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Polycentric Metropolis Hypothesis in the Greater Dublin Region

Explore the application of the polycentric metropolis hypothesis and its impact on the knowledge-intensive banking and finance sector in the dynamic setting of the Greater Dublin region. This paper delves into the evolving urban structures and spatial dynamics within the realm of knowledge-intensive business services.

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Polycentric Metropolis Hypothesis in the Greater Dublin Region

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  1. IGU – Urban Commission Canterbury, 2011 The polycentric metropolis hypothesis and knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS): The case of a banking and financial services sectorin the Greater Dublin region Dr Martin Sokol Canterbury Christ Church University martin.sokol@canterbury.ac.uk

  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 don’t exist):interviews x25 • case study: Dublin • hypothesis: polycentric metropolis

  3. Polycentric metropolis hypothesis Big cities / metrop. polycentric city-regions

  4. Polycentric metropolis hypothesis Big cities / metrop. polycentric city-regions • Inevitable • Desirable

  5. Polycentric metropolis hypothesis Big cities / metrop. polycentric city-regions • Inevitable • ICT rev., globalisation, knowledge economy... • Desirable

  6. 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?]

  7. 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

  8. Significant... urban transformation:

  9. 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?

  10. 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)

  11. 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’

  12. 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’

  13. Peter Hall • Operationalised @ metro scale: • “Polycentric mega-city region” • London / Greater South East England • [see also Dan’s lecture]

  14. 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)?

  15. Irish team: Greater Dublin Region

  16. Irish team: Greater Dublin Region Metro area

  17. Irish team: Greater Dublin Region mono-centric poly-centric

  18. Regional Studies, vol. 42 (8) ...

  19. monocentric ! Source: Sokol et al. (2008)

  20. monocentric ! Source: Sokol et al. (2008) Why?

  21. Why? • Need to understand the dynamics of individual KIBS sectors

  22. Why? • Need to understand the dynamics of individual KIBS sectors • Banking & finance

  23. 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...

  24. Banking & finance Source: Sokol et al. (2008)

  25. But... Banking & finance: • complex ‘industry’ • complex division of labour • complex geographies / spatial organisation • complex spatial dynamics

  26. Growth and Change, vol. 38 (2) ...

  27. But... Banking & finance: • complex ‘industry’ • complex division of labour • complex geographies / spatial organisation • complex spatial dynamics Polycentric metropolis hypothesis ?

  28. Banking & finance:Polycentric metropolis hypothesis in theory...

  29. 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...

  30. 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)

  31. 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]

  32. international financial services • Funds; Banking/finance; Insurance • All major global players (Irish operation) • servicing (mostly) global clients • mostly in Dublin

  33. 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) [Dublin’s version of London’s Docklands] • Est. 1987; 10% corporation tax (now 12.5%) • Ireland = cheaper location for big global players • they had to locate in Dublin’s IFSC to benefit • by 2005: 20,000 jobs • Limited decentralisation outside Dublin (but not necessarily in Greater Dublin region)

  34. 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

  35. 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 Hesse’s paper; and/or speculative office development) • also implications for the national economy... • “up to half of the banking system’s aggregate loan book is now in the broadly defined property category” (Central Bank and FSA, 2005, 9)

  36. Further complications • crisis

  37. Further complications • crisis

  38. Further complications • crisis The emergence of a polycentric metropolis in Dublin: uncertain & problematic

  39. Thank you

  40. 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 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.

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