• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.444-462
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• 2003

There has been emerging general agreement on the relative importance of producer services in a economy. This research describes the spatial patterns and trends in producer services at different spatial scales. The other research aim is to explain the impacts of producer services on spatial changes at the national level and at the intra-metropolitan level in Seoul. Producer services have highly concentrated in metropolises, especially Seoul. Between 1986 to 2001, an important spatial change in the producer services at the national level has been their growth in the Capital Region, reinforcing the role and function of Seoul. This reinforced role of Seoul is closely related to its competitive advantages arising from economies of urban. There have been some dramatic changes in the location of producer services within Seoul. The most important change was the growth of the Youngdong area, previously a sub-center for businesses, as the most important location for producer services, exceeding the previous dominant role of the CBD area. The changing urban form of Seoul is partly related to the onset of some diseconomies of urbanization in the CBD, while at the same time Youngdong has reached a stage at which it is benefiting from the agglomeration of a variety of firms, in addition to a favourable social and physical infrastructure.