Deutscher Geographentag 2013
www.geographentag.uni-passau.de/
Passau, Germany
2-8 October 2013

FS54: Global City Makers: Economic Actors in the World City Network

Session organizers: Michael Hoyler (Loughborough University) and 
Christof Parnreiter (University of Hamburg)

Since Peter Taylor (2001) developed the interlocking network model to 
capture the structure and dynamics of the ‘world city network', the 
global city debate has seen a strong emphasis on quantitative empirical 
research. This work has considerably deepened our knowledge of 
transnational relational firm and city networks (e.g. Taylor et al. 
2011, Hoyler et al. 2011). However, limitations of this methodological 
approach have also been critically discussed, leading Jon Beaverstock 
(2011) to identify a ‘theoretical impasse' in recent global city 
research. Others have suggested that increasingly sophisticated 
quantitative analyses of the structure and dynamics of the world city 
network contribute little to elucidate the management and coordination 
functions central to Sassen's (1991) analysis of global cities 
(Parnreiter 2012).

Responding to these critiques, we invite contributions that focus on 
economic actors and their practices in the formation of global cities 
and the world city network. We welcome contributions that employ a case 
study approach to ‘global city makers' as well as papers that develop 
new theoretical or methodological foundations for agency-focused global 
city research. Potential topics are: the making of global locational 
strategies in advanced producer service firms and other global ‘network 
makers', the governance of transnational value chains in the world city 
network, the management of knowledge flows in global firm networks, 
practice and performativity in the making of global economic networks, 
and methodological advances in global city research such as qualitative 
network analysis. We aim to attract contributions that engage critically 
and constructively with current global city research from an economic 
geography perspective, suggesting innovative avenues for its 
theoretical, methodological and empirical development.

Expressions of interest from potential contributors should be sent to 
[log in to unmask] by Monday, 14 January 2013. Please 
follow the submission guidelines available at the Conference CFP 
(http://www.geographentag.uni-passau.de/index.php?id=33): provide a 
(short) title, short summary (300 characters with spaces) and abstract 
(1000 characters with spaces) and cite FS 54 in the subject of your 
email. For informal enquiries, please contact the session organizers at 
[log in to unmask] and [log in to unmask]

-- 
Michael Hoyler
Senior Lecturer in Human Geography
Associate Director, Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) Research Network
Department of Geography
Loughborough University
Loughborough LE11 3TU
UK

Tel: +44 (0)1509 222740
Fax: +44 (0)1509 223930
http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/

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