ABSTRACT

It has become clear that urban development is fundamentally influenced by position in the world economy. This raises important questions about how we understand this process. First, it suggests we cannot understand the processes that shape and reshape cities by only looking within cities. We must adopt a much wider perspective, one that recognises that cities are shaped by processes from far beyond their boundaries, as well as factors much closer to home. Despite this we must not lose sight of the fact that cities are not the helpless pawns of these processes. These global forces are mediated locally. Namely, their outcomes are determined by local factors such as the nature of local urban governments, economies and cultures. Cities are shaped by the interplay of local, regional, national and international forces (Healey and Ilbery 1990: 3-6). Second, while the world economy is becoming increasingly interconnected, through the international operations of multinational or transnational corporations, the international dimension of urbanisation is not new. Cities have long performed international functions and many have been profoundly shaped by these. Older industrial cities of the UK have long traded with countries all around the world. London was the command centre of a world-wide empire. The legacies of these international functions are still apparent in the landscapes, economies and institutions of cities as well as the links between cities.