Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
The locational dynamics of production in post-Fordism are fundamen-
tally di
ff
erent in many respects from those of large, Fordist oligopolies—
speci
cally, economies of scale diminish and are replaced by an accentuated
emphasis on co-location, trust, and agglomeration economies. In essence,
the enhanced sets of linkages among
fi
firms characteristic of vertically dis-
integrated production systems propelled them to cluster near one another,
creating pools of
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firms in which positive external economies may be gener-
ated. This transition led to the rise of dense urban networks of interactions,
including many face-to-face linkages, ties that emphasized “non-economic”
factors such as tacit knowledge, learning, re
fi
exivity, conventions, expect-
ations, trust, uncertainty, and reputation in the interactions of economic
actors. Geographically, therefore,
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flexible production is closely associated
with the dense concentrations of “high technology”
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firms in “learning regions”
that emerged in the late twentieth century, including the stereotypical exam-
ples of California's Silicon Valley, Italy's Emilia-Romagna, Germany's
Baden-Württemberg, the Danish Jutland, and the British electronics complex
centered on Cambridge (Storper 1992, 1997). Such complexes originate from
and in turn are geographically constituted by dense webs of inter
fi
rm inter-
actions, agglomeration economies, shared specialized information, and the
pools of skilled talent critical to their production processes. Post-Fordist
production systems, therefore, tend to take the form both of regional com-
plexes of activity as well as dispersed transnational corporations. This point
serves as a reminder that even within the most footloose and hypermobile of
global economies, place still remains critical for many forms of production.
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Moving people and goods through postmodern space
The dramatically enhanced levels of mobility—for people, goods, and infor-
mation—are not only central to the postmodern era but also de
ne it. While
place remains an enduring feature of contemporary social life, to an ever-
increasing extent the geographies of postmodernity are de
fi
fi
ned by mobilities,
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flows, and networks (Crang 2002; Larsen et al. 2006). For all the hyperbole
about the end of geography and the death of distance, even in the most
postmodern of worlds the stubborn need remains to shuttle commodities and
people over vast stretches of the earth. However, like so many other sectors,
transportation was thoroughly reworked by postmodern capitalism, which
greatly improved the speed and e
ciency of movement. For example, high-
speed trains form a key part of inter-urban transit systems in densely popu-
lated, economically advanced countries with strong state backing (but not
the U.S.), including the Japanese Shinkansen (“bullet trains”); France's
Trains à Grande Vitesse (TGV), which cover the 275 miles from Paris to
Lyon in just two hours, operating at roughly 180 miles per hour; Germany's
Neubaustrecke (NBS); Spain's Alta Velocidad Española (AVE); and the
British Inter-City 125, which brought all of England within a few hours of
London. With speeds up to 300 kph, such systems are competitive with air
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