INTRODUCTION: HETEROGENEITY AT DIFFERENT SPATIAL SCALES

Spatial heterogeneity at the city level is crucial for explaining local inequality. This heterogeneity will continue from a cultural perspective, an age profile perspective, and a productivity perspective. The process of catching up to the technological leader is influenced by geographic proximity and local input-output linkages, particularly to upstream industries. Heterogeneity of urbanization patterns and spatial linkages affect foreign direct investment flows. The relative power of the economic agglomerating and spreading forces are not scale neutral but heterogeneous, more specifically: spatial linkages are found to be more important at higher levels of aggregation. Copyright (c) 2009, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.