GaWC Research Bulletin 193

A revised version of this Research Bulletin has been published in European Planning Studies, 15 (1), (2007), 1-27 under the title 'Metropolisation of the European Economic Territory as a Consequence of Increasing Specialisation of Urban Agglomerations in the Knowledge Economy'.

doi:10.1080/09654310601016424

Please refer to the published version when quoting the paper.

(Z)

The Metropolization of the European Urban and Regional System

S. Krätke^*

Abstract

This article concentrates on the thesis that the development of Europe’s economic territory can be characterized as a process of metropolization of economic development potentials and innovation capacities. “Metropolization” is a paraphrase for the increasing concentration of development potentials particularly in the subsectors of research-intensive industries and knowledge-intensive services on metropolitan regions and major urban agglomerations. On this basis the metropolitan regions and urban agglomerations are functioning as the "motors" of the European economy as well as the prime nodes of Europe’s world-market integration. With regard to the extensity of transnational economic inter-city linkages the economic integration process within the EU territory presents itself as a process of the cross-border integration of formerly national urban systems in terms of an intensively interwoven network of metropolitan economic activity centers. In this article the process of metropolization is being analyzed with regard to the selective concentration of the knowledge-intensive economic activities in the European urban and regional system. Particular emphasis is being put on the different sectoral profiles and development paths of the European urban agglomerations’ and metropolitan regions’ knowledge-intensive economy. With reference to the process of globalization the trans-national economic inter-city linkages of European urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions are included in the analysis with particular emphasis on the specific geographic pattern of transnational interlinkages of selected European metropolitan regions within the EU territory. The urban regions’ global functions are strengthening the economic power of certain metropolitan regions and thus have an amplifying effect on the process of metropolization of the EU urban and regional system.

1. Introduction

The European Union forms a trans-nationally interlinked economic and institutional space that is being considered as an economic block which is put out to the global competition with other large economic blocks in North America and Asia. With respect to its global competitiveness the EU has set up the ambitious perspective to become a worldwide leading economic territory of the knowledge-intensive economy (“ Lisbon process”). However, the development of the EU territory reveals considerable structural differences and disparities of developmental dynamics between the national economies and even more between the European regions. In particular, the regions’ capacities in the field of innovation activity, research and technological development (cf. European Commission 1999 and 2004, Cooke/Boekholt/Tödtling 2000, Grotz/Schätzl 2001, Sternberg 1999) are increasingly being considered as a key factor of regional economic success. The economic development-centers of Europe are to be caught not at the level of national economies, but in certain regional economic centers. In particular the urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions of Europe are characterized by an ongoing concentration of economic development potentials.

In view on the general trends of spatial development the European urban and regional system today is subject to a double process which contains, on the one hand, a progressive economic integration within the EU territory ("Europeanization"), and on the other hand the active involvement of the EU in a new development stage of the world economy ("globalization") which is marked by intensified worldwide economic interrelations. Due to their structural characteristics as centres of economic activity and prime nodes of transnational economic interaction, urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions are playing a prominent role in the globalization process. Furthermore, the economic integration of Europe happens quite substantially on the field of the transnational integration of formerly national urban systems. This leads to a revaluation of certain urban regions and to changes of their functional reach in the European and global context. The dominant economic developing centers of the EU territory are dynamic urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions in which in particular the knowledge-intensive services and research-intensive industrial activities concentrate. In these key sectors of an increasingly knowledge-intensive and innovation-driven economy the processes of selective regional concentration and cluster building are increasing the economic productivity and innovative capacity of the urban economic centers.

On this background the economic development of the EU territory can be considered as a process of the metropolization of economic development potentials and innovation capacities. The urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions function as the "motors" of economic development in the EU and at the same time as the prime nodes of Europe’s integration in the global economy. However, the increasing concentration of economic developing potentials - in particular in the field of knowledge-intensive services and research-intensive industries - on dynamic urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions is also an essential driving force of increasing regional disparities in Europe. Not only underdeveloped rural regions, but also many of the less dynamic urban regions of Europe threaten to stay behind in the process of metropolization if they are not connected with the urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions economically.

Not only the process of "Europeanization" or the progressive economic integration of the EU countries has made the traditional thinking in national urban systems obsolete - even more the process of globalization has become a significant driving force of the trans-national economic interlinkage of the European urban and regional system. Particularly in the field of technology-intensive and knowledge-intensive economic activities local or regional clusters have won increasing importance for a successful performance on the world market (OECD in 1999; Porter 2001). More and more the "global players" anchor themselves with own organization units in the "leading" regional enterprise clusters of certain activity branches in order to win direct access to the specific knowledge and innovation resources of the respective regions. This embedding of global enterprises in regional economic clusters carries at the same time the supra regional and worldwide interlinking of the regional economies.

In this article metropolization and globalization are picked out as main trends of spatial deve­lopment in Europe. The process of metropolization shall be emphasized with respect to the selective concentration of the potentials of knowledge-intensive economic activities in the urban system of Europe. In the empiric investigation the different sectoral profiles and deve­lopment paths of the European urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions in the field of the knowledge-intensive economy are worked out. With reference to the globalization process the different trans­national connectivity of urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions of the EU territory shall be highlighted with particular emphasis on the specific geographic pattern of transnational interlinkages of selected metropolitan regions within the EU territory. The global connectivity increases the economic power and development capacity of certain urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions, with the effect that the metropolization of the European urban system is further strengthened in the context of the globalization process.

2. Metropolization of the urban and regional system in the era of the "knowledge economy"

The process of "Europeanization" or the progressive economic integration of the EU countries has made the traditional thinking in national urban systems obsolete. The large conurbations and metro­politan regions of Europe are being interconnected by transnationally extended networks of corporate organization which spread out not only over the European territory, but also at the global level. The urban system of Europe is marked by a polycentric structure. Of a polycentric urban system we can speak primarily in a pan-European perspective, while at the level of single EU member states polycentric as well as rather monocentric urban systems are to be found. The leading metropolitan regions of monocentric national urban systems (mostly capital regions) are in the pan-European context not necessarily in the highest "rank position" of the urban system. In the pan-European urban and regional system such metropolitan regions can take only a high rank position if they qualify with respect to economic potentials and functional reach of their economic relations as prominent transnational economic centers of Europe (as for example London and Paris).

Many contributions to the economic-functional structures of the European and the global urban system are tending to reduce at least the high-ranking urban regions to their function as locational centers of advanced producer services (cf. Sassen 1996; Geppert 2005; Kujath 2005a; Paal 2005) and to neglect their role as industrial location centers. The industrial sphere is normally taken into consideration only with respect to the locations of the headquarters of large industrial corporations. On the other hand, the debate on "new industrial spaces“ and technology districts as well as the debate on the formation of urban production clusters of the "creative industries“ has given more and more evidence to the fact that the urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions are still functioning as significant locations of industrial activities ( Scott 1988 and 1998; Conti/Spriano 1990; Storper 1997; Krätke 2001): they are often location centers for new "knowledge-based" production chains, for innovation-strong production clusters in the field of information and communication technology, the pharmaceutical industry, medical engineering and biotechnology, the media industry etc. (Berg/Braun/Winden 2001; Scott 2001; Cooke 2002; Florida 2002 and 2005; Krätke 2005). Also the traditional technology-centred industrial branches like construction of vehicles and mechanical engineering are still a most important component of the economic potential of many urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions. Particularly in the field of "innovative growth sectors“ industrial activities are frequently not only characterized by intensive intra-regional transaction and communication networks, but also by strong linkages with the industrial innovation centers of other urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions within the national economic territory as well as on a transnational scale ( Krätke 2002; Alvstam/Schamp 2005). Thus the linkages between innovative firms of the high technology clusters of e.g. Munich and San Franzisko ( Silicon Valley) are contributing substantially to the worldwide interlinking of industrial innovation processes.

