Alain Thierstein
Biographic Data
| ID | 2213042 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alain Thierstein |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alain |
| FAMILY NAME | Thierstein |
| SIGNATURE | THIERSTEIN A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Technical University of Munich |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1878-4862 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 55 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 23 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Mapping Urban Innovation Ecosystems
Navigating post-pandemic urban development
This article was published open access under a CC BY-NC-ND licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Disseminating regional design
Despite growing academic recognition of the usefulness of regional design for regional coordination and rescaling from the bottom up, the response of practitioners in spatial planning and governance at regional scales remains unclear. To investigate how practitioners assess regional design towards real-world practice, we interviewed practitioners engaged in our educational regional design studios in the Munich Metropolitan Region. Results demonst…
The contribution of knowledge-intensive firms to employment growth
Academic discussions have frequently examined the interrelation between regional employment growth and firm locations. Two growth patterns emerge: employment growth induced through new firm locations or vice versa, where firms locate in areas experiencing employment supply growth. The specific causal relationship responsible for regional employment growth in Germany remains uncertain. In the German context, however, more research is needed to ide…
Advanced producer services in Germany
This paper challenges the traditional perspective of a territorial core–periphery pattern as an organizing principle of space by introducing a relational perspective through an empirical approach. We study spatial processes of knowledge creation among advanced producer services in Germany between 2009 and 2019. We use a unique longitudinal dataset to analyse if German regions have become more integrated into the intra-firm location networks natio…
Working From Home and Covid-19
As a protective measure during the Covid-19 pandemic, in Spring 2020, a high number of employees began relocating their workplace to their homes, many for the first time. Recent surveys suggest that the share of those working from home (WFH) will remain higher than before the pandemic in the long term too—with correspondingly fewer commuting journeys. Workplaces are still often concentrated in inner cities, into which workers commute from more ou…
High speed rail as urban generator? An analysis of land use change around European stations
New High-Speed Rail stations are often expected to act as catalysts for regional and local urban and economic development. Accessibility improvements are assumed to increase locational attractiveness for households and companies, motivating municipal decision-makers to allocate land for urban development projects, particularly in the immediate vicinity of new stations. However, most empirical studies call such automatic effects into question, poi…
The problematization of ‘star architecture’ in architecture research
Despite of the growth of the body of scholarly literature on the topic star architecture, few articles cite publications of architectural research on the topic. The scholarly discussion of star architecture is only marginally influenced by the problematizations specific to the architecture field. This paper presents findings of a systematic quantitative literature review of the topic star architecture. By searching Scopus and Avery databases usin…
Star architecture and urban transformation
For nearly as long as there have been urban centres, exceptional architecture projects have contributed to transforming city form and city fortunes. In this special issue of ‘European Planning Studies’, we focus on star architecture and its ability to contribute to urban transformation, with articles on the phenomenon of star architecture from a range of disciplines. Star architecture is a topic where concerns about place, identity, economy, inno…
‘Being close, yet being distanced’
With the abrupt changes that the COVID-19 pandemic brought to daily public life -- socially and economically -- it has become clear that there will be fundamental impacts on the questions of urban proximity and interaction that Weinig and Thierstein prepared for the studio Social distancing -- in fact physical distancing -- and working from home (WFH) is changing drastically how people work, live, move, produce and consume The COVID-19 pandemic h…
Becoming more polycentric
The Munich Metropolitan Area (MMA) is embarking on becoming a more polycentric urban region. For long, the monocentric city model has provided strong explanatory power in understanding the location decisions of private households and firms. However, this model has been challenged by the emergence of large, polycentric city-regions. Increasing commute ranges and the spatial reorganization of economic activities show patterns of concentration and d…
Regional Urbanisation through Accessibility?—The “Zweite Stammstrecke” Express Rail Project in Munich
Transport accessibility is one of the most significant locational factors for both households and firms, and thus a potentially self-reinforcing driver of urban development. The spatial structure and dynamics of accessibility hence have the potential to alter the locational choices of households and firms significantly, leading to concentration and de-concentration processes. In spite of recent innovations in automotive technologies, public trans…
A Longitudinal Network Analysis of the German Knowledge Economy from 2009 to 2019
Multi-location knowledge-intensive firms span their value chains and thus their locations across space. Increased globalization alters the spatial configuration of such networks of knowledge creation. Longitudinal social network analysis allows detecting temporal changes in the arrangement of nodes and edges in the network and resulting changes in the overall structure. We use this approach to study for Germany the spatio-temporal dynamics of kno…
Transforming the Media Exposure of a City through Star Architecture Projects?
