What role do various kinds of proximity play in the current and projected development of peripheral areas? In summarizing and drawing conclusions from this special issue on proximity, this paper elaborates on two core notions of proximity, geographical and organizational. It presents a framework in which the relationship between geographical and organizational proximity is conceptualized in a way that is somewhat different from previous contributions, notably by the French School on Proximity. The framework is used to evaluate the outcomes of the various contributions in this issue. The findings endorse the idea that economic performance relies more on localized capacities to build "global" connections, complemented with an adequate local resource base, than on local networking and clustering.

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This article addresses the opportunities of cities, big and small, in the experience economy. It proposes an understanding of "experience economy", which encompasses not only entertainment and culture, but also services and places. To territorial development, the most interesting kind of experience consumption is the one co-located with its production. It is interesting because it invites people to stay and spend their money, either as residents or as tourists. Art and culture is known to cluster, and in big cities, the variety of the experience offer is an attraction in itself. Nevertheless, small cities embark on experience-based strategies, for example, related to events and branding. The article develops a theoretical framework that unfolds the territorial aspects of the experience economy. It does so in a comparative perspective, with a view to earlier (and coexisting paradigms), namely the industrial and the knowledge economy. Based on literature review it analyses the location patterns, the role of globalization, the changing governance forms and the mobility patterns, the latter being of utmost importance to the development of experience-based activities on the global market.

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