Question

Answer the following in not more than 150 words.

Explain why high-tech industries in many countries are being attracted to the peripheral areas of major metropolitan centres.

Answer 1

High technology, or simply high tech, is the latest generation of manufacturing activities. Professional workers make up a large portion of the total workforce. These professionally skilled workers are located in urban areas, and due to high rents in the central areas of cities, they settle on the periphery.

The industry is also situated on the periphery because of low rent and proximity to urban centres, which provide access to workers. Neatly spaced, low, modern, dispersed office-plant-lab buildings, rather than massive assembly structures, factories, and storage areas, mark the high-tech industrial landscape.

This requires large areas for a massive set-up, which, due to increased population in major metropolitan cities, is not available. Hence, these industries are set up near the urban centres where adequate space is available. Also, their proximity to urban areas helps them gain access to the urban market and tap the skilled workforce available there due to the presence of educational institutes.
An example is Gurgaon in Haryana, which has grown into one of the largest high-tech hubs near Delhi.