The perspectives of a "knowledge-based" regional development path are being emphasized as a central theme in economic geography and regional research with respect to the thesis that within an increasingly innovation-driven economy the development chances of urban regions today are determined in particular by their potentials and capacities in the field of knowledge-intensive economic activities (Malecki/Oinas 1999; Keeble/Wilkinson 2000; Cooke 2002; Lo/Schamp 2003; Matthiesen 2004; Kujath 2005a). This debate refers to the importance of knowledge resources as well as research and educational infrastructures, to the significance of interactive knowledge generation within enterprise clusters for the competitiveness of the regions, and not least to the possible strengthening of the development prospects of cities and regions by the extension of knowledge-intensive activity branches of the regional economy ("profile shaping" of a region as a center of the knowledge economy). The knowledge-intensive economy comprises industrial activity branches with a high share of research and development activities for the generation of new technological knowledge as well as those economic activities for which the generation and economic use of specific knowledge is a main focus, i.e. in particular the highly qualified enterprise services in the fields of business consultancy and organization management, financial services, high technology services, and not least the culture and media industry (which particularly depends on the generation and use of "creative” knowledge).

The dominant economic development centers of the EU territory are dynamic urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions in which particularly the knowledge-intensive services as well as research-intensive industrial activities concentrate. During the last years the growth dynamics in many EU countries was mostly concentrated on the research-intensive and knowledge-intensive economic activity branches: An increase of jobs in the industrial sector (manufacturing activities) of the EU 15 has been noted for the most part in the research-intensive industries (whereas the less knowledge intensive industrial activities revealed job losses on a scale that exceeds the gains in research-intensive industries); the increase of jobs in the service sector of the EU 15 has been concentrated for the most part on the knowledge-intensive services (more detailed information is given below). In the research-intensive industrial branches and the knowledge-intensive service branches which constitute the key sectors of an increasingly knowledge-based and innovation-driven economy an ongoing process of selective locational concentration on urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions leads to the development of strong cluster potentials which raise the productivity and innovation capacity of these regional economic centers and contribute to an increase of workplaces particularly in these branches of industry. In the course of this economic structural change the efficacy of agglomeration effects is rapidly increasing (due to the social production and use of localization and urbanization economies), so that the spatial development of the European Union can be characterized as a process of metropolization of economic development potentials and innovation resources. „Metropolization“ is a paraphrase for the increasing concentration of economic development potentials of the research-intensive industries and know­ledge-intensive services on metropolitan regions and urban agglomerations.

The particular significance of the knowledge-intensive economy for the European urban system can be summarized into several theses: (a) In the framework of contemporary economic structural change the knowledge-intensive economic activities offer the highest growth potential, and in consideration of their concentration in urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions the knowledge-intensive activity branches are offering good chances for a growth of workplaces particularly in the urban economic centers of the regional system. (b) Knowledge-intensive economic activities constitute a cross section field which encloses certain industrial branches as well as service branches (which often develop in connection to each other). The thematization of the cross section character of the knowledge-intensive economy might contribute to the correction of one-sidedly service oriented perspectives of regional-economic change. (c) The analysis of structural economic change in the European urban system should not be reduced to the overall finding that urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions are increasingly functioning as centers of knowledge-intensive activities in the regional system. Rather the urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions of Europe distinguish themselves by different profiles (or a specific mix of sub-sectors) also in the knowledge-intensive economy. These specific structural profiles are of considerable importance for the economic developing perspectives of the respective urban agglo­merations and metropolitan regions, not least in view on the identification of suitable options and strategies for a regional economic development policy. (d) On the basis of regionally diverging developmental dynamics of sub-sectors of the knowledge-intensive economy it is possible to identify different development paths of the European urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions within the overall trend towards a knowledge-intensive economy.

2.1 Starting Points of the Empiric Analysis of Economic Potentials in the European Urban and Regional System

In order to analyze the contemporary European urban system with emphasis on the process of metropolization and the differentiation of economic profiles of urban agglomerations in the EU territory, the data on the knowledge-intensive economy provided by the Eurostat Regio data base have been evaluated for the period 1997-2004. The advantages of this data base are a pan-European scope, the regional differentiation and the grouping of branches within the industrial sector and the service sector according to more or less research-intensive and knowledge-intensive activity branches. Unfortunately, this data base often shows gaps for single EU countries or regions as well as for certain periods of time. Thus in the present investigation the development could be considered only till the year of 2004. Regrettably, for Poland any information on the regional economic structure concerning the more or less research-intensive and knowledge-intensive branches of economic activity in the years preceding 2004 are missing. Besides, the differentiation of branch grou­pings would be wishable in substantially finer differentiation, however, the Regio data base contains up to now no further deepening subdivision of branches at the regional level. Another disadvantage of the EU regional statistics are the relatively rough spatial delimitations of the regions: The finest possible spatial delimitation offers the NUTS 3 level, however, only frame data like GDP and numbers of inhabitants are expelled at this level, and there is no differentiation of economic activity branches which would go beyond the questionable, less and less meaningful subdivision of the economy into a "secondary" and "tertiary" sector. Thus the data relevant for the present study are available only for the NUTS 2 level, i.e. in a substantially rough spatial delimitation of the EU regions. Anyhow the use of NUTS 2 regions can be justified with regard to the investigation of the metropolization trend in the European urban system. A certain distortion in the analysis of urban regions might originate from the relatively ample delimitation of the NUTS 2 regions which must be kept in mind for the proper interpretation of results - the data for urban regions are always to be understood as an aggregate of the respective central city’s administrative territory and the administrative regions of its surrounding area. On the other hand, the NUTS 2 level is absolutely satisfactory to the purposes of this analysis if one takes into account that in today's time the economic functional spaces of the cities and in particular the metropolises of Europe have extended on and on. In this study not the small-scale administrative unities of European cities, but the extended economic areas of the urban agglomerations and metropolises are of primary interest.

The structural analysis of the potentials and development paths of European urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions in the field of knowledge-intensive economic activities includes a total of 60 urban agglomerations in the EU territory (see fig. 1) under which approx. 20-25 can be qualified as “metropolitan regions”. Because there is no uniform definition of metropolitan regions (cf. Blotevogel 1998; Kujath 2005b), this expression aims at a rough encirclement of the most "outstanding" urban agglomerations in terms of their national functions and economic capacities. The 60 urban agglomerations were selected according to the criteria that the central city of the region has more than 450000 inhabitants and that the population figure of the whole urban region amounts to more than 1 million inhabitants. In particular cases deviations were admitted to take up the capital regions of the Baltic countries, Slovakia and Slovenia, as well as the urban region of Zaragoza in the analysis. Furthermore, for the purpose of this pan-European analysis several urban regions were put together in a widely delimitated urban agglomeration: These aggregated urban regions comprise Florence / Bologna, Manchester / Liverpool / Leeds / Sheffield , the " Randstad Netherlands” with Amsterdam / Rotterdam / The Hague, the Upper Silesian industrial district as well as the Rhine-Ruhr conurbation (from Dortmund through Essen, Duisburg, Duesseldorf to Cologne). As regards the interpretation of empirical findings is has to be taken into account that the aggregated analysis and representation conceals the polycentric internal structure of these urban agglomerations.

