Spatial opportunities of exhibition centers: Explaining path-dependencies in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Munich and Milan

Over the past decades, many cities in Western Europe have seen the construction and renovation of exhibition centers. Whereas exhibition centers are traditionally inner-city facilities, many of the current developments are taking place in the urban periphery. Although there is also investment in inner-city facilities, by now eighteen out of the largest thirty-four exhibition centers are to be found outside the traditional urban center. Thereby, exhibition center construction is part of broader trends of metropolitan reconfiguration.
This thesis, conducted at the Amsterdam Institute of Social Sciences Research at the University of Amsterdam, looks at the reasons behind this recent boom in exhibition center construction. Moreover, it answers the question why some facilities relocate to the urban periphery whereas others invest in central facilities. The research starts from an overview of the functional, physical, spatial and institutional characteristics of the largest exhibition centers in Western Europe and then looks into more detail at the development paths of the facilities in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Munich and Milan.