Can star architecture projects contribute to repositioning their respective cities? Based on the idea that star architecture projects cannot be read at ground level, and instead, the media is their primary site (Foster 2008 Foster, H. (2008): Image building. In Vidler, A. (ed.), Architecture between spectacle and use. Williamstown, Massachusetts: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, pp.164–179. [Google Scholar]) of reading, this paper focus…
Situating architectural performance
Since the opening of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao in 1997, the topic of how ‘star architecture’ plays a decisive role in urban regeneration has been discussed in academic debates as well as in the media. Efforts to emulate the so-called Bilbao effect followed internationally. However, not every city that commissions the design of a public cultural building to a star architect seeks to replicate that effect. This overarching narrative has never…
The world city network
Residence, workplace and commute
Knowledge workers (KW), as important individual agents who embody, exchange, create and exploit knowledge, contribute to regional competitiveness and growth. To attract and retain them in a region, it is necessary to have a better understanding of their fundamental spatially-related behaviors including residence, workplace, and commute choices. In this study, we depart from a perspective of knowledge typology (analytical-synthetic-symbolic knowle…
A spatial strategy for the production of place in two German cities - Urban design interventions as a driver for spatial transformation
The paper introduces a new methodological perspective to the process of urban design, which reacts to the increasing interdependence of multipe scales in almost all facets of life. The production of place in the contemporary urban context calls for a new conception of space. We conceive space as the result of physical and non-physical activities and their relations across scales and over time. Based upon this understanding, we have identified fiv…
Knowledge creation in German agglomerations and accessibility – An approach involving non-physical connectivity
The Relational Geography of the Knowledge Economy in Germany
The objective of this contribution is to set out a theoretical context and then to investigate empirically Germany’s functional urban hierarchy based on the relational geography of the knowledge economy. Starting from a conceptual background that brings together the locational behaviour of multibranch, multilocation firms with a value chain approach, it looks at the extent to which this hierarchy is associated with the networking activities of ad…
Intra-firm and extra-firm linkages in the knowledge economy
With the aim of identifying emerging patterns of spatial development and the driving forces behind the associated process, in this article we draw together two threads of interlinked phenomena. First, we look at how multi-location firms from the knowledge economy develop their intra-firm networks internationally. Second, we establish the partners with which these firms have working relationships along individual chains of value, and in which thes…
Changing Value Chain of the Swiss Knowledge Economy
Thierstein A., Lüthi S., Kruse C., Gabi S. and Glanzmann L. Changing value chain of the Swiss knowledge economy: spatial impact of intra-firm and inter-firm networks within the emerging Mega-City Region of Northern Switzerland, Regional Studies. Based on an empirical analysis of intra-firm and inter-firm connectivities, this paper focuses on the spatial behaviour of advanced producer services (APS) firms and their relevance for polycentricity in …
Exchange Rate and Regional Divergences
From 1975 to 1995, the Swiss franc appreciated in a near constant manner compared with the currencies of all of the country’s commercial partners. This paper will seek to demonstrate that the various regions in Switzerland evolve diVerently when faced with a continuously appreciating currency. The paper is not in the nature of an econometric study and will not seek to quantify the gains and losses of each region, but it will view their structural…
Intra-firm and extra-firm linkages in the knowledge economy
With the aim of identifying emerging patterns of spatial development and the driving forces behind the associated process, in this article we draw together two threads of interlinked phenomena. First, we look at how multi-location firms from the knowledge economy develop their intra-firm networks internationally. Second, we establish the partners with which these firms have working relationships along individual chains of value, and in which thes…
Changing Value Chain of the Swiss Knowledge Economy
Thierstein A., Lüthi S., Kruse C., Gabi S. and Glanzmann L. Changing value chain of the Swiss knowledge economy: spatial impact of intra-firm and inter-firm networks within the emerging Mega-City Region of Northern Switzerland, Regional Studies. Based on an empirical analysis of intra-firm and inter-firm connectivities, this paper focuses on the spatial behaviour of advanced producer services (APS) firms and their relevance for polycentricity in …
The Relational Geography of the Knowledge Economy in Germany
The objective of this contribution is to set out a theoretical context and then to investigate empirically Germany’s functional urban hierarchy based on the relational geography of the knowledge economy. Starting from a conceptual background that brings together the locational behaviour of multibranch, multilocation firms with a value chain approach, it looks at the extent to which this hierarchy is associated with the networking activities of ad…
Residence, workplace and commute