2.2 First Findings Concerning the Metropolization of Economic Potentials in the EU Territory

The European regional structure reveals above all a concentration of economic power in the urban agglomerations and particularly in the metropolitan regions among them. In 2002, the 60 urban agglomerations of the EU 25 concentrated 61% of the GDP and 56% of all employees of the EU 25 on themselves. Contemporary economic development trends point to a further streng­the­ning of this spatially selective concentration: In the period 1997-2002 the urban agglomerations of the EU 15 concentrated 69% of the EU 15 GDP’s total increase on themselves. T hese pre­liminary findings concerning the metropolization thesis might be led back to the fact that the economic power of the prominent European urban agglomerations is based on a strong (and increasing) concentration of particularly knowledge-intensive economic activities. This applies to the knowledge-intensive services as well as to the research-intensive industrial branches (the delimitation of the knowledge-inten­sive economy’s subsectors is given below).

Fig. 1: Metropolitan regions and urban agglomerations of the EU territory: Spatial units of the analysis

Between 1997 and 2004, the 41 urban agglomerations of the EU 15 (for which sectorally diffe­ren­tiated data are available in the Eurostat Regio data base) together reveal an increasing share of the EU 15’s total employment in the knowledge-intensive economy, particularly in the subsectors of “high technology industry” and knowledge-intensive “technology-related enterprise services”, and beyond this also in the subsector of knowledge-intensive market-related enterprise services and the subsector of the media industry and knowledge-intensive services in healthcare and education. As regards the deve­lopmental dynamics in the research-intensive manufacturing activities of the included 41 urban agglomerations (together) in the period 1997-2004, there is a loss of 180.000 jobs to be noted. By contrast, the “low and medium low technology” industries recorded a total loss of 424.000 jobs in these 41 urban agglomerations (together). However, if we take into account that within the manufacturing sector there is a trend towards the relocation of technology-related service functions which previously have been performed within the manufacturing firm’s organizational boundary to autonomous service firms (which in statistical terms are subsequently being included in the “service sector”) (cf. Krätke/Borst 2002), it might be reasonable to combine the subsectors of research-in­tensive manufacturing activity with the technology-related enterprise services into an aggregated group of “knowledge-intensive industrial activities” which are closely related to manufacturing. In the period 1997-2004, the 41 urban agglomerations (together) record a total job increase of 796.000 in this aggregated group of activity branches.

With regard to the changing structure of employment we might expect a further accentuation of the “metropolization” tendency: Job increases in the industrial sector of the EU 15 (1997-2004) are concentrated on research-intensive manufacturing activities, in particular on the ”medium high technology” industries. 67,6 % of the total job increase in the service sector of the EU 15 (1997-2004) has to be ascribed to the knowledge-intensive services; the strongest relative (intra-sectoral) growth is to be recorded in the “technology-related enterprise services” (30,2 %) and the “market-related enterprise services” (36,8 %).

According to these preliminary findings the urban agglomerations and in particular the metropolitan regions of the EU qualify as the primary location centers of knowledge-intensive industrial activity branches and advanced producer services. This might also be regarded as a foundation of the thesis that the metropolitan regions and large urban agglomerations are functioning as "regional motors“ of the European economic development. The metropolization of the urban and regional system might be understood as a spatial articulation of the increasing significance of knowledge-intensive activity branches in Europe’s economic development.

2.3 Differentiating Analysis of European Urban Agglomerations and Metropolitan Regions with Regard to the Development of the Knowledge-intensive Economy

In the following analysis the potentials of knowledge-intensive economic activities in the urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions of Europe are highlighted quite consciously in terms of absolute concentration and absolute changes of the number of workplaces. The normalization of regional data e.g. with reference to numbers of inhabitants which is often absent-mindedly applied in regional research is not very meaningful in the thematic framework of this study. The following analysis of the knowledge-intensive economy in the EU regional system is focussing on the selective concentration of particular economic activities in a system of competing locational centers - in this context absolute concentrations of activities just as absolute changes are decisive, since they are of central importance for real concentration processes and their dynamics. This also applies to the analysis of the respective activity branches’ development in the course of time, where real (absolute) increases or losses of workplaces or enterprise units in the urban agglomerations of Europe are of central importance. As regards the branch differentiation of the analysis the following groupings can be distinguished on the basis of the Eurostat Regio data base (by summary of NACE branches):

1. Research-intensive industries

1.1 research-intensive „high technology “ branches (NACE 30, 32, 33)

1.2 research-intensive „medium high technology “ branches (NACE 24, 29, 31, 34, 35)

2. Industries with low research intensity

2.1 „medium low and low technology “ branches (NACE 15 - 23, 25 - 28, 36 - 37)

3. Knowledge-intensive services

3.1 knowledge-intensive technology-related services (NACE 64, 72, 73)

3.2 knowledge-intensive market-related enterprise services (NACE 61, 62, 70, 71, 74)

3.3 knowledge-intensive financial services (NACE 65, 66, 67)

3.4 knowledge-intensive services in healthcare, education and the media industry

(NACE 80, 85, 92)

4. Service branches with low knowledge intensity

(NACE 50 - 52, 55, 60, 63, 75, 90, 91, 93, 95, 99)

5. Knowledge-intensive economy together: sum of 1. and 3.

The overall representation of the knowledge-intensive economy’s absolute concentrations in the urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions of the EU (see fig. 2) reveals that the so-called “core area” of the EU economic territory (which is circumscribed by the pentagon London-Paris-Milan-Munich-Hamburg) encloses a large part of the location centers of the knowledge economy, wherein London and Paris take a leading position (and the Rhine-Ruhr conurbation shows a strong absolute concentration in aggregated representation likewise). Beyond it, however, the European economic territory contains a whole lot of other prominent centers of knowledge-intensive economic activities like in particular Barcelona, Florence/Bologna, Berlin, Copenhagen,

Fig. 2: Absolute concentrations of the knowledge-intensive economy in the EU urban and regional system (2004)

Birmingham and Manchester/Liverpool/ Leeds . In the urban agglomerations of the middle and the north of the EU the "knowledge economy" mostly reaches a share of 40 - 60% of the respective total regional employment.

The development of employment figures in the field of the knowledge-intensive economic activities in the period 1997-2004 reveals an increase of the "knowledge economy" in all urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions of the EU 15 (see fig. 3; for the new EU member states with few exceptions no data are available). Strong absolute increases of employment figures in knowledge-intensive economic activities are to be noted in the urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions of the so-called “core area” of the EU economic territory, and beyond this, nevertheless, also in urban regions like Nantes, Stockholm, Berlin, Manchester/Liverpool/ Leeds as well as in particular in the region of Dublin. Furthermore, there are clear signs for a process of catching up of the urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions in the south of the EU where among others Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Florence/Bologna and Rome belong to the regional "winners" of the knowledge economy .

3. Differentiation of the European urban agglomerations’ and metropolitan regions’ economic profiles in the course of structural change towards a knowledge-intensive economy

The preceding overall representation concealed important aspects of the knowledge-intensive economy’s regional structure: The urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions of the EU have different profiles (or a specific “mix” of branches) in the knowledge-intensive economy’s sector. Moreover, different development paths of the European urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions will be recognizable on the basis of regional differences in the direction and magnitude of the changes in sub-sectors of the knowledge-intensive economy. This differentiation of profiles and development paths is not least relevant for the perspectives and strategical options of the economic development policy of particular urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions. An analysis of the specific profiles of urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions in a European comparative perspective allows to identify certain strengths of particular urban regions and to demonstrate their present positioning among the competing locational centers of the EU territory. With regard to certain activity branches of the "knowledge economy" an urban agglomeration might show strengths and promising developing perspectives in the territory of the respective nation-state, but it might still stay behind in comparison to the leading pan-European centers of the concerning activity branches. T he following sections are focussing on the European locational centers of selected sub-sectors of the knowledge-intensive economy and on the regionally differentiated developmental dynamics of these sub-sectors (with regard to employment figures).

