The Polycentric Knowledge Economy in Barcelona

Abstract

This study focuses on the employment decentralization process in the Barcelona Metropolitan Region (BMR) between 1991 and 2001. Disaggregating employment data among four categories of knowledge-intensive activities (Knowledge-Intensive Services; High- Technology Industries; Producer Services; and Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate) and two groups of other employment (Other Manufacturing and Other Services), the aim is to test whether these four groups decentralized in a similar way to other employment, and whether this process encouraged them to locate in a polycentric or spatially dispersed pattern. The results show that knowledgeintensive and other employment activities decentralize in a similar way, although the former tends to be more concentrated through the formation of employment subcenters and therefore follows a polycentric location model. As a result, physical proximity is still important for numerous activities, especially those that incorporate more knowledge.