Our aim in this paper is to explain the international strategies of cities by focusing on market conditions. Drawing on a critique of the glocalisation thesis we show that the design of these strategies can plausibly be explained by the specific characteristics of urban capitalism found in the different cities. Whereas the international strategy of Manchester must be seen as a response to problems of postindustrial restrictions, the importance of the logistic sector in Dutch capitalism strongly shapes Amsterdam's strategy. In Zurich, though, it is argued that the city was already very well prepared for the transformation towards a post-Fordist regime, and so did not need any strategy at all. We conclude that varieties of glocalisation trajectories are a major factor driving and shaping the characteristics of international urban strategies.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AmableB, 2003Diversity of Modern Capitalism (Oxford University Press, Oxford)
2.
AminAThriftN, 2002Cities: Reimaging the Urban (Polity Press, Cambridge)
3.
ArmingeonK, 2004, “Swiss economic and fiscal policy”, in Handbook of Swiss Politics Eds KlötiUKnoepfelPKriesiHLinderWPapadopoulosY (NZZ Publishing, Zurich) pp 632–672
4.
BaselKonjunkturforschung (Ed.), 1998Die Schweiz in Europa aus volkswirtschaftlicher Sicht: Eine Bestandesaufnahme der 90er Jahre und Optionen für das 21. Jahrhundert [Switzerland in Europe from an economic perspective: a review of the situation in the 1990s and options for the 21st century] Basel, on behalf of the Civil Society Association
5.
BatheltHNalmbergAMaskellP, 2004, “Clusters and knowledge: local buzz, global pipelines and the process of knowledge creation”Progress in Human Geography2893–109
6.
BonoliGMachA, 2000, “Switzerland: adjustment politics within institutional constraint”, in Welfare and Work in the Open Economy Eds ScharptF WSchmidtV A (Oxford University Press, Oxford) pp 132–174
7.
BoyerR, 1996, “The convergence hypothesis revisited: globalization but still the century of nations?”, in National Diversity and Global Capitalism Eds BergerSDoreR (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY) pp 29–59
8.
BoyerR, 1999, “The variety and dynamics of capitalism”, in Institutions and the Evolution of Capitalism: Implications of Evolutionary Economics Eds GroenewegenJ P MVromenJ J (Edward Elgar, Northampton, MA) pp 122–140
9.
BoyerR, 2004Une Théorie du Capitalisme: Est-elle Possible? [A theory of capitalism: is it possible?] (Odile Jacob, Paris)
10.
BoyerRRogers HollingsworthJ, 1997, “From national embeddedness to spatial and institutional nestedness”, in Contemporary Capitalism: The Embeddedness of Institutions Eds BoyerRRogers HollingsworthJ (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge) pp 433–484
11.
BrennerN, 1999, “Globalisation as reterritorialisation: the re-scaling of urban governance in the European Union”Urban Studies36431–451
12.
BrennerN, 2004aNew State Spaces: Urban Governance and the Rescaling of Statehood (Oxford University Press, Oxford)
13.
BrennerN, 2004b, “Urban governance and the production of new state spaces in Western Europe, 1960–2000”Review of International Political Economy11447–488
14.
BunnellT GCoeN M, 2001, “Spaces and Scales of Innovation”Progress in Human Geography25569–589
ClarkG LTraceyP, 2004Global Competitiveness and Innovation: An Agent-centred Perspective (Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, Hants)
17.
CoatesD (Ed.), 2005Varieties of Capitalism, Varieties of Approaches (Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, Hants)
18.
Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker, 1990–2004European Cities Monitor yearly reports from 1990–2004, copies available from Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker, London
19.
Economiesuisse, 2006, “Wirtschaftswachstum und EU-Beitritt der Schweiz. Analyse über die Determinanten des Wirtschaftswachstums” [Economic growth and joining the EU for Switzerland. Analysis of the determinants of economic growth]Dossierpolitik71–6
20.
EvansKFraserPTaylorI, 1996A Tale of Two Cities (Routledge, London)
21.
