In many ways, the existence of such clusters today is surprising. While there are
many well-documented examples of clusters in ancient times,3 it is not intuitive to
associate clusters with economic success in today’s global economy. In many
ways, Tom Friedman’s (2005) best seller ‘‘The World Is Flat’’ popularized the
ideas that today’s efficient processes, supported by advanced communications
technologies mean, as earlier authors argue, ‘‘The End of Geography’’ (O’Brien
1992) and ‘‘The Death of Distance’’ (Cairncross 1997).Yet—despite such trends—
over half the world’s population now live in urban areas, as reported by the UN
Population Fund (2007) and that portion is increasing. Commensurate with this
trend, Sassen (2001) showed that the economic leadership of mega cities, which
are obvious clusters of economic activity, has become more pronounced.4
Similarly, data show that industries do tend to cluster; raising the question of
why this phenomenon takes place given today’s advanced abilities. The answer to
this question is that industrial clusters embody certain advantages:
In many ways, the existence of such clusters today is surprising. While there aremany well-documented examples of clusters in ancient times,3 it is not intuitive toassociate clusters with economic success in today’s global economy. In manyways, Tom Friedman’s (2005) best seller ‘‘The World Is Flat’’ popularized theideas that today’s efficient processes, supported by advanced communicationstechnologies mean, as earlier authors argue, ‘‘The End of Geography’’ (O’Brien1992) and ‘‘The Death of Distance’’ (Cairncross 1997).Yet—despite such trends—over half the world’s population now live in urban areas, as reported by the UNPopulation Fund (2007) and that portion is increasing. Commensurate with thistrend, Sassen (2001) showed that the economic leadership of mega cities, whichare obvious clusters of economic activity, has become more pronounced.4Similarly, data show that industries do tend to cluster; raising the question ofwhy this phenomenon takes place given today’s advanced abilities. The answer tothis question is that industrial clusters embody certain advantages:
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