ABSTRACT
This chapter explores one of the most perplexing paradoxes of contemporary global urbanization—the consolidation of a small number of strategically dominant global financial centers, at a time when such sites would be expected to be obsolete by the proliferation of new informational technologies. It examines this paradox through a multifaceted analysis that emphasizes the various organizational and logistical advantages flowing from the intensive patterns of spatial agglomeration within global cities. The geography of globalization contains both a dynamic of dispersal and of centralization. The rapid growth of affiliates illustrates the dynamic of simultaneous geographic dispersal and concentration of a firm’s operations. Cities are key sites for the production of services for firms. Global players in the financial industry need enormous resources, which is leading to rapid mergers and acquisitions of firms, and strategic alliances between markets in different countries.
