ABSTRACT
The concepts of world cities and, in particular, of the implied ‘world class’ quality, are fundamentally about domination and power. This chapter explores some of the forces behind the ‘world class’ city label, and argues how cities, in their competition for the ‘world class’ aura, often end simply as tools in broader global power-games which have very little to do with actual urban quality. The key question is who defines the criteria of ‘world class’, and to what ends. It is clear that the criteria which are as commonly accepted today are reductivist in their nature and do not include imperatives of environmental and cultural sustainability.