Fig. 3: Absolute increase of employment in the knowledge-intensive economy in the EU urban and regional system (1997-2004)

In the sub-sector of research-intensive „high technology “ industries the metropolitan region of London turns out to qualify as the locational center with the strongest absolute concentration of employees (2004), followed by the Rhine-Ruhr conurbation on account of the aggregation effect of the cartographic representation. Other prominent locational centers of the "high t echnology “ industries are the regions of Paris, Lyons, Milan, Florence/Bologna, Munich, Stuttgart and Frankfurt-Main as well as Dublin (see fig. 4). Moreover, the regions of Berlin, Hamburg, Manchester/Liverpool/Leeds, Barcelona and Madrid belong to the strong “second tier” locational centers of this activity branch. Alltogether, it can be emphasized that a clear concentration of research-intensive industrialbranches also appears in so-called „service metropolises“ like London, Paris and Milan. This important fact is frequently being faded out in overcome concepts of regional research which concentrate on the spatial articulations of the so-called “service society” (cf. Geppert 2005; Paal 2005). In contrast, the representation of the locational centers of different sub-sectors of the knowledge-intensive economy proves that the urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions of the EU are still prominent locational centers of research-intensive industrial activity branches and that their economic base is by no means reduced to services.

The development of regional employment figures in research-intensive „high technology “ industries is a partial component of the structural economic change towards the knowledge-intensive economy. The representation of increase or decrease of the employment figures in this activity branch (see fig. 5) can be interpreted as a sign for the differentiation of the European urban regions’ development paths in the course of this structural change. The development of regional employment figures in the period 1997-2004 reveals that a whole lot of metropolitan regions and urban agglomerations are characterized by a decline of the employment figure in this sub-sector (in particular the metropolitan regions of London and Paris, as well as Stockkolm, Hamburg and Vienna), while others note a clear increase: among others, particularly Dublin, Copenhagen, Frankfurt-Main, Nantes, Milan, Florence/Bo­log­na, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid, Seville and Bilbao belong to this group of urban regions with job growth in high technology industrial activity.

Fig. 4: Absolute concentrations of research-intensive „high technology “ industries in the EU urban and regional system (2004) (data for Brussels: 2002)

Fig. 5: Increase / decrease of employment in "high t echnology “ industries in the EU urban and regional system (1997-2004) (as an exception, data on Berlin do not include the Brandenburg region)

In the sub-sector of "medium high technology “ industries the metropolitan regions of Stuttgart and Milan as well as the Rhine-Ruhr conurbation appear as the locational centers with the strongest absolute concentration of employees (2004). Further prominent locational centers of the "medium high t echnology “ industries are the regions of Munich, Paris, Lyons, Barcelona, London, Birmingham and Manchester/ Leeds /Liverpool (see fig. 6). Again, a clear concentration of knowledge-intensive industrial activity branches also appears in so-called "service metropolises" like London, Paris and Milan.

The absolute change of the regional employment figures in this sub-sector in the period 1997-2004 points to a "split" development pattern which contributes to the differentiation of development paths of the EU urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions in the course of the structural change towards a knowledge-intensive economy: Shrinking processes of the medium high technology industries are to be registered above all in the urban regions of the northern parts of the EU with the exception of the urban regions of Dublin and Stockholm, while nearly all urban agglomerations and me­tropolitan regions in the south of the EU as well as in South Germany show an increase of employment figures in these industrial activity branches (see fig. 7).

In order to shortly summarize the findings on European centers of knowledge-intensive industrial activities the sub-sectors of “high technology” industries, “medium high technology” industries and knowledge-intensive technology-related services might be aggregated (see above section 2.2). This highlights the fact that research-intensive industries together with technology-related services still make up a quite important economic base of the EU urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions. The following table contains a grouping of the EU urban regions according to 5 rank groups (based on percentiles) of total employment in this group of knowledge-intensive industrial activities which are strongly related to manufacturing (see table 1).

Tab. 1: Grouping of European urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions

according to aggregated employment in “high technology” industries, “medium high technology” industries and knowledge-intensive technology-related services in 2004; classification by 5 percentiles (the 1-st percentile containing the highest values)

Fig. 6: Absolute concentrations of the "medium high t echnology “ industries in the EU urban and regional system (2004)

Fig. 7: Increase / decrease of employment in "medium high technology “ industries in the EU urban and regional system (1997-2004)

As regards the knowledge-intensive service sectors, two selected sub-sectors shall be considered in the following section: the knowledge-intensive “market-related enterprise services” which re­present above all the so-called advanced producer services (economic consultancy, accountancy, legal advice etc.), on the one hand, and the "knowledge-intensive services in healthcare, education and the media industry“ on the other hand. The knowledge-intensive financial services are not taken into closer consideration here, because the European urban and regional system’s major centers of financial services are already well known (cf. Taylor/Walker 2001; Hoyler 2005). Likewise, the regional distribution of knowledge-intensive technology-related services (like technical testing activities, lab services etc.) is not examined here. This sub-sector of knowledge intensive service activity already has been included in the foregoing summarizing section on the role of industrial activities in the urban regions of Europe. The technology-related services are coupled functionally with the research-intensive industries (see above) and are expanding in many urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions in connection with growth processes in the sub-sectors of knowledge-intensive industrial activity branches.

In the sub-sector of "market-related enterprise services“ the metropolitan regions of London, Paris, Milan, Madrid and Barcelona as well as the Randstad Netherlands are appearing (as expected) as Europe’s primary location centers (see fig. 8); the Rhine-Ruhr conurbation, the agglomerations of Manchester/ Leeds /Liverpool and Florence/Bologna reveal a considerable regio­nal concentration of knowledge-intensive market services on account of the aggregation effect of summarizing several large urban locational centers. In the Federal Republic of Germany the primary locational centers of knowledge-intensive market-related enterprise services are spread out in a polycentric urban system of more than six metropolitan regions. Interestingly, with regard to the employment figures the metropolitan regions of Hamburg and Berlin today appear as stronger centers in this field of enterprise services than the metropolitan region of Frankfurt-Main which functions as the leading center of financial services and global service firms in Germany. In the East-Central European EU accession countries, particularly the metropolitan regions of Warsaw and Budapest appear as quite strong centers of market-related enterprise services. It does not need further comment at this point that the strongest concentration of market-related enterprise services has developed in prominent „global cities “ of the European territory like London, Paris and Milan. The leading metropolitan regions of the EU are functio­ning not only as corporate service centers of the respective national economy, but also as primary locational centers for the international or global firms in the sub-sector of market-related enterprise services (see below).

Fig. 8: Absolute concentrations of the knowledge intensive "market-related enterprise services” in the EU urban and regional system (2004)

T he sub-sector of "knowledge-intensive services in healthcare, education and the media industry“ reveals some deviations from the locational pattern of the primary centers of market-related enterprise services in the EU territory: The metropolitan region of London has an absolute concentration towering above all; concerning the Rhine-Ruhr conurbation the effect of the spatially aggregated representation comes through again. However, besides London, Paris and Milan the agglomeration of the Randstad Netherlands, the metropolitan regions of Berlin, Hamburg and Copenhagen as well as the urban agglomerations of Birmingham, Manchester/ Leeds /Liverpool, Lyons and Florence/Bologna belong to the primary locational centers of knowledge-intensive services in the media industry, education and healthcare (see fig. 9). Thus a strong concentration of knowledge-intensive services in this sub-sector is to be found also in metropolitan regions which do not belong to the prime European centers of market-related enterprise services. This leads to the conclusion that the so-called “service metropolises” of the European urban system also have different profiles in their sectoral mix of knowledge-intensive service activities. In many urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions of the EU the media industry, education and healthcare sector has a bigger weight in terms of employment figures than the market-related enterprise services.

