ABSTRACT
The urban impact of globalization is not limited to leading world cities. Other cities, though not as economically powerful as the top-tier world cities, also undergo various forms of economic restructuring in relation to the forces of globalization. The nature and extent of urban changes in these non-world cities warrants attention, yet many world-cities researchers have assumed, consciously or unconsciously, that smaller, more ordinary cities experience a lesser version of the same kind of urban restructuring observed in world cities. This assumption overlooks vast differences in the urban experience worldwide. The diversity of urban dynamics prompts the need for case studies representing a range of population sizes, national economies, cultures and political systems.
