ABSTRACT
During the sixties and seventies a clearcut reversal of previous spatial trends took place in all advanced economies, including those of western Europe, with the emergence of what was called "non-metropolitan industrialisation". Intermediate and peripheral regions and rural areas within advanced regions experienced sustained growth, in sharp contrast to the slowdown and even crisis of formerly "strong" metropolitan areas. These elements concern the strategic, organisational, and therefore spatial effects of new information technologies on industries, both those producing new high-technology devices and those applying them to the production process. Together, these two categories may be termed "new technology industry". There are three key words in this new order: innovation (and in particular, "continuing innovation"), information (and "informatisation" of all aspects of the firm's structure), and functional integration. The chapter argues that adoption of these technologies is by no means simple, and requires high levels of skill and well-developed urban environments endowed with advanced services.