The developmental dynamics of all knowledge-intensive services together in the period 1997-2004 is characterized by an increase of the employment figures in all urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions of the EU 15 (for the new EU member states no data are available). In particular, strong absolute increases are to be noted in the urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions of the so-called “core area” of the EU economic territory. Beyond it, nevertheless, a considerable increase of jobs in knowledge-intensive services also occurs in urban regions like Manchester/ Leeds /Liverpool, Birmingham, Berlin and Hamburg as well as in particular in the region of Dublin. In the south of the EU territory, the urban regions of Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Florence/Bolog­na and Rome show a considerable increase of jobs in the knowledge-intensive service sector.

Fig. 9: Absolute concentrations of the knowledge intensive services in education, healthcare and the media industry in the EU urban and regional system (2004)

Due to the data gaps of the Eurostat Regio data base with regard to the regions of East-Central Europe, the development of urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions of the EU-accession countries of East-Central Europe has not been subject to particular investigation in the preceding sections. However, it is to be expected that some urban agglomerations of the EU accession countries move up from now on in the group of " metropolitanen economic centers“ of the EU. This perspective is being opened up in particular by means of direct investments out of the “old” EU countries, the extension of research and innovation capacities, and the integration of the East-Central European countries’ major urban agglomeratins in the transnational network of urban locational centers of the global economy. It is well known that the economic power (GDP) of the EU accession countries is on the nationalaverage quite low in comparison to the group of the EU 15 member states. However, the accession countries Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland also show distinctive regional economic differences within the respective national economic territory and in each of these countries the capital city region lies well over the national average (Eurostat 2003). Moreover, particularly in Poland several structurally strong large urban agglomnerations besides the capital city region as for example Poznan and Wroclaw reveal an above-average economic achievement and dynamics. In the year 2000, the metropolitan region of Prague (Czechia) already generated a regional GDP of 121% of the EU-15 average (Eurostat 2003). Today the capital city regions of the “old” EU countries Greece and Portugal have been overtaken in this regard by the capital city regions of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Research on r egional development tendencies in Poland highlights that the major urban agglo­merations are the preferential target regions of foreign direct investments in Poland, and that just these urban regions are concentrating the highest shares of foreign direct investments in research-intensive industrial branches (and the lowest shares in “wage-intensive” activity branches) (Krätke/Borst 2004). Furthermore, these conurbations are also cha­rac­terized by the strongest developmental dynamics in the field of knowledge-intensive services. Also the Polish research and development capacities (which in comparison to the EU 15 countries are still lagging behind) are predominantly concentrated in the major urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions (Krätke/Borst 2004). Most of the new international economic linkages between the old and new EU countries is directed on the prominent urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions inside the accession countries of East-Central Europe. Recent research on globalization processes within the worldwide urban system which might also be evaluated in view of the global connectivity of European metropolitan regions reveals that since 1990 in particular the capital city regions of the EU accession countries in East-Central Europe have increa­singly been integrated into the transnational organization networks of global enterprises ( Krätke in 2002a; Taylor 2004). Thus the conditions for a long-term "rise" of the major urban regions of East-Central Europe within the urban and regional system of the enlarged EU are developing in recent years.

4. Development paths of European urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions in the process of structural change towards a knowledge-intensive economy

In order to analyze the regional development connections between knowledge-intensive industries and services we can prove whether in the European urban and regional system a convergence or divergence of the development of research-intensive industries (manufacturing activities) and the knowledge-intensive technology- and market-related services becomes recognizable. The overlapping of both sectors’ changes of employment figures in the period 1997-2004 (see fig. 10) makes clear at first that the knowledge-intensive services register a quantitatively higher increase of employment than the knowledge-intensive industrial activities in nearly all urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions of the EU. Herein the general (European-wide) trend of structural change of employment in favour of the service sectors is expressed. However, beyond this, a "split" development is to be ascertained, in so far as one part of the European urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions - above all in the north of the EU – reveals growing employment figures in the sub-sector of knowledge-intensive services and a decrease of the employment figures of research-intensive industries. For this group of urban regions there is a clear divergence of the developmental directions of both sub-sectors to be noted.

In contrast to this group, a larger number of the EU urban agglomerations and me­tropolitan regions reveals a cor­respondence of development in both sub-sectors in terms of job growth in knowledge-intensive services as well as in research-intensive industries. These urban regions - which are situated above all in the south of the EU and in the southern part of Germany, and which also include Lyons, Nantes and in particular the region of Dublin - are characterized by the convergence of the developmental directions of both sub-sectors. These rough findings on the regional development connections of manufacturing and service activities might be taken as a first sign of the differentiation of development paths of the European urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions in the process of structural change towards the knowledge-intensive economy.

Fig. 10: Convergence and divergence of development of knowledge-intensive industries and services in the EU urban and regional system (1997-2004)

The differentiation of the European urban regions’ economic development paths can be analyzed in more detail by a combined assessment of the dynamics in different sub-sectors of the knowledge-intensive economy. The assessment’s base is the long-term development of employment figures in the respective sub-sectors of knowledge-intensive activities. Moreover, certain "path types" of European urban regions can be extracted and linked to the different starting constellations (specific profiles) of the urban regions. This approach is basically similar to the analysis of regional development paths in the context of divergent regional innovation systems which has been used by Braczyk, Cooke and Heidenreich (1998) in their concluding chapter. The differentiated analysis of regional development paths might give insight to the different developmental directions of Europe’s urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions in the process of structural change towards the knowledge-intensive economy and the specific positioning of certain urban regions within the scope of these divergent development paths.

For the combined assessment of the developmental dynamics of knowledge-intensive branches in the European urban regions’ economy in the period 1997-2004 at first the absolute changes of employment figures in six sub-sectors are put next to each other. The first three sub-sectors re­present research-intensive industrial activities and the technology-related services which a­re closely linked to the knowledge-intensive branches of manufacturing; the other three sub-sectors enclose different knowledge-intensive services which are of relevance from an overall economic point of view (market-related enterprise services, services in education, healthcare and the media industry, financial services). Concerning the multi-sectoral assessment of development we have to be aware that the absolute changes of employment figures come to quite different scales in the respective sub-sectors. The different branches of knowledge-intensive services mostly show considerably bigger (absolute) changes than the sub-sectors of research-intensive industries. In order to base the analysis on an equal weighting of the different sub-sectors the included urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions were classified by five percentiles in each case (sub-sector). The urban regions with the biggest absolute increase in a certain sub-sector are classified in the 1-st percentile, those with the slightest changes or the biggest decrease in the 5-th percentile. On this base a rather qualitative classification of the dynamics in each sub-sector was carried out. The classification groups are ranging from "strong increase“ (related to the 1-st percentile) to "strong decrease“ (see tab. 2). Note that a "strong increase“ in the sub-sectors of research-intensive industrial branches represents a quantitatively lower absolute change of employment figures than a “strong increase“ in the sub-sectors of knowledge-intensive services. The listing of results for 42 urban regions for which sectorally differentiated employment data were available in the Eurostat Regio data base (see tab. 2) demonstrates in each case the specific profile of the changes in sub-sectors of the knowledge-intensive economy in the period 1997-2004 (herein "Duesseldorf" stands as a short name for the Rhine-Ruhr conurbation, "Manchester" for the urban agglomeration region of Manchester/Liverpool/ Leeds , “Florence” for the aggregated urban regions of Florence and Bologna, and "Amsterdam" for the Randstad Ne­therlands ).

