The Urban Geography of Internet Backbone Networks in Europe: Roles and Relations

Abstract

This paper analyzes the way European cities are inter-connected with each other and with the rest of the world through Internet backbone networks. It focuses on highlighting the different roles different cities perform in this global network. Drawing upon Internet geography research, this paper attempts to provide a relational understanding of the European urban network based on the cities' connectivities within the Internet backbone network. In order to do so, we used network analysis techniques and introduced four different centrality measures that we then summarized with the use of cluster analysis. This analysis provides insights about the significance of European cities within the emergent global and European economic system, which can be explained both from long-established economic and political geographies, but also from the new roles that some cities perform in this global network.