Germany’s Polycentric Metropolitan Regions in the World City Network

Abstract On a regional scale, two types of polycentricity can be observed. The first involves polycentric metropolitan regions that have evolved in the course of post-suburban development around a previously monocentric city, whereas the second type involves neighbouring metropolises evolving into a multi-core polycentric metropolitan region due to an increase in the functional interaction between each other. The German urban system is characterised by both types of polycentricity. In this paper I examine the role of these two types of polycentricity within the context of globalisation. I address the question of whether individual metropolitan cores and metropolitan cores and their associated post-suburban areas share the global functions of a metropolitan region or whether such functions are concentrated in a single city within the metropolitan region. To this end, I analyse the locations of leading global advanced producer service firms in Germany in their role as sub-nodes of the world city network. Finally, I discuss the empirical findings in the context of modelling the world city network.

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On the global city map, but not in command? Probing Manila’s position in the world city network

Environment and Planning A Economy and Space ◽

10.1177/0308518x16663710 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 49 (12) ◽

pp. 2897-2915 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Jana Kleibert

Keyword(s):

Global City ◽

World City ◽

Service Firms ◽

Producer Service ◽

World City Network ◽

The World ◽

City Network ◽

Advanced Producer Service ◽

And Control ◽

City Rankings

The changing geography of service employment and the relocation of back-office service tasks to developing economies present a challenge to contemporary world city network research and methodology, as cost-driven offshoring may wrongly suggest a city’s increased importance in global city rankings. In particular, financial service firms, but also management consultancies, law firms, and other advanced producer service firms have offshored tasks abroad. These firms’ offices are attributed a vital role in the world city network literature and form the basis for world city rankings using the interlocking network model. Based on empirical research on advanced producer service firms in Metro Manila, the Philippines, this paper argues that the existence of linkages and the appearance ‘on the map’ of dominant economic flows does not automatically lead to an increased command and control position of Manila. Instead, the attraction of lower-end services leads to Manila’s dependent articulation into global service production networks. The findings challenge the key assumptions about ‘command functions’ and ‘strategic role’ of global cities that underpin the global city rankings. The paper critiques current conceptualisations of command and control in global urban network theory in the light of changing intra-firm divisions of labour in advanced producer service firms, and stresses the importance of qualitative research.

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Measuring the World City Network

ICTs for Mobile and Ubiquitous Urban Infrastructures ◽

10.4018/978-1-60960-051-8.ch002 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 15-23 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Peter Taylor

Keyword(s):

Data Collection ◽

Network Connectivity ◽

World City ◽

Service Firms ◽

Producer Service ◽

Routine Work ◽

Basic Measurement ◽

World City Network ◽

The World ◽

City Network

Measuring the world city network is achieved by careful specification of a network model plus customised data collection to operationalize the model. The resulting interlocking network is described as advanced producer service firms in the role of city network-makers through their routine work across multiple offices. The basic measurement derived is the network connectivity of a city; this describes how well that city is integrated into the world city network. Selected results from the latest data collection (2008 – 175 firms, 526 cities) are presented with leading (‘alpha’) cities divided into connectivity strata. It is shown that compared to previous analyses in 2000 and 2004, the upper echelons of the world city network are becoming more and more integrated.

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Knowledge Hubs in the German Urban System: Identifying Hubs by Combining Network and Territorial Perspectives

Raumforschung und Raumordnung ◽

10.1007/s13147-011-0087-1 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 69 (3) ◽

pp. 175-185 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Anna Growe ◽

Hans H. Blotevogel

Keyword(s):

Urban System ◽

Metropolitan Region ◽

Service Firms ◽

Public Authorities ◽

Global Networks ◽

Metropolitan Regions ◽

Knowledge Based ◽

Functional Perspective ◽

Producer Service ◽

Advanced Producer Service

Abstract This paper identifies hubs of knowledge-based labour in the German urban system from two perspectives: the importance of a metropolitan region as a place and the importance of a metropolitan region as an organisational node. This combination of a network perspective with a territorial perspective enables the identification of hubs. From the functional perspective, hubs are understood as important nodes of national and global networks, established by flows of people, goods, capital and information as well as by organisational and power relations. From the territorial perspective, hubs are understood as spatial clusters of organisations (firms, public authorities, non-governmental organisations). The functional focus of the paper lies on knowledge-based services. Based on data about employment and multi-branch advanced producer service firms, four main types of metropolitan regions are identified: growing knowledge hubs, stagnating knowledge hubs, stagnating knowledge regions and catch-up knowledge regions. The results show an affinity between knowledge-based work and bigger metropolitan regions as well as an east-west divide in the German urban system.

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Pathways of Change: Shifting Connectivities in the World City Network, 2000—08

Urban Studies ◽

10.1177/0042098010372682 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 47 (9) ◽

pp. 1861-1877 ◽

Cited By ~ 112

Author(s):

Ben Derudder ◽

Peter Taylor ◽

Pengfei Ni ◽

Anneleen De Vos ◽

Michael Hoyler ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Los Angeles ◽

San Francisco ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Global Scale ◽

World City ◽

World City Network ◽

The World ◽

City Network ◽

Global Connectivity ◽

Sub Saharan

This is an empirical paper that measures and interprets changes in intercity relations at the global scale in the period 2000—08. It draws on the network model devised by the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) research group to measure global connectivities for 132 cities across the world in 2000 and 2008. The measurements for both years are adjusted so that a coherent set of services/cities is used. A range of statistical techniques is used to explore these changes at the city level and the regional scale. The most notable changes are: the general rise of connectivity in the world city network; the loss of global connectivity of US and sub-Saharan African cities (Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami in particular); and, the gain in global connectivity of south Asian, Chinese and eastern European cities (Shanghai, Beijing and Moscow in particular).

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Determinants of Dynamics in the World City Network, 2000-2004

Urban Studies ◽

10.1177/0042098010372678 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 47 (9) ◽

pp. 1949-1967 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Renato A. Orozco Pereira ◽

Ben Derudder

Keyword(s):

Linear Regression ◽

Linear Regression Model ◽

World City ◽

Theoretical Research ◽

Service Firms ◽

Time Period ◽

World City Network ◽

The World ◽

City Network ◽

Location Strategies

This article presents an analysis of the determinants of connectivity change in the world city network (WCN). Drawing on the theoretical research of Saskia Sassen and the subsequent empirical research of the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) group, connectivity in the WCN is measured through the networked location strategies of globalised service firms. Based on a calculation of the total connectivity of 220 cities across the world for 2000 and 2004, a measurement of connectivity change is produced for this time-period. This measure of connectivity change is then used as the dependent variable in a linear regression model through which are tested a number of hypotheses concerning the determinants of connectivity change. The study analyses WCN change both in general and in sectoral terms, and also examines how the prior presence of service firms impacts connectivity change.

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External Relations of German Cities Through Intra-firm Networks—A Global Perspective

Raumforschung und Raumordnung ◽

10.1007/s13147-011-0100-8 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 69 (3) ◽

pp. 147-159 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Michael Hoyler

Keyword(s):

Global Perspective ◽

World City ◽

Global Network ◽

Service Firms ◽

National Network ◽

External Relations ◽

World City Network ◽

The World ◽

City Network ◽

German Cities

Abstract 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.

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