ABSTRACT
According to recent theory, metropolitan economic fortunes are related to the diversity of advanced producer services supporting internationally orientated business. This is examined in this chapter with reference to the results of an empirical study of demand and supply networks of high level professional service activities located in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. These four cities are the major centres within the Randstad metropolitan region (the ‘Rimcity’) in the western part of the Netherlands, which accommodates five million inhabitants. The main question addressed is whether these four urban centres together form an integrated and diversified complex of advanced office activities. The results of the study indicate functional specialization at the level of individual cities within the Randstad region and complementarity and diversity at the level of the region as a whole.
