-led capital accumulation. Locations directly at or close by international airports are notably in demand among highly globalized sectors characterized by their need for frequent face-to-face interaction, high value products and services. As the traditional role of airports is redefined a new spatial quality and entity within the city regions is evolving.

The Mega-City-Region of Munich: A Kingdom of Its Own Or a Space of Inter-Connected Flows?

In a world of continuing globalization mega-city regions (MCR) are of increasing importance. MCR are defined by a high concentration of regulation, innovation and gateway functions. Planners and politicians alike recognise that competition on this new spatial scale is becoming a strategic tool to develop the whole country. So they are looking for spatial strategies to ensure economic success and sustainable development (social and spatial cohesion) at the same time. However, only little is known about the factors, which constitute MCRs, the inter-relationships within and between MCR, the primacy of individual functional urban areas within MCR and the potential methods to communicate these complex structures to politicians and stakeholders. The paper will deal with the following questions that will be tested with a case-study in the Munich metropolitan region, the so-called Greater Munich Area: (1) Which flows and inter-relationsships of knowledge based economic activities define the MCR? How is the MCR itself embedded in the global network of mega-city regions? (2) What spatial mismatch becomes recognisable when differentiating between functional and morphological polycentricity? (3) What functional polycentricity do firms in the Advanced Producer Services and in the High-Tech sectors produce when looking at their office location strategies? (4)What policy recommendations follow for sustainable spatial development? Our hypothesis is that the current perception of MCRs by local and regional stakeholders is quite inhomogeneous. There is an obvious gap between the functional logic of the competitive world and the territorial logic of the planning administrations. So we propose to look at the individual logics and the spatial reach of the stakeholders’ activites. The study will use an empirical survey for the Greater Munich Area that is mainly based on commuter data, location data of firms, business communication data and interviews with firms and a selection of key stakeholders.

The impact of the liberalization of public services on the competitiveness of firms in the Alpine regions of Switzerland

Businesses in outlying regions, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), are having to face a broad range of different challenges in order to maintain their competitiveness. An important input factor has in the past always been the supply of public services. In recent years, public services have undergone a number of radical changes. This paper works on the hypotheses that the market-oriented reorganisation of capacity in the supply of public services has affected outlying regions more than urban centres and led to an increase in economic concentration and regional disparities. The paper has the following objectives: (1) to look at the interconnections between the different aspects of change in the supply of public services and the development of business; (2) to outline the empirical design for analysing the relative significance of supply of services as a dynamic locational factor for businesses in the Swiss Alpine regions. This paper will draw from an ongoing empirical study, but cannot yet indicate policy implications. We will argue that the companies based in outlying regions are affected in two respects by the reduction in public services. On the one hand, the changed provision of public services is becoming more significant for businesses as a hard locational factor and can have a negative effect on production processes. The main analytical approach to assess firms behaviour within a regional context is the concept of 'regional production systems' (RPS). RPS are characterised by their scope for autonomous decision-making, their coordination mechanisms and their specific resources. The extent to which they are anchored in their particular region influences their capacity for innovation and adaptation to a changing economic context. Thus companies are being forced to react to the dynamic environment and to develop - probably in cooperation with regional public bodies - corresponding response strategies. On the other hand, public services work as soft, person-centred, locational factors that make a major contribution to the quality of life a location has to offer. An deterioration in services means that outlying regions become less attractive as a place to live and consequently it becomes more difficult for companies based there to recruit well-qualified employees. Companies are being forced to react to the dynamic environment and to develop corresponding response strategies.

The liberalization of public services and their impact of on the competitiveness of firms: a case study in the Alpine regions of Switzerland

In the wake of a general process of economic transformation public services in recent years have undergone a number of radical changes. Under the key word of ?liberalization? the markets of public services in Europe have been opened up to market competition. Questions of efficiency and productivity in the provision are gaining significance. But the liberalization cannot only be analysed through a one-dimensional economic lense. Therefore, the goal of our paper is to clarify the spatial impact of these liberalization trends. We focus on four public services: regional public transport, postal services, telecommunications and electricity. In the first part we will lay the conceptual basis for a differentiated consideration of the spatial effects of the liberalization of public services. We hypothesize that the liberalization of the public services has given rise to spatial differentiation in the provision of these public services, which in turn reduces the competitiveness of companies in the peripheral and mountain regions. Thus, it is a typology of the functions of public services that will help to sharpen the view on the various ongoing changes. To analyse the impact on the competitiveness of firms the paper will look at the relative significance of the following aspects of public services: locational factors; direct and indirect effects on the production process; companies? ability to adapt to external changes. The main analytical approach to assess firms behaviour within a regional context is the concept of ?regional innovation and production systems? (RIPS). RIPS are characterised by their scope for autonomous decision-making, their coordination mechanisms and their specific resources. The extent to which they are anchored in their particular region influences their capacity for innovation and adaptation to a changing economic context. The second part of the paper presents some first results from an ongoing empirical study in the Alpine Regions of Switzerland, using data from a written firm survey. The third section draws first conclusions regarding the relative spatial impacts of the liberalisation processes. The paper finishes off with some preliminary implications on political strategies for guaranteeing sufficient provision of public services to peripheral and mountain regions.