From this assessment table a classification of the urban agglomerations’ and metropolitan regions’ development paths can be won, wherein the changes in the sub-sectors are being classified in a summarizing manner. Four different “path types” can be extracted: 1. urban regions in which knowledge-intensive industries (in terms of manufacturing activities and technology-related services) are shaping the development path to the knowledge-intensive economy, 2. urban regions in which knowledge-intensive services are determining the development path, 3. urban regions whose development path is marked by a combined growth of knowledge-intensive industries and services, and 4. urban regions without recognizable main focus of the development direction (see tab. 2: path type 0).

Tab. 2: Combined assessment of the developmental dynamics in sub-sectors of the knowledge-intensive economy in the EU urban and regional system (1997-2004)

- - strong decrease

- decrease

o modest change

+ increase

+ + strong increase

Path types:

1 urban regions in which knowledge-intensive industries (in terms of manufacturing activities and technology-related services) are shaping the development path to the knowledge-intensive economy

2 urban regions in which knowledge-intensive services are determining the development path

3 urban regions whose development path is marked by a combined growth of knowledge-in­ten­sive industries and services, and

0 urban regions without recognizable main focus of the development direction

T he path types (developmental directions) of the urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions can be combined with their respective "profile type" (starting constellation in 1997) which has been determined following the same classification procedure as in the case of the assessment of path types (see above). This step results in a differentiated representation of the developmental dynamics in the EU urban and regional system which allows to overcome simplifying general trend descriptions as for example the structural change of urban regions towards becoming “service centers” (see tab. 3).

Tab. 3: Development paths of European urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions in the process of structural change towards the knowledge-intensive economy

Today, the European economic territory encloses urban regions like London and Paris which are moving from the starting constellation of a set up center of both knowledge-intensive industries and services on to a development path which is marked by the decrease of jobs in research-intensive industrial activities and strong increases in the sub-sectors of knowledge-intensive services. By contrast, however, other constellations enclose urban regions whose profile type and development path are co-directional in terms of the further strengthening or stronger accentuation of a given economic-structural profile in the period of investigation (this applies e.g. to Stuttgart with regard to research-intensive industries, and to Amsterdam concerning the knowledge-in­tensive services). Another part of the included urban regions is characterized by a rather "diffuse" economic-structural profile type and also has no recognizable main focus of the developmental direction in the present process of structural change. The majority of the urban regions, including most of the metropolitan regions of the European urban and regional system (like e.g. Barcelona, Florence/Bologna, Frankfurt-Main, Madrid, Milan and Munich) are to be classified by their profile type as well established centers of knowledge-intensive industries and services at the same time and are moving on to a development path which is marked by a combined growth of knowledge-intensive industries and services (see tab. 3).

To sum up, the differentiation of development paths in the European urban system should make clear that the knowledge-intensive services are by no means the one and only determining component in the process of structural change towards the "knowledge economy" and that the research-intensive industries (manufacturing activities) are a likewise important component of this economic structural change. The majority of the urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions of the EU are marked by a development path wherein the dynamics of research-intensive industrial activities still plays a considerable role (in particular path types 3 and 1). This applies to 27 out of a total sum of 42 urban regions investigated here, whereas a development path which is dominated by the knowledge-intensive services applies to 10 urban regions investigated (see tab. 3). These findings might be of relevance for the strategic orien­tations of the economic development policy of European urban regions which in most cases would be ill-advised to concentrate their development policy unila­terally upon the extension of the urban service economy.

5. Global connectivity as a boosting force in the metropolization process of the European urban and regional system

As a starting thesis of this article the statement was made that the metropolization of the EU urban and regional system would be further strengthened in the context of globalization processes which lead to a selective concentration of global economic functions in the leading metropolitan regions of the EU territory. These urban regions are becoming the prime nodes of the organizational networks of worldwide operating enterprises and are functioning as major centers of Europe’s integration into the world economy. Today there is widespread consensus among urban and regional researchers that large cities and urban regions would have to be analyzed in the context of present globalization processes as a part of a worldwide urban system, i.e. that the analysis of urban regions should not be restricted on their role within a single nation-state or national economic territory. In the framework of “global city” research, London and Paris have always been classified as the indisputably outstanding global c ities of the European economic territory (cf. Friedmann 1986 and 1995; Sassen 1991 and 1996; Knox and Taylor 1995), highlighting their function as prime centers of the coordination and control of worldwide economic activities. How­ever, in the meantime research on the global urban system has extended its perspective: today it is dealing to a lesser extent with world c ities in terms of a classification category of rank orders of the global urban system, but rather with processes of the increasing global interlinking of urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions ( Taylor 2004) which include a whole lot of urban regions beyond the most prominent world cities (like London, Paris, New York and Tokyo) and might be understood as a relevant factor of their regional-economic development.

Today the EU urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions are the locational centers for new knowledge-based value chains and innovative production clusters in the field of research-in­ten­sive industrial activities and knowledge-intensive services ( Veltz 1996; Scott 2001; Cooke 2002 and 2003; Krätke 2005). Such urban or metropolitan "knowledge clusters" are frequently not only characterized by dense inter-firm networks on the regional level, but also by strong supra-regional connections with the “knowledge clusters” of other regions, namely on a transnational and global scale (Fuchs/Krauss/Wolf 1999; Rehfeld 2001; Schamp 2001; Krätke 2002 and 2004; Zeller 2003; Alvstam/Schamp 2005). The global connections of urban or metropolitan “knowledge clusters” are being established above all by the „global players “ of the respective value chains which in regional clusters often are functioning as focal enterprises and which anchor their amply extending locational network preferentially in the leading regional clusters of the respective activity branch ( Ivarsson 2002; Krätke 2002; Lo/Schamp 2003). In this way specific regional knowledge and creativity resources are tied to the information and knowledge resources of other, geographically far away regions.

The transnational linkages between urban locational centers can be considered as an essential aspect of the phenomenon of "globalizing cities" (i.e. the globalization of economic linkages of urban regions which do not belong to the small group of the established prime global cities of the world’s urban system). Indeed, research on regional innovation networks in Europe like the ERIS project ( European regional innovation systems) have found out that the most successful regions in the field „of innovative growth sectors“ are those with strong regional (internal) and at the same time strong supra-regional and transnational interlinking of innovative enterprises (Arndt/ Sternberg 2001). However, this reasearch has not examined the role of the enterprise units of globalfirms located in the respective regions: The connection of a regional innovation network with global firms (as a particular resource of innovation and development) must not necessarily include a direct supra-regional connection, but can also contain a regionally internal interlinking with the enterprise units of global firms which are located in the respective region. This regional anchoring of global firms’ organizational networks provides direct access to the respective regions’ market potential, knowledge resources and innovation impulses. By the global firms’ strategy of setting up "local" anchoring points in a number of urban regions the global interlinking of regional enterprise clusters (in terms of “knowledge clusters”) can be realized "on site".

A central (but nevertheless often too unilaterally emphasized) aspect of urban development in the globalization process is the increasing concentration of knowledge-intensive global enterprise services in particular urban regions. While the traditional notion of the "service metropolis" emphasizes the importance of advanced producer services for the respective city’s regional economy and the respective national economy’s territory, global city research has been directed particularly on the globalreach of an urban region’s service capacities. For the long established global cities just as for the contemporarily "globalizing cities" it is typical that they are concentrating those corporate service firms upon themselves which have a "global competence" (Beaverstock, Smith and Taylor 1999; Taylor/Hoyler 2000; Taylor/Walker 2001) in terms of their expert's knowledge and trans-nationally extending organizational network.

