ABSTRACT
London is often seen as the acme of the polarized city, characterized by dominantly service-based industries at both top and bottom ends, driven by global industrial shifts in production and capital. Relatively stable social systems of temporary and permanent migration to and from the continent make London a Eurocity every bit as Europeanized on this dimension as Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, Munich, Barcelona or Vienna. London has, in other words, become a mecca for the young of Europe everywhere who have moved here in droves to learn the global language, and be part of the swinging, libertarian de facto capital of Europe. The British economic miracle of the last few years has, in fact, in part been fueled by these European economic dynamics, building on Britain's strategic economic positioning and tax incentives and its ability to bleed the best and the brightest from its European neighbors.
