Dr Martin Sokol Canterbury Christ Church University
[email protected] The polycentric metropolis hypothesis
and knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS): The case of a
banking and financial services sector in the Greater Dublin region
IGU Urban Commission Canterbury, 2011
Slide 2
my paper... networks of firms, but focus on :
knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) [advanced producer
services APS] specifically: banking/finance scale: metropolitan no
big data sets (they dont exist): interviews x 25 case study: Dublin
hypothesis: polycentric metropolis
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Polycentric metropolis hypothesis Big cities / metrop.
polycentric city-regions
Polycentric metropolis hypothesis Big cities / metrop.
polycentric city-regions Inevitable ICT rev., globalisation,
knowledge economy... Desirable more balanced (fairer) development
more econ. efficient more environ. sustainable [solving old
dilemma: equity vs. efficiency?]
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Debate / consensus Polycentric urban structures are indeed
emerging? Scott et al. (2001): multiclustered agglomerations Sassen
(2001): new geographies of centrality Castells (1989): multinuclear
spatial structures Hall (1999): networked urban region, multi-core
metropolis Hall and Pain (2006): polyopolis, polycentric mega- city
region, polycentric metropolis
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Significant... urban transformation:
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Significant... urban transformation: new economy new spatial
organisation monocentric industrial city post-industrial
polycentric city-region New urban reality? End of city as we know
it? Beyond cities?
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Key drivers ICTs plus... KIBS ( knowledge-intensive business
services) (banking and finance, insurance, legal service,
engineering, accounting, consultancy and other business services)
APS (Advanced producer services) FIRE (Finance, Insurance, Real
Estate)
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Castells (Informational City) social organisation spatial form
informational economy new spatial logic informational mode of
development driven by large scale information-processing
organisations information-intensive industries = KIBS ICT complex,
hierarchical, diversified organisational structure different parts:
linked by ICTs = space of flows
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Castells (Informational City) complex spatial structure:
simultaneous centralisation and decentralisation neither
centralisation nor decentralisation is dominant decentralisation:
(1) Inner city suburbs (of metropolitan areas) (2) Metro non-metro
areas / small cities (3) Between regions Informational Cities =
multifunctional, multinuclear spatial structures
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Peter Hall Operationalised @ metro scale: Polycentric mega-city
region London / Greater South East England [see also Dans
lecture]
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Peter Hall extended decentralisation [of KIBS] from large
central cities to adjacent smaller ones (Hall and Pain, 2006, 3)
outward diffusion [of KIBS] from major cities to smaller cities
(Hall and Pain, 2006, 12) Hope for peripheral hinterland urban
centres (coming out of the shadow of a giant)?
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Irish team: Greater Dublin Region
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Metro area
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Irish team: Greater Dublin Region mono-centric
poly-centric
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Regional Studies, vol. 42 (8)...
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Source: Sokol et al. (2008) monocentric !
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Source: Sokol et al. (2008) monocentric ! Why?
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Need to understand the dynamics of individual KIBS sectors
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Why? Need to understand the dynamics of individual KIBS sectors
Banking & finance
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Why? Need to understand the dynamics of individual KIBS sectors
Banking & finance the most important sector industry on its own
right (in fact, probably more than that!) the biggest propensity to
decentralise...
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Source: Sokol et al. (2008) Banking & finance
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But... Banking & finance: complex industry complex division
of labour complex geographies / spatial organisation complex
spatial dynamics
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Growth and Change, vol. 38 (2)...
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But... Banking & finance: complex industry complex division
of labour complex geographies / spatial organisation complex
spatial dynamics Polycentric metropolis hypothesis ?
Slide 29
Banking & finance: Polycentric metropolis hypothesis in
theory...
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Banking & finance Not 1 sector, but 2 sectors.... A
domestic banking B international financial services very different
functions very different geographies & spatial dynamics
(although some overlaps / similarities...) in practice...
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domestic banking Bank of Ireland, AIB, Ulster Bank, Permanent
TSB, National Irish Bank, Anglo-Irish Bank... Serving (mostly)
domestic market / HO in Dublin Centralisation of functions
back-office (e.g. cheque processing, credit checks, loans, credit
cards) & front- office (telephone/internet banking)
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domestic banking Bank of Ireland, AIB, Ulster Bank, Permanent
TSB, National Irish Bank, Anglo-Irish Bank... Serving (mostly)
domestic market / HO in Dublin Centralisation of functions
back-office (e.g. cheque processing, credit checks, loans, credit
cards) & front- office (telephone/internet banking) Decreasing
polycentricity (slimming down branch network & regional
offices) Spatial decentralisation of centralised functions to
cheaper locations (call centre, card centre, IT support centre,
Internet banking support centre, credit scoring unit) [geography: 2
hour drive from HO = favours locations within Greater Dublin
region]
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international financial services Funds; Banking/finance;
Insurance All major global players (Irish operation) servicing
(mostly) global clients mostly in Dublin
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international financial services Funds; Banking/finance;
Insurance All major global players (Irish operation) servicing
(mostly) global clients mostly in Dublin International Financial
Services Centre (IFSC) [Dublins version of Londons Docklands] Est.
1987; 10% corporation tax (now 12.5%) Ireland = cheaper location
for big global players they had to locate in Dublins IFSC to
benefit by 2005: 20,000 jobs Limited decentralisation outside
Dublin (but not necessarily in Greater Dublin region)
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Polycentric metropolis? complex picture not easy to foresee,
but so far: no clear tendency towards polycentric metropolis
centripetal forces > centrifugal forces if decentralisation:
sub-ordinate functions no sign of balanced (polycentric)
development Dublin continued dominance
Slide 39
Further complications indirect effects of finance (e.g. via
lending to households, firms, property developers...) shaping urban
structure (e.g. residential mortgages / suburbanisation - see also
Markus Hesses paper; and/or speculative office development) also
implications for the national economy... up to half of the banking
systems aggregate loan book is now in the broadly defined property
category (Central Bank and FSA, 2005, 9)
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Further complications crisis
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Further complications crisis
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Further complications crisis The emergence of a polycentric
metropolis in Dublin: uncertain & problematic The emergence of
a polycentric metropolis in Dublin: uncertain &
problematic
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Thank you
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ABSTRACT Martin Sokol The polycentric metropolis hypothesis and
knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS): The case of a banking
and financial services sector in the Greater Dublin region This
paper critically examines the hypothesis that polycentric structure
is emerging out of urban transformations in and around European
metropolitan city-regions. Knowledge- intensive business services
(KIBS) are often seen as key drivers of this process - which many
hope will result in a more balanced pattern of urban-regional
development. The paper focuses on a banking and financial services
sector which, among KIBS, displays perhaps the biggest propensity
to decentralise from central business districts (CBD) of primate
cities to smaller urban centres in the periphery of metropolitan
regions. However, the case study of Greater Dublin region
demonstrates that while banking and finance does show some
decentralising tendencies, these may not necessarily lead to a more
balanced polycentric city-regional development - not least because
the tendency to locate the most valuable operations in the primate
city (and especially in its CBD) remains strong. 36th Annual
Conference of the International Geographical Union (IGU) Urban
Geography Commission 'Emerging Urban Transformations' Urban
Transformations: Exploring Local, Regional and Global City Regions
Canterbury Christ Church University 14 20 August 2011
