Central places or networks? Paradigms, metaphors, and spatial configurations of innovation-related service use

Abstract

It has been suggested that a paradigm shift has occurred in the study of urban systems, central places being displaced by networks because the latter are better suited to currently observable processes. Cities are understood as harbouring local networks (milieu, clusters, buzz), as well as being themselves functionally specialised nodes in wider nonhierarchical networks. We test the empirical validity of this contention by analysing the geography of service use by innovators in Canada. Consistent with the results of Christaller, we find that use of local services diminishes as one moves down the urban hierarchy, and services most strongly connected with innovation—which we deem to be high-order—have the highest probability of being sourced at its summit. Our conclusions interrogate some of the assumptions that underpin local innovation networks, question whether the network approach can apprehend all aspects of urban systems, and discuss in what respect contention that there has been a paradigm shift is warranted.