The ongoing selective concentration of global service firms in the international urban system has been analyzed empirically by the "Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network" (for a comprehensive account of this research see Taylor 2004; a quite long row of research bulletins is being posted on the GaWC Homepage). Studies of the GaWC interpret the trans-national locational network of global service firms as constituting a quite meaningful economic linkage between urban regions on which the extraction of relational data for the analysis of the global urban system can be based. The concentration of enterprise units of a whole lot of global firms in a particular urban agglomeration or metropolitan region is at the center of the respective urban region’s functional role as a more or less strong node of the organizational networks of global service firms. According to Taylor (2004) the specific characteristic of the world city network in terms of the analytic categories of social network analysis is to be seen in the fact that the linkage between the urban regions is taking place here at at the " sub-nodal” le­vel : The world city network not only encloses the two regular network levels of the nodes (here: the cities or metropolitan regions) on the one hand and the overall network on the other, but also the sub-nodal level which is constituted by the global enterprises located within the respective cities or metropolitan regions ( Taylor 2004).

Further research on the global connectivity of urban regions might be directed to the analysis of the variety of globally interlinked economic activities in the urban system in order to discover the particular "profiles" of the transnational connections of different urban agglomerations and me­tropolitan regions. This also applies in particular to the analysis of the global interlinkages of the European cities. Some steps in this direction have been made in the analysis of the transnational connectivity of the global media cities of the international urban system and the geographical patterns of their trans-national linkages (cf. Krätke 2002 and 2003; Krätke/Taylor 2004).

The thesis that globalization processes in the urban and regional system are boosting the tendency towards metropolization shall be verified by demonstrating that the leading regional economic centers of the European territory - which have been identified in the foregoing sections as the outstanding urban locational centers of the “knowledge economy” - are at the same time characterized by the strongest degree of global connectivity in terms of their functioning as major nodes of the global firms’ organizational networks. The most sophisticated empirical analysis of the transnational interlinkages of the global urban system has been made in the framework of the GaWC research (see above) with regard to global firms in the subsector of knowledge-intensive enterprise services. The following representation of the European urban regions’ global connectivity is based on data provided by the GaWC. These data were produced by P.J. Taylor and G. Catalano and constitute Data Set 11 of the GaWC Study Group and Network publication of inter-city data (http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/). This data matrix includes 100 service firms with a globally extending organizational network and 315 cities from all parts of the world. The cartographic representation (see fig. 11) shall highlight the global connectivity measures of different urban regions particularly for the European part of the global urban system. The cartographic representation provides evidence for the finding that in the European economic territory g lobal service firms have located their organizational units predominantly in the prominent metropolitan regions of the EU “core area”: the prime nodes of service firms’ global organizational networks (as mea­sured by the respective urban region’s degree of global connectivity) in the EU territory are the metropolitan regions of London and Paris, followed by Milan, Frankfurt-Main, Brussels and the Randstad Netherlands . Beyond these prime nodes, important secondary nodes have also formed outside the traditional EU core area, as for example in Madrid and Barcelona. Moreover, as an expression of the increasing integration of the urban regions of the EU accession countries of East-Central Europe in transnational economic networks, the metropolitan regions of Warsaw, Prague and Budapest have taken on the role of important secondary nodes of global economic interlinking.

Fig. 11: The global connectivity of metropolitan regions and urban agglomerations of the EU territory (2000): connectivity measures for each urban region in relation to the highest degree of connectivity of a European metropolis( London = 1.00)

The representation of global connectivities is based on the geographic pattern of organizational networks of global service firms and combines numerous "ego networks" of particular global firms with their specific anchoring points in order to extract an overall measure of connectivity for every urban region included in the analysis (concerning the methodical approach see Taylor 2004).

However, in the framework of this study it might be useful to go beyond the aggregated measure of the urban regions’ global connectivity and to concentrate on the specific geographic patterns of transnational interlinkages of selected metropolitan regions of Europe in a comparative perspective. This kind of analytic representation again can be based on the GaWC data set which has been used in the foregoing step. However, for this purpose the GaWC data matrix has been extracted only with regard to the subsector of knowledge-intensive market-related enterprise services (furthermore, the GaWC data matrix values for a global firm’s presence in a particular city which originally range from 1-5 have been re-coded by the author to a range of 1-3, wherein the highest score combines the valuation of a firm’s global and regional headquarters). In the following cartographic representations (see fig. 12 - 17) the specific geographic pattern of transnational interlinkages of selected European metropolitan regions within the European territory - thus leaving out the cities’ linkages to urban regions outside the European territory - is being filtered out by demonstrating the “strength” of particular inter-urban economic linkages in Europe. The depicted strength of singular linkages is based on each city’s connectivity measure in relation to the selected urban node (as for example the metropolitan region of Paris), using a scale of classification that fits for inter-city comparisons. The inter-city linkages of the two highest classification groups are made visible by lines which emphasize the geographic pattern of the respective urban region’s “ego-network” within the European territory.

The selection of European urban regions for which a detailed cartographic representation of their transnational inter-urban linkages within the European territory is being worked out comprises (a) the metropolitan regions of Paris and Frankfurt-Main in order to include two prime European centers of global connectivity in the particular subsector of knowledge-intensive market-related enterprise services, (b) the metropolitan regions of Berlin and Rome in order to get an impression of the transnational linkages of rather “secondary” European centers of global connectivity, and (c) the metropolitan regions of Prague and Warsaw in order to emphasize the advanced integration of the East-Central European accession countries’ metropolitan regions in the pan-European inter-regional economic linkages.

The metropolitan region of Paris has an overall degree of connectivity which amounts to 65 % of the connectivity measure of a European metropolis ( London = 100 %). The cartographic representation of the European inter-city linkages originating from Paris (see fig. 12) reveals particularly strong linkages with nearly all of the prominent metropolitan regions and large urban agglomerations of Europe, and are particularly extended to the leading metropolitan regions of the EU accession countries in East-Central Europe. The metropolitan region of Frankfurt-Main is characterized by an overall degree of connectivity which amounts to 50 % of London’s connectivity measure and the geographic extension of Frankfurt’s European inter-city linkages is comparable to those of the metropolitan region of Paris (see fig. 13). However, compared to Paris the metropolitan region of Frankfurt-Main reveals a smaller number of inter-city links with the highest degree of connectivity.

Fig. 12: European inter-city linkages of the metropolitan region of Paris as mediated by the organizational networks of global firms in the subsector of knowledge-intensive market-related enterprise services (2000)

Fig. 13: European inter-city linkages of the metropolitan region of Frankfurt-Main as mediated by the organizational networks of global firms in the subsector of knowledge-intensive market-related enterprise services (2000)

As regards the metropolitan region of Berlin, which has an overall degree of connectivity of 41 % of the London measure, the geographic extension of Berlin’s most intensive inter-city links is oriented for the most part towards Western Europe (despite the relatively strong links to Prague, Vienna and Budapest), with the strongest linkages being directed to the metropolitan regions of London, Paris and Frankfurt-Main (see fig. 14). In this respect Berlin is quite comparable to the metropolitan region of Rome, which has the same overall degree of connectivity (41 %) as Berlin and also the strongest single inter-city linkages with London and Paris, followed by “medium degree” linkages with most of the other West European metropolitan regions (see fig. 15).

