The Space Ruled by Globalisation and Metropolises

Abstract

The study deals with the evaluation of the main "hard" factors determining and forming the existence and hierarchy of metropolises. Former studies – especially focusing on the presence of centres of financial institutions and multinational companies – was at fault for a real analysis of relation between the systems of long distance international communication connections (transportation/telecommunication) and Metropolises. This deficiency has to made up for the author analyses the role of transportation methods determining in intermetropolis/intercontinental connections in detail in our globalising postindustrial era. The extent of air passenger and cargo traffic among metropolises is rather convenient to express the weight of the outstandingly significant air transportation than the number of passengers of megaairports. It draws thoroughly the line of forces of the global economy's system of spatial connections. (Hereby the role of maritime navigation is hardly decreased for metropolises.)

The role of applied information and communication technologies quickly increases in the accomplishment of intermetropolis connections and functions. The localisation and capacity of internethubs represents a different global structure in contradiction to wire communication (e.g. Amsterdam gets ahead of Tokyo or Berlin). Contrary to air transportation the telecommunication traffic among metropolises is very far from the regularity of the gravitation model due to specific characteristic, which makes the distance unimportant.