International cities in the dual systems model: the transformations of Los Angeles and Washington

In: Urban history, Volume 18, p. 41-59

Abstract

The popularization of 'World City' as an analytical
concept dates to 1966. Taking up a term introduced
fifty years earlier by Patrick Geddes, Peter Hall's
now classic description of The World
Cities explored the evolution of a
handful of key urban areas from national into global
roles and functions. The original emphasis on size
and comprehensive economic functins has since been
extended by the argument that a distinct class of
global cities are a characteristic product of the
technologies and economy of the late twentieth
century. As well, such cities are thought to embrace
common spatial forms that respond to a specific
balance of centralizing and decentralizing
tendencies in the location of commercial, financial,
and manufacturing industries.