The Shifting Geography of Corporate Headquarters in Australia: A Longitudinal Analysis

Over recent years there has been a renewed interest in the role of corporate headquarters in urban systems. While much of this focus has been oriented towards global or regional city networks, it is argued here that the locational dynamics of corporate headquarters remain important within national systems. This paper considers the changing spatial concentration of the headquarters of large companies in Australia between 1953 and 2009. It demonstrates that rather than radical restructuring and upheaval in the geography of Australia's corporate headquarters, the process over the past sixty years or so has been one of gradual and relatively ordered change.