Strength Of Cities Research Articles

Comparing passenger flow and time schedule data to analyse High-Speed Railways and urban networks in China

China’s High-Speed Railways (HSR) network is the biggest in the world, transporting large numbers of passengers by high-speed trains through urban networks. Little is known about the analytical meaning of the use of two types of flow data, namely, time schedule (transportation mode flow) and passenger flow data, to characterise the configuration of urban networks regarding the potential spatial effects of HSR networks on urban networks. In this article, we compare HSR passenger flow data with time schedule data from 2013 in China within the same analytical framework. The findings show great differences in the strength of cities and links generated using the two different types of flow data. These differences can be explained largely by the socio-economic attributes of the cities involved, such as tertiary employment, GDP per capita, the cities’ topological properties (closeness centrality) in HSR networks and institutional factors (hub status), especially for the difference in link strength. The strength of first-tier cities in China with high socio-economic performance and the HSR links connecting core cites and major cities within respective regions tends to be underestimated when using time schedule flows compared with passenger flows. When analysing the spatial structure of HSR and urban networks by means of flows, it is important for urban geographers and transportation planners to consider the meaning of the different types of data with the analytical results.

新疆各城市综合经济发展实力评价——基于因子分析

新疆各城市综合经济发展实力评价——基于因子分析

Well connected compared to what? Rethinking frames of reference in world city network research

Claims about the strength of cities’ global connections have become commonplace in the world cities literature. Although such claims are inherently comparative, authors often do not specify the reference. London is well connected compared to what? In this paper, I adapt the stochastic degree sequence model from network analysis as a tool to derive a frame of reference that can be used to inform and substantiate such claims. Beyond providing a formal statistical method for deciding when the claim that “X is well connected” is justified, it also addresses a number of other challenges in this literature, including more explicitly casting firms as key agents in world city formation, providing insight into when and where global firms might be expected to locate their branch offices, and helping identify cases that warrant more detailed investigation. To illustrate, I apply the method to data on cities and firms from 2013, examining the results at five different scales, from the individual city and firm to the entire world city network. I conclude by considering how this approach allows researchers to ask different kinds of questions about the nature of world city status.

The role of creative cluster Savamala in Belgrade repositioning in global hierarchies

Urban competitiveness in post-industrial society largely depends on the strength of city's creative economy. It is represented by its position in global urban hierarchies, as an indicator of its importance and attractiveness for people and companies. Creative clusters present a way to stimulate creative economy in the city because the spatial concentration of creative companies and people additionally stimulates exchange of ideas and knowledge. Article explores complex dynamic between creative economy, cities and global hierarchies. The focus is on the role of creative clusters in the process of global positioning, especially in the case of Belgrade. The city has significantly improved its position in the global urban hierarchy - from a non-existing node in 2000, to the 'beta' level of global cities in 2008 (according to GaWC global urban hierarchy). Furthermore, in just four years (2008-2012), Belgrade improved its rank for three positions. This period overlaps with several interesting events - e.g. the initial phase of the largest regional creative festival and the development of a creative cluster in Savamala. Consequently, the article will emphasize the importance of this district in the global repositioning of Belgrade.

Do Cities Still Matter? The Economic Strength of Cities and the Economic Failure of Globalism in Promoting Regional Technological Innovation and Economic Prosperity

There are four areas of conflict of interest between the goals of democratically elected representatives in promoting regional technological innovation, and the goals of the senior managers of global corporations. These four conflicts involve:1. a conflict over information flows between industrial sectors;2. the openness of inter-corporate career transfers of scientific personnel between existing firms and the creation of new ventures;3. control over the path of technical change in the region;4. a conflict over whether collective decisions will be based upon the cultural/political values regarding globalist/collectivist values or the indvidualidualistic values of individual freedom and reward based upon individual merit.This paper concludes that the globalist laws and policies that were implemented in the early 1990’s disproportionately served the financial interests of global corporations to the detriment of metro regions in the United States. Those laws and policies had the effect of cutting off the flow tacit knowledge in each metro region because the policies disrupted the flows of knowledge in the regional interindustry relationships that had existed before 1992.Regional interindustry relationships are the communication pathway of technical knowledge, and without the flow of tacit knowledge, the metro regions suffered a lower rate of technological innovation, and consequently reduced rates of economic growth.What was true for economic decline in each metro region in America was true, cumulatively, for the national economy. Since the implementation of the globalist policies, the national economy has suffered two decades of reduced economic prosperity punctuated by a series of financial and economic meltdowns.The globalist laws and policies could not have been introduced and implemented in an earlier time period because the enabling technology platform of global information communication technology, (ICT), provided by the internet, did not yet exist.