A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
The Metropolization and Regionalization of the Knowledge Economy in the Multi-Core Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region
The currently observed urban rescaling is characterized by two opposing trends: the regionalization of core cities and their metropolization. Such restructuring processes have consequences for a city-region's spatial and functional structure, even in traditionally multi-core metropolitan regions. This paper looks at the hypothesis that city-based business sectors belonging to the knowledge economy, dependent on their function, transaction costs and the need for geographical proximity for innovation, form different polycentric business patterns engendering either metropolization or regionalization. The aim of the paper is to analyse the metropolization and regionalization of knowledge-intensive business activities at both a municipal and a locational level, thereby shedding light on the complexity of polycentric business structures in traditional multi-core metropolitan regions. The spotlight here is on the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region, a prime example of a polycentric metropolitan region without a traditionally dominant metropolitan core. We show that metropolization can be seen as an agglomerating phenomenon, applying also to traditional multi-core metropolitan regions, while—with specific reference to the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region—“regionalization” would seem to have only a slight effect on the knowledge economy.
The Metropolization and Regionalization of the Knowledge Economy in the Multi-Core Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region
The currently observed urban rescaling is characterized by two opposing trends: the regionalization of core cities and their metropolization. Such restructuring processes have consequences for a city-region's spatial and functional structure, even in traditionally multi-core metropolitan regions. This paper looks at the hypothesis that city-based business sectors belonging to the knowledge economy, dependent on their function, transaction costs and the need for geographical proximity for innovation, form different polycentric business patterns engendering either metropolization or regionalization. The aim of the paper is to analyse the metropolization and regionalization of knowledge-intensive business activities at both a municipal and a locational level, thereby shedding light on the complexity of polycentric business structures in traditional multi-core metropolitan regions. The spotlight here is on the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region, a prime example of a polycentric metropolitan region without a traditionally dominant metropolitan core. We show that metropolization can be seen as an agglomerating phenomenon, applying also to traditional multi-core metropolitan regions, while—with specific reference to the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region—“regionalization” would seem to have only a slight effect on the knowledge economy.
The Metropolization and Regionalization of the Knowledge Economy in the Multi-Core Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region
Münter, Angelika (author) / Volgmann, Kati (author)
European Planning Studies ; 22 ; 2542-2560
2014-12-02
19 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
The Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region: Reality and Discourse
| Online Contents | 1998
The Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region: Reality and discourse
| Taylor & Francis Verlag | 1998
The Rhine-Ruhr Area in Transformation: Towards a European Metropolitan Region?
| Online Contents | 1998
The Rhine-Ruhr area in transformation: Towards a European metropolitan region?
| Taylor & Francis Verlag | 1998
Editorial - Metropolization and Suburbanization
| Online Contents | 2001