GaWC
A new paper proposing a methodology for identifying potential cross-border metropolitan regions (CBMRs): Van Migerode, C. and Derudder, B. (2026) ‘Identifying potential cross-border metropolitan regions’, Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie. This contribution showcases visual storytelling as a tool for communicating analytical approaches. It outlines a methodology for identifying potential Cross-Border Metropolitan Regions (CBMRs). Potential […]
A new paper investigating the standardisation process behind urban definitions: Van Migerode, C., Poorthuis, A. and Derudder, B. (2026) ‘From fragmentation to framework: negotiating urban definitions’, Urban Studies. This article starts from the premise that purposefully working toward shared urban definitions can foster constructive dialogue across geographical and disciplinary boundaries. Yet, the process of standardisation […]
A new paper that examines how cities function as providers or receivers of innovative knowledge: Yang, Y., Demuynck, W. and Derudder, B. (2026) ‘Asymmetries in Chinese cities’ knowledge collaborations: dynamics of providing and receiving cooperation within and beyond urban regions’, International Regional Science Review. Knowledge cooperation underpins innovation systems, yet it is rarely balanced: some […]
Two new papers that engage with the pedagogy of teaching financial and regional geographies. The first, by Michiel van Meeteren, takes the example of two modules developed as part of the MSc International and Financial Political Relations at Loughborough University (and including key GaWC contributors in their various iterations), to argue for a broader inclusion […]
Two new papers analysing different aspects of technological diversification and polycentricity in Chinese urban regions: Lu, J., Yang, Y., Cao, Z. and Derudder, B. (2026) ‘Polycentricity and technological diversification: divergent pathways across Chinese urban regions’, Regional Studies, 60 (1). This paper examines how polycentricity shapes technological diversification in Chinese urban regions. Beyond morphological and functional […]
A new paper on the role of urban polycentricity in regional innovation: Yang, Y., Lu, J. and Derudder, B. (2026) ‘Intercity coopetition and regional innovation: The role of urban polycentricity’, Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space. Intercity coopetition—the dynamic interplay between cooperation and competition—is central to regional innovation, enabling knowledge exchange across cities. However, […]
A new typology of ‘interplaces’ that recognises their diversity and shows why they matter for how metropolitan regions work: Demuynck, W., Derudder, B., Meijers, E. and van Meeteren, M. (2025) ‘Between suburb and city: Conceptualising interplaces’, Urban Studies. A conceptual blind spot in prevailing models of metropolitan regions is how to understand urbanisation in secondary […]
Two new papers analysing labour market integration from a city network perspective: Liu, X., Derudder, B., Wang, B. and Witlox, F. (2025) ‘Interconnected cities, integrated markets: exploring the impact of transport networks on labor market integration in the Yangtze River Delta, China’, Growth and Change, 56 (4), e70068. This paper examines the impact of cities’ […]
GaWC researchers have long shaped agendas on polycentric urban development, from projects including the pioneering ERDF-funded POLYNET to the Regional Studies Association’s Polycentric Urban Regions (PURs) research network. Among the key outputs are a series of journal special issues addressing globalisation, city-regions and polycentricity in North-West Europe, the identification, evolution and performance of PURs, and […]
A selection of recent papers by GaWC researchers, published during the transition to our new website: Neal, Z.P., Derudder, B. and van Meeteren, M. (2024) ‘When is a matrix a geographical network?’, Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 114 (8), 1631-1638. Geographical networks are spatial networks in which the nodes have a socially constructed […]