The European metropolitan region of Zurich - a cluster of economic clusters?

Switzerland is a small country and possesses only two or three major economic regions of a metropolitan character. From a Swiss perspective the most important region is the European Metropolitan Region of Zurich (EMRZ). The EMRZ covers the whole of the Zurich economic area as well as adjacent areas like Zug, Lucerne and Basel. In empirical terms the EMRZ shows an above average percentage share of manufacturing industries and advanced service companies. Although the EMRZ is recognised as the prime Swiss economic engine there is only vague perception about the locational situation of its more important industries such as pharmaceuticals, machinery, financial services and others. A true-type cluster analysis for the EMRZ is still lacking. This deficit of fundamental knowledge about the region seems all the more important since several economic promotion agencies market the greater Zurich economic area as a region with clusters in financial service industries and medical equipment. The paper thus presents in a first step the EMRZ delimitation using some selected statistical data which are put into relation with the whole of Switzerland. The emphasis of this analysis lies on the identification of the major manufacturing and service industries that are located within the EMRZ. Followed by a short overview of the different cluster theories and a working definition for an empirical cluster analysis. The next section produces a cluster analysis based on data from the Swiss Federal Office of Statistics. This results in the identification of major clusters, locational coefficients as well as a first glimpse at the interrelations between selected clusters. The paper finishes off with a hypothesis whether the spatial proximity of economic clusters in the case of the EMRZ bears any causality with its economic development. Key words: cluster analysis, European metropolitan region of Zurich, regional innovation system, spillovers

Corporate strategies, freight transport and regional development

Corporate strategies and decisions concerning location, such as outsourcing of individual production processes, have an impact on the volume of freight traffic. Due to concentration of core competences, new logistics trends, growing importance of services and liberalization of markets, corporate strategies undergo rapid changes. Their spatial impact is of interest, especially when taking into account that new corporate behaviour can increase as well as reduce freight traffic. The overall impact of these changes are very unclear and little empirical evidence is available besides various insights from networks in the automotive sector. For example reducing the level of in-house production may multiply the number of suppliers. They in turn deliver the required parts more frequently but in smaller batches thus increasing the volume of freight transportation. On the other hand the manifest trend towards the concentration and bundling of single suppliers in the form of component or systems suppliers tends to reduce freight traffic for production inputs. The paper examines two key aspects. First it sheds light on the interrelationships of structural changes of the economy, in particular of corporate behaviour (e.g. outsourcing, just-in-time production, telecommunications) and the volume of freight traffic. Second we will try to answer the following question: in what types of companies does the division of labour along the chain of value added lead to increased freight traffic and where can freight traffic be reduced by means of telematics. The paper draws from an empirical study of a region in Central Switzerland. Recommendations for public as well as private actors will deal with potentials to reduce freight traffic through cooperative efforts.

Mega-City-Regions: on Awareness and Value Chain Approach

Mega-City-Regions (MCR) as a new large-scale urban phenomenon have been gaining attention recently: In research, empirical studies address their functional consistency, and spatial planning policies underline the strategic role of MCRs for territorial competition of a country. But increasingly a tension between the functional logic of knowledge-intensive business activities and the territorial and normative approaches of public bodies begin to emerge. Typical conflicts of spatial development in MCRs occur for example when globally motivated investment decisions hit upon the local needs. This paper proposes an integrated view that can help to bridge the gap between the growing factual knowledge about MCRs and the still weak ability to use this knowledge for local and regional development and spatial planning purposes. The proposed integration draws on the one hand from the corporate-based value chain approach: The interaction of analysis of spatio-economic development, its adequate visualization and focussed communication towards stakeholders is apt to bring about the initiating momentum for beneficial spatial development. In the context of a diffuse perception of MCRs – whose mere size surpasses our common notions of space – analysis, visualization and communication as methodological components in the spatial planning process add value to sustainable spatial development. The process starts with creating awareness for the often invisible and complex functions, qualities and identities of the MCR spatial scale. New strategies of visualization and communication are needed to improve insight and motivation of the actors involved. On the other hand this value chain approach has to be adapted to the varying vertical levels of public bodies with their numerous policies. Thus, “multi-level-governance†is to be conceived as a concept to close the gap between the territorial and the functional logic of spatial development. The paper will study this dual approach with the case of the announced expansion of the international airport in Munich. This complex multi-level-governance process experiments with a consensus-oriented dialogue platform – the so called “neighbourhood conference†(NC) – bringing together actors with divers responsibilities and objectives. The NC sits at the interface of global and local objectives that are transformed on the spatial scale of the MCR of Munich. The paper concludes with recommendations for using the above described spatial value chain approach for more efficient multi-level-governance.