Knowledge and innovation have become indispensable factors for economic development in an advanced national economy such as Switzerland's. The study shows how Swiss agglomerations are spatially interconnected through the internal location networks of knowledge-intensive companies. The findings are put in the context of the Swiss federal government's spatial development policy (Raumkonzept Schweiz, Neue Regionalpolitik, Agglomerationspolitik).

The study confirms the distinctive role that metropolitan areas play as economic engines in Switzerland. A key challenge for policy is to find an optimal path between the conflicting goals of spatial cohesion and economic competitiveness and to adjust that path to continuously evolving circumstances, especially in the context of increasingly tight public finances.

Beyond these overarching conclusions for spatial development policy, the study also offers pointers and arguments for the specific orientation of business promotion strategies and projects at the national and regional level (e.g., export promotion, cluster promotion, regional economic development, etc.).