Clones or complements? The division of labour between the main cities of the Randstad, the Flemish Diamond and the RheinRuhr Area

In the contemporary debate on the spatial organization of urban regions, much emphasis is placed on the development of polycentric urban patterns on a variety of spatial scales. Polycentric development at the intra-urban scale of the polycentric city implies an unfolding of a spatial division of labour between the centres. This paper analyses whether on the inter-urban scale of polycentric urban regions such a trend towards complementarity can also be found. Opposing trends occur, however, as the division of labour in service sector activities between the main cities of some prime examples of polycentric urban regions is diminishing.