Office Location in Transition: Observations on Research in Britain and North America

Abstract

There have been signs of uncertainty recently about the standing and direction of office location studies. Yet there remains much to be understood about the distinctive contribution of office activities to urban form, development, and structure or to problems of structural change at the regional scale. The scope for further work is demonstrated through a comparison of some recent research in Britain and North America. There are some clear differences in emphasis, approach, and methodology between the two ‘schools’ and there is scope for more comparative work and greater international collaboration in research activity. Office studies in Britain have been dominated by empirical concerns, but some research on behavioural aspects of office location decisionmaking and a model of the office development cycle suggest that things are changing. Nevertheless, applied research continues to be important as illustrated by a sector-specific study of the location and behaviour of business services in some large British cities. The development of theoretical models is a notable feature of recent work by some American economists and two examples are included.