Regional Urbanization and Knowledge-Intensive Business Activities (KIBS): An Example of Small and Medium-Sized Cities in the Greater Stuttgart Region (Germany)

Madeleine Wagner,Anna Growe

doi:10.3390/urbansci4010001

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to understand the role of small and medium-sized cities as economic locations, and as potential anchor locations, in grounding processes of regional urbanization in the knowledge economy. Based on quantitative occupational data, the deconcentration processes of knowledge-intensive business activities are analyzed for the Greater Stuttgart Region in southern Germany. The way in which the different knowledge bases used in knowledge-intensive business activities influence spatial patterns of economic activity in the surrounding area of the core city, including small and medium-sized towns, is discussed. The knowledge bases differentiated in this paper are analytical, synthetic and symbolic knowledge.

Highlights

Up until the 1990s, a phase of intense suburbanization processes could be observed in Germany.In particular, population patterns changed in favor of suburban areas and at the expense of core cities [1]
To understand the role of small and medium-sized cities as economic locations in the knowledge economy, we focus on spatial changes in an economically strong and innovative region in southern
By combining the analysis of the location quotients with the results from Figure 5, it is confirmed that synthetic knowledge is still strongly concentrated in the core city of Stuttgart

Summary

Introduction

Population patterns changed in favor of suburban areas and at the expense of core cities [1]. The discussion about a renaissance of the city is being driven by changing population patterns, and by changing patterns of economic activities due to the rising knowledge-based economy. As a result of the increasing importance of knowledge-intensive services, and creative and research-intensive industries, working locations in core cities are gaining importance [8]. The increasing importance of cities as economic locations in the knowledge economy can be explained by both the small space requirements of knowledge-processing activities in comparison to manufacturing opportunities (for learning, observation and knowledge exchange) and by their good transport infrastructure (for creating face-to-face interactions beyond local contacts) [9,10,11]. Density is an important factor influencing—in particular—the settlement of knowledge-intensive business services in agglomerations [12] (p. 1), [13]

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Conclusion