HIGH-TECH FIRMS IN THE BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON CORRIDOR: GROWTH FACTORS, SPATIAL PATTERNS AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
This essay discusses the development, spatial structure, and location factors of high-tech in the Baltimore-Washington Corridor. Moreover, some strategies for furthering high-tech industries in the Baltimore-Washington area are outlined.
For about 10 years this region has shown a strong increase in high-tech jobs due to the influence of federal authorities and research institutes. Furthermore, a number of large research-oriented high-tech firms located in the area for many years function as growth poles, as customers and bases for the foundation of young high-tech enterprises and so-called "spin-off" high-tech firms in the corridor.
The great importance of high-tech oriented services is a specific element of the economic structure of this region. High-tech firms are mainly concentrated in Washington, D.C., in the suburban areas of the two core cities and along axial growth areas. Important high-tech locations are the Interstate 270 (Rockville-Gaithersburg-Frederick), the new town of Columbia, and the northern suburbs of Baltimore City (Interstate 83, Towson-Cockeysville-Hunt Valley).
A striking regional variation of the high-tech industry structure can also be observed across the entire corridor. Washington, D.C. and its suburban counties (e.g. Montgomery and Fairfax County) can be typified as an area of high-tech concentration with a service orientation, while Baltimore City and its suburbs (Baltimore County and Anne Arundel) represent a production-oriented high-tech area.
In this region high-tech companies are extremely mobile and non-high-tech areas around Washington and Baltimore might take advantage of this, luring away such firms to their industrial estates. Baltimore City, too, could profit from the overspill and the high-tech image of the corridor.
