Sprawl or Reagglomeration? The Dynamics of Employment Deconcentration and Industrial Transformation in Greater Paris

Abstract

From 1975 to 1999, employment in the Paris metropolitan area became more and more decentralised. The losses from central areas were divided equally between sprawl and peripheral clusters. Parallel to the deconcentration of jobs, the growth of a services-oriented economy has led to an increase in sectoral concentration. However, there is no clear evidence of a vertical spatial disintegration, because at the same time the economy of all places has tended to diversify. One explanation might be that sprawl relies both on endogenous job creation and on job relocation: relocations tend to increase the specialisation of the clusters while endogenous growth is more diverse thanks to the importance of domestic activities.