In search of lost centrality

The major changes of economic space organization seem to cast doubt over the concept of centrality and its applications, especially at the city, city network and global economy scales. Urban sprawl gives rise to a diffused or multiple centrality. Economic globalization reorganizes material and immaterial flows, and redistributes economic power to the advantage of global cities. A precise analysis of the terms center and centrality and of the phenomena they refer to permits to show that the classical patterns, if they are properly adapted, remain relevant at the urban scale, but that new centrality patterns are emerging at the world scale, on a reticular basis.