ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates relations between London and Frankfurt with the coming of a single European currency. A simple competitive model is wholly inadequate for understanding London–Frankfurt relations. London and Frankfurt are thus both part of the same network of cities that straddle the world providing financial and other services. The reason why the euro and European Central Bank have had minimal effects on business relations between London and Frankfurt is that inter-city relations do not operate as a simple cause– effect mechanism. Four important networks that constitute London–Frankfurt relations are the following: knowledge networks, cultural networks, power networks and governance networks. Co-operative relations have been shown to take precedence over competition as a stimulus to business flows that benefit both London and Frankfurt. The existence of a ‘German system of cities’ of which Frankfurt is just one member is a point frequently made.
