2000 Volume 109 Issue 3 Pages 427-444
This paper discusses the recent spatial changes in the Lille Metropolitan Area under EU Integration. Lille was once a dull industrial city in northern France with low transport accessibility. However, the opening of the TGV and Channel Tunnel has greatly enhanced Lille's proximity to other European large cities, and Lille is now enjoying its excellent position in the heart of Europe. Low-level functions are being dispersed in surrounding areas, while high-level functions such as finance and corporate headquarters are being concentrated in central Lille. Though Lille has succeeded in transforming itself into a major international node of the European system of cities, it is, on the other hand, now in the thick of intense cross-border inter-city competition brought about by the unification of the EU
