Antoine Sylvain Bailly

Producer Services and Systems of Flexible Production

During the decade of the 1980s, regional science began to devote more and more attention to the influence of two phenomena upon the structure and functioning of the space-economy: (1) service activities, in general, and producer services, in particular, and (2) flexible production systems. This paper explores the extent to which these two major preoccupations of contemporary regional science can be integrated, and attempts to contribute to the understanding of the growth and location of producer services by examining the manner in which an analytical framework based upon flexible production may be applied to the latter. The exploration begins with a summary and criticism of the flexible production approach. This is followed by a discussion of the growth of producer services and of the trends towards the increasing externalisation of these activities. Next, the appropriateness of employing a flexible production framework in the case of producer services is examined. The significance of the concept of flexible production for understanding the location of producer services is then explored. Finally, the paper examines the effects upon the labour force of flexibility in the production and use of producer services.

Service activities and regional development: some European examples

Two general issues relating to the nature of the service sector are addressed in this paper. The first concerns the growing interdependence between the secondary and tertiary sectors, largely a function of the increased use of service functions in the manufacturing process; these service inputs may be either internalized or externalized by a manufacturing firm. The second issue concerns the role of the service sector in promoting regional economic development. It is generally acknowledged that, although it may be important for a region to possess a sufficient level of service activity so that its firms are not required to make major service imports, because of externality effects, high-order service activities tend to locate in major cities. Can it therefore be concluded that the locational pattern of the service sector has a minimal potential for reducing regional disparities, and that it would be unrealistic to expect the diffusion of services into peripheral regions? This may be the case for higher order services, but those more directly linked to industrial production may indeed be able to be decentralized. The potential for the decentralization of services activities is examined both within a conceptual framework and by reviewing the results of certain empirical studies conducted in Switzerland.

Changing cities: restructuring, marginality and policies in urban europe

This paper outlines the main trends of urban change in contemporary Europe and indicates theoretical approaches which can be used to analyse and under stand them. Three main questions are considered: the link between economic restructuring and urban and regional change; the interactions between urban policy responses and restructuring; and the conse quences of these changes for patterns of marginality in Europe.

Regional science: back to the future?

After initiating a provocative discussion on “regional science in crisis” (Bailly and Coffey 1994; Gibson 1994; Plane 1994; Stough 1994; Anas 1994; Vickerman 1994; Casetti 1995), we now wish to present some additional thoughts on how regional scientists can simultaneously make their field more relevant scientifically and more useful for society. At a time when resources are tight, when the number of regional science students is small, when administrators are scrutinizing our budgets and our ability to generate outside money, we need to do something to regain (or is it simply to gain?) our place in the sun. In this paper, we argue that regional scientists will not reestablish their field by using classical approaches to regional analysis alone. It is essential that we look at new ways to answer questions raised by our social, economic, and political institutions. More specifically, we make some observations concerning the history of regional science, its role within universities, and its nature, as well as offering some suggestions concerning how regional scientists can attempt to improve the situation.

Subjective Distances and Spatial Representations

Abstract Behavioural geography is more and more concerned with the representation of distances and spaces. This paper deals with the origins of this kind of analysis in the French- and English-speaking worlds, and with the basic theories of representation. It then develops the main arteries of research about distance and space cognition.

Lo imaginario espacial y la geografía. En defensa de la geografía de las representaciones.

Se trata de un analisis teorico de la geografia de las representaciones como una forma de analisis holistico del espacio, en el que se insiste en los aspectos afectivos y emocionales del tratamiento espacial. El hombre es conocimiento geografico en el que se mezcla lo real y lo imaginario.

Service activities and the evolution of production systems: an international comparison

Modern production systems are characterized by an increasing interdependence between services and the production of goods. The nature of such systems cannot be adequately represented by traditional economic typologies that are based upon the ‘product’ of a sector, and that accentuate the distinction between the manufacture of goods and the production of services. The interdependence between goods and services is explored and a more appropriate typology is proposed that is based upon the concept of the economic function of an establishment. This typology is then used to develop a more precise representation of the structure and evolution of production systems at the national scale in Denmark, France, Switzerland, and Canada, and at the urban scale in the last two countries. On the basis of this analysis, a set of alternative models towards which developed economies may be evolving are proposed.

Regional medicometry: Epistemological bases and case studies in Switzerland

This article presents the epistemological foundations of regional medicometry and its five criteria: ethical, economic, social, spatial, and temporal. By its global approach medicometry studies the direct and indirect effects of medical infrastructures and employment on society and its quality of life. Two case studies, one dealing with an urban hospital in Geneva, Switzerland, the other with peripheral hospitals, give a step-by-step example of the multiplier effect approach. Detailed measures of economic and social impacts of hospitals are given to show that medical planning needs a careful and long-term analysis.

Applied geography for the future

All academic fields evolve and geography is no exception. Geographers are broadening their perspectives, borrowing from related disciplines from other sciences including social behavioral and natural sciences. New examples of applied research have been explored in this book ranging from G.I.S. to medicometry, in different parts of the world. This is a chance to consider the future geography in light of increasing opportunities in the world of application.

A challenging book: Regional Development and Proximity Relations

The notion of proximity is increasing in popularity in economic and geographic literature, and is now commonly used by scholars in regional science and spatial economics. Few academic works, however, have explored the link between regional development and proximity relations. This comprehensive book redresses the balance with its assessment of the role of, and obstacles caused by, proximity relations in regional development processes.