ABSTRACT
The service matrix V, portrayed as V in Table 3.1, precisely specifies what data are required to describe the world city network. I need: (a) to identify a set of global service firms; (b) to select a set of cities from within which can be found the cities that make up the world city network; and (c) to find or derive service values that show the importance of each city to the service office network of each firm. The argument proceeds in two stages. First, the process of gathering the appropriate information is described. The method employed is described as ‘scavenging’, since any information that can inform the data needs is recorded. Second, the conversion of this multifarious information into comparable data across firms is described. The data are produced by devising a uniform scale of service value that is then applied separately to the specific information gathered on each firm. The end result is a data matrix of the service values of global service firms across world cities to describe and analyse the world city network as it existed in the year 2000.
