Unpacking urban network as formed by client service relationships of law firms in China

While the mapping of urban networks based on inter- and intra-firm linkages has attracted extensive attention in the field of urban geography, analysing urban networks through specific lenses inevitably results in partial perspectives on how urban systems are organised. To further advance the research on understanding the pluralistic geographies of intercity connections, this paper unpacks the urban network as formed by client service relationships of law firms in China. Drawing on a network analysis of the interfirm service provision relationships between 24,441 law firms and their corporate clients in China, this paper presents a pilot study of what a law service provision network looks like and how its structure – especially the connectivities of cities and city-dyads – is shaped. The findings reveal that while the general patterns of the urban network formed by client service relationships of law firms is broadly in line with the underlying structure of China's economic and political landscapes, administrative factors, market and spatial distances have shaped the patterns of urban network in China in a unique and mixed manner, and that the ways in which these factors function are closely related to the characteristics of the network actors.