Agglomeration economies shaping the spatial structure in German city regions?

Abstract

Urban spatial structure is an issue since it implies measurement aspects, explanation aspects, and a discussion based on different backgrounds . In this paper, we try to shed some light on the urban spatial structure of four selected German city regions. Our starting point is a non-uniform distribution of economic activity in space which we analyze against a background of economic and planning theory. We aim at describing and hypothetically explaining urban spatial structure in Germany with a combination of concentration and association measures. The results are analyzed and put in the context of urban structure in North America. By looking at employment and employment in higher-order service sectors we try to find evidence for different agglomeration economies at work. Our results suggest that both employment types show a quite concentrated spatial pattern but that there are quantitative and qualitative differences . These differences might be explained with economies of agglomeration as well as influences from planning policies. Our findings for the German city regions are similar to those found for North America. Thus, we conclude that it is very likely and can be argued based on economic theory that agglomeration economies contribute to shaping the spatial structure in German city regions.