No Man is an Island : A Case Study of the Oresund Region from a Hub Perspective

Background: The world of today is immensely interconnected. Over the past decades, national economies have been de-bordered and the promoting of the flows of goods, people, capital and services across the borders is evident, as opposed to when flows only moved within national economies. Former vertical structures of old nations have been replaced by a horizontal flow structure in a complex and intertwined global economy. Attracting flows is essential for the growth and survival of cities. Hubs functions as important connection points for these flows and are therefore highly important. Research procedure: The purpose of this thesis is to describe how city regions function from a hub perspective by mapping the most important hubs in the Oresund Region, and investigating the connectivity and collaboration between these hubs. This study has a qualitative and inductive approach with a case study design and the empirical findings is based on twelve interviews with representatives of different fields. Results: The most important hubs were divided into three categories: transport, economic and infrastructure hubs, illustrated in the hub categorization model. The results indicate that there is a interconnectivity issue with interdependencies between the different hubs in the Oresund Region. This is illustrated through the hub relationship model. Collaboration seems to take place mostly within sectors and through the municipalities..