FreyR L, 2004Städtewachstum in die Breite oder in die Höhe? Überlegungen und Standpunkte der Stadt- und Regionalökonomie [Urban growth into the width or the height? Considerations and points of view of city and regional economics], written version of the presentation given at the symposium “Chancen und Potenziale einer wirtschaftlichen Ausnützung” [Chances and potentials of economic exploitation] 5 December 2003; copy available from Avenir Suisse, Giessereistrasse 5, 8005 Zurich
GertlerM S, 2002, “Technology, culture and social learning”, in Innovation and Social Learning Eds GertlerM SWolfeD A (Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, Hants) pp 111–134
24.
GertlerM S, 2003, “The spatial life of things: the real world of practice within the global firm”, in Remaking the Global Economy: Economic—Geographical Perspectives Eds PeckJYeungH W-C (Sage, London) pp 101–113
25.
HakfoortJPootTRietveldP, 2002, “The regional economic impact of an airport: the case of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport”Regional Studies35595–604
26.
HallP ASoskiceD W (Eds), 2001The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage (Oxford University Press, Oxford)
27.
HebbertM, 2004, “Manchester case report” presentation at the 4th seminar, Madrid; copy available from Michael Hebbert, School of Environment and Development, University of Manchester
28.
HemerijckAUngerBVisserJ, 2000, “How small countries negotiate change: twenty-five years of policy adjustment in Austria, the Netherlands, and Belgium”, in Welfare and Work in the Open Economy. Volume II: Diverse Responses to Common Challenges Eds ScharpfFSchmidtV A (Oxford University Press, Oxford) pp 174–263
JessopB, 1998, “The narrative of enterprise and the enterprise of narrative: place marketing and the entrepreneurial city”, in The Entrepreneurial City Eds HallTHubbartP (John Wiley, Chichester, Sussex) pp 77–102
31.
JessopB, 2000, “The crisis of spatio-temporal fix and the tendential ecological dominance of globalizing capitalism”International Journal of Urban and Regional Research24323–360
32.
JouveBLefèvreC (Eds), 2002Local Power, Territory and Institutions in European Metropolitan Regions (Frank Cass, London)
33.
KitscheltHLangePGaryMStephensJ D, 1999, “Convergence and Divergence in Advanced Capitalist Economies”, in Continuity and Change in Contemporary Capitalism Eds KitscheltHLangePGaryMStephensJ D (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge) pp 427–460
34.
KrugmanP R, 1994Peddling Prosperity (Norton, New York)
35.
KustersAVerbruggenJ, 2001, “Reexports and the Dutch market position”CPB Report435–40
36.
LefèvreCd'AlbergoE, 2007, “Guest editorial. Why cities are looking abroad and how they go about it”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy25317–326
37.
MalmbergA, 2003, “Beyond the cluster—local milieus and global connections”, in Remaking the Global Economy: Economic Geographical Perspectives Eds PeckJYeungH W-C (Sage, London) pp 145–159
38.
ManshandenW J JLambooyJ G, 2001, “Innovation in the Amsterdam Region”, in Innovative Cities Eds SimmieJ (Spon, London) pp 131–153
39.
NewmanPThornleyA, 2005Planning World Cities: Globalization and Urban Politics (Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, Hants)
40.
OosterhavenJSijtsmaF J, 1998, “Over de Directe en Indirecte Betekenis van de Luchthaven Schiphol” [On the direct and indirect impact of Schipol Airport], in Transport en Welvaart: Vervoer in Vogelvlucht [Transport and welfare: a bird's-eye view of transportation] Eds ElhorstJ POosterhavenJ (Stichting Ruimtelijke Economie Groningen, Groningen) pp 99–122
41.
PhelpsN A, 2004, “Dispersion and the spaces in between: for an economic geography of the banal”Urban Studies41971–989
42.
Rogers HollingsworthJ (Ed.), 1994Governing Capitalist Economies: Performance and Control of Economic Sectors (Oxford University Press, Oxford)
43.
