The territoriality of the network economy and urban networks: evidence from flanders

Abstract

As the network economy is continuing to develop, external economies are taking over internal economies and they are increasingly determining the entrepreneurial logic. To evaluate the territorial impact of this new logic a theoretical framework is developed based on a division of external economies between agglomeration economies that play a role in the economic functioning of urban areas and network economies that result from the networking among firms. The general picture of firms located in Flanders is one of intense networking within agglomerations, especially in their networking with suppliers, together with intense short and long distance relationships, where urban areas dominate the scene. A comparison between the urban networks introduced in spatial policy and the geography of firms’ networks, which has been investigated in this paper as the outcome of a large scale questionnaire, reveals that the nature of the firms’ networked territory can in fact not be translated in terms of urban networks but in terms of relationships between firms located in territories with dynamic industrial communities, and where cities, as a contextual place, play an important role.