ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the general argument regarding the role of global cities within the changing international and national division of labour. It examines the changing employment structure of London and the changing occupational and income structure in global cities. The chapter explores the links between the structure of occupations and incomes and the housing market, and the geographical dimensions of the housing and social polarization of London. The change in the economic and occupational structure of London has been associated with a radical transformation of the tenure, price and spatial structure of the housing market in London, particularly within inner London. The extent to which a gentrification of the inner city private housing stock takes place is dependent on the supply, price and location of available housing, on the level and nature of demand, and on the availability of mortgage finance.
