ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the context of globalization and focuses on the convergences of urban form, public space, and governance within Western Europe and between the cities of Europe and those of the United States. Globalization looms large in contemporary urban theory. The rapid diffusion of telecommunications, roaming of transnational corporations, proliferation of multi-national trade arrangements, and increased international migration might or might not be at the root of current transformations in cities and urban systems. Globalization brings with it fewer boundaries to the spread of ideas and the movement of investors and households. Urban form is linked to globalization through the greater emphasis on the competitiveness of city-regions, through the threat that globalization poses to local identities and the historical distinctiveness of individual cities, and through the diffusion of architectural styles and real estate projects that comprise the symbolic vocabulary of global success.
