Introduction - Methods for Multilevel Analysis and Visualisation of Geographical Networks - page 9

which Capello & Rietvelt ( 1998 ) have defined as the network itself (micro level), its
economic relationships (the meso level) and the urban or regional organisation as
a whole (the macro level). Thus multiple dimensions - each consisting of several
levels - contribute to the development of networks. Any account of the spatial
dimension of networks must consider these other dimensions. For example, in the
“Global Commodity Chain”, Gereffi ( 1996 ) identified four major dimensions that
determine the distribution of functions and forces between different production
units that are often distant from each other: the input-output economic structure
of production, services and resources; the governance structure; the differentiated
spatial field; and territorialised institutions. In a territorialised approach, the spatial
and institutional dimensions are incorporated in the single dimension of the territory.
This system posits three interdependent dimensions: corporate governance; the
economic system in which it functions; and the territory that produces it ( Dicken
& Malmberg , 2001 ; Rozenblat , 2007 ). This three-dimensional system particularly
applies at the urban system scale because the relational properties of amplitude,
connectivity and diversity provide the variety, flexibility and stability that networked
businesses require ( Camagni , 1999 ).

1.6 Inherent Spatial Properties of Networks:

The SPANGEO Project

Although increasing our knowledge of the properties of networks of cities is
essential, these properties can be measured at the city level and must be assessed
by analysing actor networks. The shift from the actor level to the city level must
consider the processes that develop within each individual city because there are
many processes that permit the emergence of urban properties in which “the whole
becomes not only more than but very different from the sum of its parts” ( Anderson
( 1972 ) cited in Lane ( 2006 )).
The present volume, which seems similar to an earlier volume, “Methodology
and epistemology of multi-level analysis” edited by Courgeau ( 2003 ), shifts the
focus from the individual to the group and from individualism to holism (known
here as the territory) because it focuses less on individual characteristics and more
on the interactions of actors and institutions that create functional territories in
which the structure of existing links constrains emerging links. Rather than basing
explanations on external factors, the goal is to determine the extent to which
network properties reflect spatial distributions and create local synergies at the meso
level that are incorporated into global networks at the macro level where different
geographical scales occur. Although the multilevel analysis developed by Courgeau
proposes that apriori groups and levels explain differences between individuals,
the goal of the present volume is to use the graphs' structure to identify empirically
relevant groups and levels that explain dynamics. This initial exploration applies
network analysis and visualisation to determine spatial path dependencies and the
emergence of functional territories as clusters forming a whole multiterritoriality.