ABSTRACT
Earlier chapters of this book have argued that London has not been characterised by growing proletarianisation, pauperisation and immiseration, as some commentators feared in the 1970s. On the contrary, the available evidence points to the growth of a large and prosperous middle class of professional, managerial and technical workers. The growing wealth of this class has enabled them to buy houses and apartments, and to push out residentially into what were hitherto predominantly working-class areas of London. This has been associated with the emergence of fashionable restaurants, bars and shops in what were previously seen as depressed and run-down areas of the city. This is a consequence of London’s role as one of the command and control centres of global capitalism. As Friedmann and Wolff put it, such cities ‘draw unto themselves the wealth of the world that is ruled by them’ (1982, p. 322) and are centres of wealth accumulation and luxury consumption.
