World City Network
A Global Urban Analysis
By Peter J. Taylor
Published September 4th 2003 by Routledge – 256 pages
Description
With the advent of multinational corporations, the traditional urban service function has 'gone global'. In order to provide services to globalizing corporate clients, the offices of major financial and business service firms across the world have formed a network. It is the myriad of flows between office towers in different metropolitan centres that has produced a world city network.
Through an analysis of the intra-company flows of 100 leading global service firms across 315 cities, this book assesses cities in terms of their overall network connectivity, their connectivity by service sector, and their connectivity by world region.
Peter Taylor's unique and illuminating book provides the first comprehensive and systematic description and analysis of the world city network as the 'skeleton' upon which contemporary globalization has been built. His analyses challenge the traditional view of the world as a 'mosaic map' of political boundaries.
Written by one of the foremost authorities on the subject, this book provides a much needed mapping of the connecting relationships between world cities, and will be an enlightening book for students of urban studies, geography, sociology and planning.
Reviews
'A truly masterful account of the complex spatialities of global urbanization … if you only have the money to buy two books on world cities, buy this one. Twice.' - Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design
Contents
Prologue: The Second Nature of Cities Part 1: Relations 1. Inter-City Relations 2. Back to Basics Part 2: Connections 3. Networks of Cities 4. Geographies of Connectivity 5. City Network Analyses Part 3: Configurations 6. A Mapping of Services in Globalization 7. Mappings of Cities in Globalization Part 4: Suppositions 8. From Past to Present: A Metageographical Argument 9. From Present to Future: Reasserting Cities?
Author Bio
Peter Taylor is Professor of Geography at the University of Loughborough, UK and Research Professor at the Metropolitan Institute, Virginia Tech, USA.
Related Subjects
Name: World City Network: A Global Urban Analysis (Paperback) – Routledge
Description: By Peter J. Taylor. With the advent of multinational corporations, the traditional urban service function has 'gone global'. In order to provide services to globalizing corporate clients, the offices of major financial and business service firms across the...
Categories: Urban Geography, Environmental Geography, Sociology & Social Policy
