The spatial economy of metropolitan Melbourne can be grouped into three distinct areas which developed in different ways between 1971 and 2006. The outer parts of Melbourne became more urbanised, while the economies of the inner part of the metropolis maintained a strong presence in the finance, banking and high-level service industries. The middle parts of Melbourne showed much more diverse behaviour and were the destination of much of the manufacturing activity which moved out of the inner part of the metropolis. Melbourne and its component municipalities in most cases underwent a transition to less specialised economic structures over this period, the largest changes occurring in local government areas with the highest level of specialisation. There is little evidence of the city converging to a common economic structure, nor are there any signs of the emergence of economic sub-centres at the expense of the CBD.
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