Fig. 14: European inter-city linkages of the metropolitan region of Berlin as mediated by the organizational networks of global firms in the subsector of knowledge-intensive market-related enterprise services (2000)

Fig. 15: European inter-city linkages of the metropolitan region of Rome as mediated by the organizational networks of global firms in the subsector of knowledge-intensive market-related enterprise services (2000)

These findings might be taken as a basis for a view on selected metropolitan regions of the EU accession countries’ in a comparative perspective: At first, the metropolitan region of Prague which already has the same overall degree of connectivity (41 %) as Berlin and Rome, reveals a geographic pattern of its European inter-city linkages (see fig. 16) which is quite comparable to the extension and shape of Berlin’s and Rome’s pan-European connectivities. Again, the strongest inter-city links of Prague are tied to London and Paris. Altogether, the cartographic re­pre­sentation of Prague’s European inter-city linkages might be taken as a clear sign of the advanced state of integration of East-Central European metropolitan regions into the urban economic network of European cities. Just to remember here: this representation has been restricted to the European part of a globally extending urban network, so that there exist more transnational interlinkages of the urban regions included in this analysis which are extending on the global scale of inter-city relations.

Fig. 16: European inter-city linkages of the metropolitan region of Prague as mediated by the organizational networks of global firms in the subsector of knowledge-intensive market-related enterprise services (2000)

As regards the metropolitan region of Warsaw, there is a lower overall degree of connectivity (31 % of the London measure) to be noted in comparison with the foregoing mentioned urban regions. The strongest European inter-city link of Warsaw is tied to the metropolitan region of London (see fig. 17). Interestingly, the comparatively small number of “high intensity” European inter-city links of Warsaw is being tied to prominent metropolitan centers of the market-related enterprise services in the Western part of Europe, whereas the links tied to metropolitan regions which are situated in geographic proximity to Warsaw (like Berlin, Prague, Vienna and Budapest) are characterized by a much lower grade of intensity.

Fig. 17: European inter-city linkages of the metropolitan region of Warsaw as mediated by the organizational networks of global firms in the subsector of knowledge-intensive market-related enterprise services (2000)

As a short summary of the findings on the transnational connectivity of metropolitan regions and large urban agglomerations within the European part of the global urban system it should be emphasized that the economic inter-city linkages which are mediated by the organizational networks of global firms in the subsector of knowledge-intensive enterprise-related services are not only being set up in the long established „global c ities “ like London and Paris. Today many other me­tropolitan regions and urban agglomerations of Europe are being included in globalization processes in terms of becoming important nodes of the organizational networks of global enterprises. Anyhow, the strongest concentration by far of global functions in the EU economic territory is still to be found in London and Paris. The European metropolitan regions and urban agglomerations are also characterized by different geographical patterns of their transnational inter-city linkages (in terms of the extension and strength of the urban regions’ particular ties). Moreover, the European urban regions are characterized by different sectoral profiles of their global connectivity (Krätke/Taylor 2004), because the global firms are tending to privilege different anchoring points in the worldwide as well as in the European urban system with regard to the business of market-related enterprise services, the media industry or research-intensive industrial activities.

Returning to the starting thesis of this section, i.e. the statement that the metropolization of the EU urban and regional system is being strengthened in the context of globalization pro­cesses which lead to a selective concentration of global economic functions in the leading metropolitan regions of the EU territory, we might prove the empirical relation between the major European centers of knowledge-intensive economic activities (particularly concerning the subsector of knowledge-intensive enterprise-related services) and the prime nodes of transnational inter-city linkages within the European economic territory. Indeed, the correlation coefficient between total employment in knowledge-intensive market-related services and the overall connecticity measure (extracted from GaWC Data Set No. 11 as mentioned above) for 49 metroplitan regions and urban agglomerations in Europe which could be included in the ana­lysis statistically reveals a highly significant and quite strong correlation of 0,77. Moreover, there is a highly significant and comparably strong correlation of 0,71 between the connectivity mea­sure and the urban regions’ total employment in all subsectors of the knowledge-intensive economy. Interestingly, the analysis also reveals a highly significant correlation coefficient of 0,60 with regard to the European urban regions’ total employment in the subsector of knowledge-intensive “high technology” industrial activities. This finding might give support to the thesis (which of course needs further research efforts) that global firms are anchoring their organizational networks in selected urban regions also in order to tap the respective regions’ customer potential, specific knowledge resources and innovation capacities in the sphere of knowledge-intensive industrial activity branches.

6. Summary and conclusion

The preceding analysis has been focused on the thesis that the development of Europe’s economic territory can be characterized as a process of metropolization of economic development potentials and innovation capacities. “Metropolization” is a paraphrase for the increasing concentration of economic development potentials particularly in the subsectors of research-intensive industries and knowledge-intensive services on metropolitan regions and urban agglomerations. With regard to this development trend the metropolitan regions and urban agglomerations are functioning more and more as the "motors" of the European economy as well as the “prime nodes” of Europe’s world-market integration. At the same time, the metropolization process is a driving force of uneven regional-economic development in the EU territory. Moreover, with regard to the growing extensity and impact of transnational economic inter-city linkages the economic integration pro­cess within the EU territory presents itself as a process of the cross-border integration of formerly national urban systems in terms of an intensively interwoven network of metropolitan economic activity centers.

In this article metropolization and globalization were highlighted as the general trends of spatial development in the EU economic territory. The process of metropolization has been analyzed with re­gard to the selective concentration of the potentials of knowledge-intensive economic activities in the European urban and regional system. Particular emphasis has been put on the different sectoral profiles and development paths of the European urban agglomerations’ and metropolitan regions’ knowledge-intensive economy. With reference to the process of globalization the trans-national economic inter-city linkages of European urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions have been included in the analysis with particular emphasis on the specific geographic pattern of transnational interlinkages of selected European metropolitan regions within the EU territory. The urban regions’ global functions are strengthening the economic power of certain metropolitan regions and urban agglomerations and thus have an amplifying effect on the process of metropolization of the EU urban and regional system.

Returning to the debate on the driving forces of regional economic development which today foster a tendency towards the metropolization of the urban and regional system (see above section 2), the conclusion might be drawn that, in theoretical terms, the particular “strength” of the metropolitan regions and urban agglomerations in the context of the contemporary structural change towards an increasingly knowledge-intensive and innovation-driven economy lies in the coupling of global and local interlinkages within regional clusters of the knowledge-intensive activity branches (see fig. 18). This coupling allows a direct connection of processes of the "hie­rarchical diffusion“ of specific knowledge and innovation impulses between the centers of the European (as well as the global) urban system with pro­cesses of the "neighbourly diffusion“ of specific knowledge, learning and innovation impulses within the urban regions’ clusters of the knowledge-intensive economy (cf. Hägerstrand 1967). Thus the present process of economic structural change carries altogether a pronounced amplification of the efficacies of spatial agglomeration.

Fig. 18: Coupling of the processes of hierarchical and neighbourly diffusion of specific knowledge and innovation impulses in metropolitan regions

With regard to the entire analysis the general conclusion might be drawn that the traditional ima­ge of the EU economic space as representing a territorial mosaic of national economies just as the image of the EU nation-states as being containers of "national" urban systems is an increasingly questionable abstraction. As soon as the economy is understood as a spatially situated production system, the EU economic territory presents itself primarily as an archipelago of regional economic centers which constitute a transnationally interlinked "network" of dynamic urban agglomerations and metropolitan regions. This characteristic feature of Europe’s economic-spatial structure is being accentuated today by the processes of metropolization and globalization.

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NOTES

* Stefan Krätke, European University Viadrina Frankfurt/Oder

A revised version of this Research Bulletin has been published in European Planning Studies, 15 (1), (2007), 1-27 under the title 'Metropolisation of the European Economic Territory as a Consequence of Increasing Specialisation of Urban Agglomerations in the Knowledge Economy'.

Please refer to the published version when quoting the paper.