'This is a truly refreshing take on the phenomenon of global cities. For far too long we've been seduced by the flows and networks that reproduce global cities without considering the actors, individuals, organisations, institutions, that make and shape the global-local dynamics of such spaces in global society. Throughout this collection of essays, there is a rich empirical narrative which reminds scholars of global city and urban studies that without the agency of actors, whether that be economic, political, cultural or social, any notion of flow and networks would simply wither on the vine. In short, this is a new benchmark on the geography of the global city in contemporary globalisation.' -Jonathan V. Beaverstock, University of Bristol, UK Global City Makers provides an in-depth account of the role of powerful economic actors in making and un-making global cities. Engaging critically and constructively with global urban studies from a relational economic geography perspective, the book outlines a renewed agenda for global cities research. This book conceptualizes global cities as places from where the world economy is managed and controlled, and discusses the significance of economic actors and their practices in the formation of the world city network. Focusing on financial services, management consultancy, real estate, commodity trading and maritime industries, the detailed case studies are located across the globe to incorporate major global cities such as London, New York and Tokyo as well as globalizing cities including Mexico City, Hamburg and Mumbai. This ground-breaking book will appeal to a broad audience including scholars in urban studies, economic geography and international management as well as urban policy-makers and practitioners in globalizing firms. Contributors include: D. Bassens, N. Beerepoot, S. Hall, M. Hesse, M. Hoyler, W. Jacobs, J. Kleibert, B. Lambregts, C. Lizieri, D. Mekic, C. Parnreiter, S. Sassen, D. Scofield, M. van Meeteren, A. Watson, S. Yamamura

Megaregions presents an excellent collection of spatial-imaginary cameos drawn from the US and beyond, together with theoretically searching and provocative commentary from its editors. [The book] provides a series of thought-provoking and question-prompting interjections to inspire and prompt new research agendas.' - Kathy Pain, Geographical Review 'This splendid collection both defines and dissects trajectories of a research agenda on one of the chief, yet contested, discursive scalar fixes on our planet in an age of complete urbanization: the megaregion.' - Roger Keil, York University, Toronto, Canada Are megaregions a meaningful new spatial framework for the analysis of cities in globalization? Drawing together a range of innovative contributions and case studies from around the world, this book interrogates the many claims and counter-claims made about megaregions and critically assesses their position within global urban studies. Connecting research on megaregions to broader theoretical debates about globalized urbanization, the book examines the latest conceptualizations of trans-metropolitan landscapes. It investigates the opportunities and challenges posed by planning and governing at the megaregional scale and moves the debate forward to address questions of 'how', 'why' and 'by whom' megaregional spaces are being constructed. This far-reaching book will be of considerable interest to a broad audience, appealing to those engaged in urban and regional studies, geography and planning, and with direct relevance for policymakers and practitioners working at international, state and local levels. Contributors: B. Fleming, M.R. Glass, J. Harrison, M. Hesse, M. Hoyler, A. Schafran, P. Schmitt, L. Smas, D. Wachsmuth, S.M. Wheeler, X. Zhang

This Handbook offers an unrivaled overview of current research into how globalization is affecting the external relations and internal structures of major cities in the world. By treating cities at a global scale, it focuses on the 'stretching' of urban functions beyond specific place locations, without losing sight of the multiple divisions in contemporary world cities. The book firmly bases city networks in their historical context, critically discusses contemporary concepts and key empirical measures, and analyzes major issues relating to world city infrastructures, economies, governance and divisions. The variety of urban outcomes in contemporary globalization is explored through detailed case studies. Edited by leading scholars of the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) Research Network and written by over 60 experts in the field, the Handbook is a unique resource for students, researchers and academics in urban and globalization studies as well as for city professionals in planning and policy. Contributors: M. Acuto, A.S. Alderson, H. Ali, D. Bassens, H. Bathelt, J.V. Beaverstock, J. Beckfield, A. Boulton, S.D. Brunn, L.C.S. Budd, T. Bunnell, K. Datta, B. Derudder, A. De Vos, L. Devriendt, E. Engelen, Y. Evans, J. Faulconbridge, R. Grant, T.H. Grubesic, C. Grundy-Warr, S. Hall, C. Hamnett, J. Harrison, J. Herbert, M. Hoyler, P. Hubbard, R. Keil, A.D. King, R. Kloosterman, P. Knox, E. Korcelli-Olejniczak, K.P.Y. Lai, B. Lambregts, R.E. Lang, L. Lees, C. Lizieri, E.J. Malecki, T.C. Matisziw, J. May, C. McIlwaine, D. Murakami Wood, C. Nagel, P. Newman, C. Nicholas, J. Nijman, S. Oosterlynck, K. Pain, C. Parnreiter, A.C. Pratt, J. Rennie Short, J.D. Sidaway, D. Smith, R.G. Smith, M. Sparke, P.J. Taylor, A. Thornley, B. van der Knaap, H. van der Wusten, R. Wall, A. Watson, J. Wills, F. Witlox