Rogers HollingsworthJBoyerR, 1997, “Coordination of economic actors and social systems of production”, in Contemporary Capitalism Eds Rogers HollingsworthJBoyerR (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge)
44.
SaletWAndyTKreukelsA (Eds), 2003Metropolitan Governance and Spatial Planning (Spon, London)
45.
SassenS, 2002The Global City2nd edition (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ)
46.
SavitchH VKantorP, 2002Cities in the International Marketplace (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ)
47.
ScharpfF WSchmidtV A (Eds), 2000Welfare and Work in the Open Economy (Oxford University Press, Oxford)
48.
SchoenbergerE, 1999, “The firm in the region and the region in the firm”, in The New Industrial Geography Eds BarnesT JGertlerM S (Routledge, London), pp 205–224
49.
ScottA J, 1996, “Regional motors of the global economy”Futures28391–411
50.
SEO, 2000Amsterdamse Economische Verkenningen: Ontwikkelingen in de Regio Amsterdam [Explorations of the Amsterdam economy: developments in the Amsterdam region] (Foundation for Economic Research of the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam)
51.
SpirigB, 2005Kosten und Nutzen eines EU-Beitritts: Darstellung und Erweiterung unter Berücksichtigung der Unsicherheit [Costs and utility of joining the EU: presentation and extension under consideration of uncertainty] (WWZ Forschungsbericht 05/05, Basel)
52.
SwyngedouwE, 1997, “Neither global nor local: ‘Glocalisation’ and the politics of scale”, in Spaces of Globalization Eds CoxK R (Guilford Press, New York) pp 137–166
53.
SwyngedouwE, 2000, “Elite power, global forces, and the political economy of ‘glocal’ development”, in The Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography Eds FeldmanM PGertlerM S (Oxford University Press, Oxford) pp 541–558
54.
TaylorP J, 1995, “World cities and territorial states: the rise and fall of their mutuality”, in World Cities in a World System Eds KnoxP LTaylorP J (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge) pp 48–62
55.
TaylorP J, 2000, “World cities and territorial states under conditions of contemporary globalization”Political Geography195–32
56.
TaylorP J, 2004World City Network: A Global Urban Analysis (Routledge, London)
57.
TerhorstP, 2002, “Continuités et changements de régimes urbains: le cas d'Amsterdam” [Continuity and changes of urban regimes: the case of Amsterdam] in Métropoles Ingouvernables: Les Villes Européennes entre Globalisation et Décentralisation [Ungovernable metropolitan areas: European cities between globalisation and decentralisation] Eds JouveBLefèvreC (Elsevier, Paris) pp 125–152
58.
TerhorstP, forthcoming, “Amsterdam's path dependence: still tightly interwoven with a national accumulation regime”, in Territorial Advantage? States, Cities and Regions in the Global Age Ed. HardingA (Blackwell, Oxford)
59.
TerhorstPvan de VenJ, 1995, “The national urban growth coalition in the Netherlands”Political Geography14343–361
60.
van der HeidenNKüblerD, 2005, “Zurich: the international activities of a want-to-be global city outside the EU” presentation at the 5th seminar, Zurich, copy available from the author
61.
VisserJHemerijckA, 1997‘A Dutch Miracle’: Job Growth, Welfare Reform and Corporatism in the Netherlands (Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam)
62.
WagschalUGanserDRentschH, 2002Der Alleingang—die Schweiz 10 Jahre nach dem EWR-Nein [Going solo—Switzerland 10 years after the no to the EEC] (Orell Füssli, Zürich)
63.
WolfeD AGertlerM S, 2004, “Clusters from the inside and out: local dynamics and global linkages”Urban Studies411071–1093
64.
ZürcherKantonalbank, 2000/2004, “Innovation und Wachstum: wo steht Zürich im internationalen Vergleich?” [Innovation and growth: where does Zurich stand in an international comparison?], http://www.zkb.ch/prospekte/studien/vorsorge/innovation.html