Knowledge workers (KW), as important individual agents who embody, exchange, create and exploit knowledge, contribute to regional competitiveness and growth. To attract and retain them in a region, it is necessary to have a better understanding of their fundamental spatially-related behaviors including residence, workplace, and commute choices. In this study, we depart from a perspective of knowledge typology (analytical-synthetic-symbolic knowle…
Knowledge creation in German agglomerations and accessibility – An approach involving non-physical connectivity
The world city network
The contribution of knowledge-intensive firms to employment growth
Academic discussions have frequently examined the interrelation between regional employment growth and firm locations. Two growth patterns emerge: employment growth induced through new firm locations or vice versa, where firms locate in areas experiencing employment supply growth. The specific causal relationship responsible for regional employment growth in Germany remains uncertain. In the German context, however, more research is needed to ide…
Exchange Rate and Regional Divergences
From 1975 to 1995, the Swiss franc appreciated in a near constant manner compared with the currencies of all of the country’s commercial partners. This paper will seek to demonstrate that the various regions in Switzerland evolve diVerently when faced with a continuously appreciating currency. The paper is not in the nature of an econometric study and will not seek to quantify the gains and losses of each region, but it will view their structural…
Regional Urbanisation through Accessibility?—The “Zweite Stammstrecke” Express Rail Project in Munich
Transport accessibility is one of the most significant locational factors for both households and firms, and thus a potentially self-reinforcing driver of urban development. The spatial structure and dynamics of accessibility hence have the potential to alter the locational choices of households and firms significantly, leading to concentration and de-concentration processes. In spite of recent innovations in automotive technologies, public trans…
Exchange Rate and Regional Divergences
From 1975 to 1995, the Swiss franc appreciated in a near constant manner compared with the currencies of all of the country’s commercial partners. This paper will seek to demonstrate that the various regions in Switzerland evolve diVerently when faced with a continuously appreciating currency. The paper is not in the nature of an econometric study and will not seek to quantify the gains and losses of each region, but it will view their structural…
Changing Value Chain of the Swiss Knowledge Economy
Thierstein A., Lüthi S., Kruse C., Gabi S. and Glanzmann L. Changing value chain of the Swiss knowledge economy: spatial impact of intra-firm and inter-firm networks within the emerging Mega-City Region of Northern Switzerland, Regional Studies. Based on an empirical analysis of intra-firm and inter-firm connectivities, this paper focuses on the spatial behaviour of advanced producer services (APS) firms and their relevance for polycentricity in …
Intra-firm and extra-firm linkages in the knowledge economy
With the aim of identifying emerging patterns of spatial development and the driving forces behind the associated process, in this article we draw together two threads of interlinked phenomena. First, we look at how multi-location firms from the knowledge economy develop their intra-firm networks internationally. Second, we establish the partners with which these firms have working relationships along individual chains of value, and in which thes…
Knowledge creation in German agglomerations and accessibility – An approach involving non-physical connectivity
The Relational Geography of the Knowledge Economy in Germany
The objective of this contribution is to set out a theoretical context and then to investigate empirically Germany’s functional urban hierarchy based on the relational geography of the knowledge economy. Starting from a conceptual background that brings together the locational behaviour of multibranch, multilocation firms with a value chain approach, it looks at the extent to which this hierarchy is associated with the networking activities of ad…
A spatial strategy for the production of place in two German cities - Urban design interventions as a driver for spatial transformation
The paper introduces a new methodological perspective to the process of urban design, which reacts to the increasing interdependence of multipe scales in almost all facets of life. The production of place in the contemporary urban context calls for a new conception of space. We conceive space as the result of physical and non-physical activities and their relations across scales and over time. Based upon this understanding, we have identified fiv…
Residence, workplace and commute
Knowledge workers (KW), as important individual agents who embody, exchange, create and exploit knowledge, contribute to regional competitiveness and growth. To attract and retain them in a region, it is necessary to have a better understanding of their fundamental spatially-related behaviors including residence, workplace, and commute choices. In this study, we depart from a perspective of knowledge typology (analytical-synthetic-symbolic knowle…
Situating architectural performance
Since the opening of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao in 1997, the topic of how ‘star architecture’ plays a decisive role in urban regeneration has been discussed in academic debates as well as in the media. Efforts to emulate the so-called Bilbao effect followed internationally. However, not every city that commissions the design of a public cultural building to a star architect seeks to replicate that effect. This overarching narrative has never…
The world city network
Transforming the Media Exposure of a City through Star Architecture Projects?
