A new 21st century urban phenomenon is emerging: the networked polycentric mega-city region. Developed around one or more cities of global status, it is characterized by a cluster of cities and towns, physically separate but intensively networked in a complex spatial division of labour. This book describes and analyses eight such regions in North West Europe. For the first time, this work shows how businesses interrelate and communicate in geographical space - within each region, between them, and with the wider world. It goes on to demonstrate the profound consequences for spatial planning and regional development in Europe - and, by implication, other similar urban regions of the world.The Polycentric Metropolis introduces the concept of a mega-city region, analyses its characteristics, examines the issues surrounding regional identities, and discusses policy ramifications and outcomes for infrastructure, transport systems and regulation. Packed with high quality maps, case study data and written in a clear style by highly experienced authors, this will be an insightful and significant analysis suitable for professionals in urban planning and policy, environmental consultancies, business and investment communities, technical libraries, and students in urban studies, geography, economics and town/spatial planning.

A striking consequence of contemporary globalization has been an increase in the importance and prestige of cities. Whereas only a generation or so ago cities were commonly viewed as 'problems', the sites of society's ills, today they are more readily seen as 'solutions', places where twenty-first century dilemmas can most successfully be resolved. Hence, argue the editors of this new four-volume collection from Routledge, while globalization is generally viewed as eroding the influence of states, cities have come to the fore as the new spatial frame of the future. The old modern international organization of states as a worldwide mosaic of borders is being challenged by transnational spaces of flows organized through city nodes in global networks. As serious work on and around the subject flourishes as never before, Global Cities answers the need for an authoritative reference work to map and make sense of a vast body of literature and a continuing explosion in research output. Edited by a team of leading scholars, the collection brings together in four volumes the very best foundational and cutting-edge contributions. The set is fully indexed and each component volume has a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editors, which places the gathered material in its historical and intellectual context. Global Cities is an essential resource and is destined to be valued by scholars and students as a vital one-stop research tool.