The Polycentric Metropolis: Learning from Mega-city Regions in Europe

by Hall, Peter Geoffrey; Pain, Kathy

• ISBN13: 9781844073290
• ISBN10: 1844073297
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-07-30
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Summary

A new 21st-century urban phenomenon is emerging: the networked polycentric mega-city-region. Developed around one or more cities of global status, it is characterized by a cluster of cities and towns, physically separate but intensively networked in a complex spatial division of labor. This book, the outcome of a major international research program, describes and analyzes eight such regions: South East England, the Bassin Parisien, Central Belgium, the Dutch Randstad, RhineRuhr, Rhine-Main, Northern Switzerland, and Greater Dublin. For the first time, this work shows how businesses interrelate and communicate in geographical space - within each region, between them, and with the wider world. It goes on to demonstrate the profound consequences for spatial planning and regional development in Europe - and, by implication, other similar urban regions of the world. Arranged in five parts, the book introduces the concept of a megacity region, analyzes its characteristics, examines the issues surrounding regional identities, and discusses policy ramifications and outcomes for infrastructure, transport systems, and regulation. Packed with high quality maps and case study data, and written in a clear style by highly experienced authors, this will be an insightful and significant analysis suitable for professionals in urban planning and policy, business and investment communities, technical libraries, and students in urban studies, geography, economics, and planning. The book includes contributions from partners based in each case study area.

Table of Contents

The Polycentric Metropolis: Emerging Mega-City Regions

From Metropolis to Polyopolis

Analysing the Polycentric Metropolis: Quantifying the Mega-City Region

Anatomy of the Polycentric Metropolis: Eight Mega-Ciy Regions in Overview

Organization of the Polycentric Metropolis: Corporate Structures and Networks

The Informational Geography of Europolis: Mapping the Flow of Information

Understanding the Polycentric Metropolis: Actors, Networks, Regions

Firms and Places: Inside the Mega-City Regions

Flows and Relationships: Internal and External Linkages

People and Places: Interrelating the 'Space of Flows' and the 'Space of Places'

Visiting the Polycentric Metropolis: Regional Identities, Regional Policies

South East England: Global Constellation

Randstad Holland: Multiple Faces of a Polycentric Model

Central Belgium: Polycentrism in a Federal Context

RhineRuhr: 'Polycentricity At Its Best?'

Rhine-Main: Making Polycentricity Work?

European Metropolitan Region Northern Switzerland: Driving Agents for Spatial Development and Governance Responses

The Paris Region: Polycentric Spatial Planning in a Monocentric Metropolitan Region

Greater Dublin in the Celtic Tiger Economy: Towards a Polycentric Mega-City Region?

Planning Europolis: The Effectiveness of Policy

From Strategy to Delivery: Policy Responses

The Web Survey

The Interview Questionnaires

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