Can star architecture projects contribute to repositioning their respective cities? Based on the idea that star architecture projects cannot be read at ground level, and instead, the media is their primary site (Foster 2008 Foster, H. (2008): Image building. In Vidler, A. (ed.), Architecture between spectacle and use. Williamstown, Massachusetts: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, pp.164–179. [Google Scholar]) of reading, this paper focus…
Regional Urbanisation through Accessibility?—The “Zweite Stammstrecke” Express Rail Project in Munich
Transport accessibility is one of the most significant locational factors for both households and firms, and thus a potentially self-reinforcing driver of urban development. The spatial structure and dynamics of accessibility hence have the potential to alter the locational choices of households and firms significantly, leading to concentration and de-concentration processes. In spite of recent innovations in automotive technologies, public trans…
A Longitudinal Network Analysis of the German Knowledge Economy from 2009 to 2019
Multi-location knowledge-intensive firms span their value chains and thus their locations across space. Increased globalization alters the spatial configuration of such networks of knowledge creation. Longitudinal social network analysis allows detecting temporal changes in the arrangement of nodes and edges in the network and resulting changes in the overall structure. We use this approach to study for Germany the spatio-temporal dynamics of kno…
‘Being close, yet being distanced’
With the abrupt changes that the COVID-19 pandemic brought to daily public life -- socially and economically -- it has become clear that there will be fundamental impacts on the questions of urban proximity and interaction that Weinig and Thierstein prepared for the studio Social distancing -- in fact physical distancing -- and working from home (WFH) is changing drastically how people work, live, move, produce and consume The COVID-19 pandemic h…
Becoming more polycentric
The Munich Metropolitan Area (MMA) is embarking on becoming a more polycentric urban region. For long, the monocentric city model has provided strong explanatory power in understanding the location decisions of private households and firms. However, this model has been challenged by the emergence of large, polycentric city-regions. Increasing commute ranges and the spatial reorganization of economic activities show patterns of concentration and d…
Working From Home and Covid-19
As a protective measure during the Covid-19 pandemic, in Spring 2020, a high number of employees began relocating their workplace to their homes, many for the first time. Recent surveys suggest that the share of those working from home (WFH) will remain higher than before the pandemic in the long term too—with correspondingly fewer commuting journeys. Workplaces are still often concentrated in inner cities, into which workers commute from more ou…
High speed rail as urban generator? An analysis of land use change around European stations
New High-Speed Rail stations are often expected to act as catalysts for regional and local urban and economic development. Accessibility improvements are assumed to increase locational attractiveness for households and companies, motivating municipal decision-makers to allocate land for urban development projects, particularly in the immediate vicinity of new stations. However, most empirical studies call such automatic effects into question, poi…
The problematization of ‘star architecture’ in architecture research
Despite of the growth of the body of scholarly literature on the topic star architecture, few articles cite publications of architectural research on the topic. The scholarly discussion of star architecture is only marginally influenced by the problematizations specific to the architecture field. This paper presents findings of a systematic quantitative literature review of the topic star architecture. By searching Scopus and Avery databases usin…
Star architecture and urban transformation
For nearly as long as there have been urban centres, exceptional architecture projects have contributed to transforming city form and city fortunes. In this special issue of ‘European Planning Studies’, we focus on star architecture and its ability to contribute to urban transformation, with articles on the phenomenon of star architecture from a range of disciplines. Star architecture is a topic where concerns about place, identity, economy, inno…
Advanced producer services in Germany
This paper challenges the traditional perspective of a territorial core–periphery pattern as an organizing principle of space by introducing a relational perspective through an empirical approach. We study spatial processes of knowledge creation among advanced producer services in Germany between 2009 and 2019. We use a unique longitudinal dataset to analyse if German regions have become more integrated into the intra-firm location networks natio…
Navigating post-pandemic urban development
This article was published open access under a CC BY-NC-ND licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Disseminating regional design
Despite growing academic recognition of the usefulness of regional design for regional coordination and rescaling from the bottom up, the response of practitioners in spatial planning and governance at regional scales remains unclear. To investigate how practitioners assess regional design towards real-world practice, we interviewed practitioners engaged in our educational regional design studios in the Munich Metropolitan Region. Results demonst…
The contribution of knowledge-intensive firms to employment growth
Academic discussions have frequently examined the interrelation between regional employment growth and firm locations. Two growth patterns emerge: employment growth induced through new firm locations or vice versa, where firms locate in areas experiencing employment supply growth. The specific causal relationship responsible for regional employment growth in Germany remains uncertain. In the German context, however, more research is needed to ide…
Mapping Urban Innovation Ecosystems
Geography (17 works) · Computer Science (15 works) · Economics (14 works) · Economic geography (12 works) · Business (11 works) · Regional Economics and Spatial Analysis (10 works) · Regional science (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Engineering (9 works) · Political science (8 works)