BUSINESS SERVICE LOCATION STRATEGIES IN THE BARCELONA METROPOLITAN REGION

On the basis of two studies recently carried out on the supply and demand for business services, the fundamental aim of this article is to analyse business service location strategies in the Barcelona Metropolitan Region (BMR) and to demonstrate the existence of tendencies similar to those in other developed urban areas. Three conclusions clearly emerge: a growing and progressive externalisation of business services; the tendency towards the urban concentration of these services, especially the most innovative and strategic ones; and the need for a high degree of co-operation between business service customers and suppliers.