ABSTRACT
There is considerable evidence suggesting that the spatial dynamics of service industries is presently shaping a new system of central places along the lines indicated by Christaller (1937). But whereas Christaller’s original idea was derived from a regional context, that is historical market places in southern Germany, the updated version reflects processes and patterns on a global scale. Thereby, processes like the concentration of producer services in large agglomerations are regarded as contributing gradually to a new and world-wide system of central places. At the top of this system we would find a small number of world cities (Friedmann 1986; Moss 1987). Of these, three stand out, playing a relay race around the clock and around the globe. In alphabetical order they are London, New York, and Tokyo. In addition to this triad there are some other places which aspire to the status of a global metropolis; Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Paris, Singapore, and a few other cities would belong to this category. Together with the first three they would form a rather exclusive city system linked to larger networks of continental, national and regional centres.