Megaregions presents an excellent collection of spatial-imaginary cameos drawn from the US and beyond, together with theoretically searching and provocative commentary from its editors. [The book] provides a series of thought-provoking and question-prompting interjections to inspire and prompt new research agendas.' - Kathy Pain, Geographical Review 'This splendid collection both defines and dissects trajectories of a research agenda on one of the chief, yet contested, discursive scalar fixes on our planet in an age of complete urbanization: the megaregion.' - Roger Keil, York University, Toronto, Canada Are megaregions a meaningful new spatial framework for the analysis of cities in globalization? Drawing together a range of innovative contributions and case studies from around the world, this book interrogates the many claims and counter-claims made about megaregions and critically assesses their position within global urban studies. Connecting research on megaregions to broader theoretical debates about globalized urbanization, the book examines the latest conceptualizations of trans-metropolitan landscapes. It investigates the opportunities and challenges posed by planning and governing at the megaregional scale and moves the debate forward to address questions of 'how', 'why' and 'by whom' megaregional spaces are being constructed. This far-reaching book will be of considerable interest to a broad audience, appealing to those engaged in urban and regional studies, geography and planning, and with direct relevance for policymakers and practitioners working at international, state and local levels. Contributors: B. Fleming, M.R. Glass, J. Harrison, M. Hesse, M. Hoyler, A. Schafran, P. Schmitt, L. Smas, D. Wachsmuth, S.M. Wheeler, X. Zhang

Global Urban Analysis provides a unique insight into the contemporary world economy through a focus on cities. It is based upon a large-scale customised data collection on how leading businesses use cities across the world: as headquarter locations, for finance, for professional and creative services, for media. These data - involving up to 2000 firms and over 500 cities - provide evidence for both how the leading cities, sometimes called global cities, are coming to dominate the world economy, and how hundreds of other cities are faring in this brave new urban world. Thus can the likes of London, New York and Hong Kong be tracked as well as Manchester, Cleveland and Guangzhou, and even Plymouth, Chattanooga and Xi'an. Cities are assessed and ranked in terms of their importance for various functions such as for financial services, legal services and advertising, plus novel findings are reported for the geographical orientations of their connections. This is truly a comprehensive survey of cities in globalization covering global, world-regional, and national scales of analysis: - 4 key chapters outline the global structure of the world economy featuring the leading cities; - 9 regional chapters covering the whole world also feature the level of services provided by 'medium' cities; - 22 chapters on selected countries and sub-regions indicate global-ness and local-ness and feature an even wider range of cities. Written in an easy to understand style, this book is a must read for anybody interested in their own city in the world and how it relates to other cities.

Global Urban Analysis provides a unique insight into the contemporary world economy through a focus on cities. It is based upon a large-scale customised data collection on how leading businesses use cities across the world: as headquarter locations, for finance, for professional and creative services, for media. These data - involving up to 2000 firms and over 500 cities - provide evidence for both how the leading cities, sometimes called global cities, are coming to dominate the world economy, and how hundreds of other cities are faring in this brave new urban world. Thus can the likes of London, New York and Hong Kong be tracked as well as Manchester, Cleveland and Guangzhou, and even Plymouth, Chattanooga and Xi'an. Cities are assessed and ranked in terms of their importance for various functions such as for financial services, legal services and advertising, plus novel findings are reported for the geographical orientations of their connections. This is truly a comprehensive survey of cities in globalization covering global, world-regional, and national scales of analysis: - 4 key chapters outline the global structure of the world economy featuring the leading cities; - 9 regional chapters covering the whole world also feature the level of services provided by 'medium' cities; - 22 chapters on selected countries and sub-regions indicate global-ness and local-ness and feature an even wider range of cities. Written in an easy to understand style, this book is a must read for anybody interested in their own city in the world and how it relates to other cities.

