Factors and limits of interurban industrial decentralization the case of Zaragoza (Spain)

Abstract

The pattern of interurban industrial localization is stable. A current explanatory approach argues that decentralization from large urban areas to mid-sized and small-sized towns is the only process now active and that the basic variables of this interurban decentralization are city size and proximity to or distance from a large urban area. This article provides a theoretical discussion, methodological recommendations and evidence for the argument that industrial decentralization processes are more complex than this and require less restrictive suppositions. Our analysis of new industries located in Zaragoza, one of the main Spanish urban areas, from 1992 to 2005 shows how two aspects, which are seldom found in the literature, influence these processes. The first is the structure of the urban system, because the distance-sensitive decentralization process is contingent on the spatial structure of the system. The second aspect is the industrial and urban development policies, because they can alter the competitive advantages of the different types of cities. Thus, large urban areas can maintain their industrial attractiveness because they meet different and more numerous requirements than the predictions suggested they would and because they halt the spatial advance of the industrial decentralization processes. The article concludes with a reflection on the theoretical and methodological implications of the results as well as their contributions to a better understanding, formulation and analysis of the interurban industrial dynamic.