Whether you are an urban geographer, an urban sociologist or an urban political scientist, and whether you take a qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods approach, the challenge that confronts researchers of our increasingly "globalized" urban studies remains fundamentally the same-how to make sense of urban complexity. This book confronts this challenge by exploring the various methodological approaches for doing global urban research, including Comparative Urbanism, Social Network Analysis, and Data Visualization. With contributions from leading scholars across the world, Doing Global Urban Research offers a key forum to discuss how the practice of research can deepen our knowledge of globalized urbanization.

This Handbook offers an unrivaled overview of current research into how globalization is affecting the external relations and internal structures of major cities in the world. By treating cities at a global scale, it focuses on the 'stretching' of urban functions beyond specific place locations, without losing sight of the multiple divisions in contemporary world cities. The book firmly bases city networks in their historical context, critically discusses contemporary concepts and key empirical measures, and analyzes major issues relating to world city infrastructures, economies, governance and divisions. The variety of urban outcomes in contemporary globalization is explored through detailed case studies. Edited by leading scholars of the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) Research Network and written by over 60 experts in the field, the Handbook is a unique resource for students, researchers and academics in urban and globalization studies as well as for city professionals in planning and policy. Contributors: M. Acuto, A.S. Alderson, H. Ali, D. Bassens, H. Bathelt, J.V. Beaverstock, J. Beckfield, A. Boulton, S.D. Brunn, L.C.S. Budd, T. Bunnell, K. Datta, B. Derudder, A. De Vos, L. Devriendt, E. Engelen, Y. Evans, J. Faulconbridge, R. Grant, T.H. Grubesic, C. Grundy-Warr, S. Hall, C. Hamnett, J. Harrison, J. Herbert, M. Hoyler, P. Hubbard, R. Keil, A.D. King, R. Kloosterman, P. Knox, E. Korcelli-Olejniczak, K.P.Y. Lai, B. Lambregts, R.E. Lang, L. Lees, C. Lizieri, E.J. Malecki, T.C. Matisziw, J. May, C. McIlwaine, D. Murakami Wood, C. Nagel, P. Newman, C. Nicholas, J. Nijman, S. Oosterlynck, K. Pain, C. Parnreiter, A.C. Pratt, J. Rennie Short, J.D. Sidaway, D. Smith, R.G. Smith, M. Sparke, P.J. Taylor, A. Thornley, B. van der Knaap, H. van der Wusten, R. Wall, A. Watson, J. Wills, F. Witlox

Whether you are an urban geographer, an urban sociologist or an urban political scientist, and whether you take a qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods approach, the challenge that confronts researchers of our increasingly "globalized" urban studies remains fundamentally the same-how to make sense of urban complexity. This book confronts this challenge by exploring the various methodological approaches for doing global urban research, including Comparative Urbanism, Social Network Analysis, and Data Visualization. With contributions from leading scholars across the world, Doing Global Urban Research offers a key forum to discuss how the practice of research can deepen our knowledge of globalized urbanization.

A striking consequence of contemporary globalization has been an increase in the importance and prestige of cities. Whereas only a generation or so ago cities were commonly viewed as 'problems', the sites of society's ills, today they are more readily seen as 'solutions', places where twenty-first century dilemmas can most successfully be resolved. Hence, argue the editors of this new four-volume collection from Routledge, while globalization is generally viewed as eroding the influence of states, cities have come to the fore as the new spatial frame of the future. The old modern international organization of states as a worldwide mosaic of borders is being challenged by transnational spaces of flows organized through city nodes in global networks. As serious work on and around the subject flourishes as never before, Global Cities answers the need for an authoritative reference work to map and make sense of a vast body of literature and a continuing explosion in research output. Edited by a team of leading scholars, the collection brings together in four volumes the very best foundational and cutting-edge contributions. The set is fully indexed and each component volume has a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editors, which places the gathered material in its historical and intellectual context. Global Cities is an essential resource and is destined to be valued by scholars and students as a vital one-stop research tool.