Overview

The World’s Cities offers instructors and students in higher education an accessible introduction to the three major perspectives influencing city-regions worldwide: City-Regions in a World System; Nested City-Regions; and The City-Region as the Engine of Economic Activity/Growth. The book provides students with helpful essays on each perspective, case studies to illustrate each major viewpoint, and discussion questions following each reading. The World’s Cities concludes with an original essay by the editor that helps students understand how an analysis incorporating a combination of theoretical perspectives and factors can provide a richer appreciation of the world’s city dynamics.

Full Product Details

Author:   A.J. Jacobs ,  A J Jacobs (East Carolina University, USA)
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Dimensions:   Width: 18.70cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.725kg
ISBN:  

9780415894869

ISBN 10:   0415894867
Pages:   424
Publication Date:   09 August 2012
Audience:   College/higher education ,  General/trade ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

Series Forward Preface Introduction: Cities and Regions Evolving in an Ever Changing World - A.J. Jacobs PART ONE: City-Regions in a World System City-Regions in a World System: An Overview - A.J. Jacobs 1. Where We Stand: A Decade of World City Research - John Friedmann A decade after his seminal World City Hypothesis article, Friedmann summarizes and assesses the contributions of World/Global City Theory to the urban scholarship. 2. Cities in a World Economy - Saskia Sassen A foundation chapter in her seminal book, Sassen describes how the 1980's explosion in world financial activity prompted a concurrent rise in global cities as gateways for international capital 3. A Global Network Analysis of 234 Cities - B. Derudder, P. Taylor, F. Witlox, G. Catalano Focusing upon 22 clusters ranging across 234 cities, Derudder et al. offer a multi-layered classification system which would later become Peter Taylor's seminal World City Network. 4. Mexico City: The Making of a Global City? - Christof Parnreiter Parnreiter chronicles how global flows and NAFTA pushed the Mexican Government to aggressively promote foreign trade and foreign direct investment (FDI), and transformed Mexico City into a Global City 5. Location theory in reverse? IT production in the Bangalore, India- Rolee Aranya Aranya, a GaWC collaborator, shows how the IT sector's limited need for face-to-face interactions and focus on offshore activities have resulted in an a reverse spatial logic in Bangalore: peripheralization of control and centralization of routine production functions 6. Building Shanghai: Historical lessons from China's Gateway - Edward Denison Denison reviews the history of architectural styles in Shanghai and in the process shows how contemporary capitalist forces have reshaped the city from an aging and low-rise city, into a thriving high-rise conglomeration 7. Race, Space and Spatial Order in Johannesburg - Owen Crankshaw Crankshaw contends that the evidence showing post-apartheid suburban Johannesburg has developed in a much more mixed-race, desegregated pattern than its more established neighborhoods, suggests that the city is a potential exception among world cities 8. Global Dubai or Dubaization - Yasser Elsheshtawy Weary of its potential pitfalls, Elsheshtawy cautions other cities interested in replicating Dubaization, claiming, that in Dubai, such an over-focus on globalization has led to an intensification in economic, social and, political inequality a PART TWO: Nested City-Regions Nested City-Regions: An Overview - A.J. Jacobs 9. The Nested City - Richard Child Hill & Kuniko Fujita In this seminal article, Hill & Fujita reject the disembedding and convergences claims of World City scholars and outline the basic conceptual position of Nested City Theory, particularly, that cities continue to evolve within their own unique national and sub-national context. 10. New York, Chicago, Los Angeles: America's Global Cities. - Janet L. Abu-Lughod From the concluding chapter in her seminal book, Abu-Lughod demonstrates the importance of comparative urban research, and how variations in history, geography, politics, and inter-group relations have fostered differential outcomes in New York, Chicago, and L.A. 11. Race, Fragmentation, and Divergent Outcomes in Detroit & Toronto - A.J. Jacobs In his comparison of two areas within the same natural region and closely linked by production flows, Jacobs reveals how variations in racial-ethnic relations, municipal fragmentation, and multi-jurisdictional planning have foster divergent growth patterns 12. Planning Taipei - Chia-Huang Wang Utilizing what he calls a 'bottom-up approach' Wang explores how Taipei's urban primacy in Taiwan has enabled, constrained, and conditioned the city's strategic planning actions and responses to global forces 13. Expanding Income Stratification in the Tokyo Region - A.J. Jacobs Jacobs describes how Tokyo's changing development context has led to a rise in inter-place income stratification in the region since 1980. He then shows how Tokyo's nested context has insured that inequality has remained much less severe than in America's three largest regions 14. Experiencing Jakarta - Chris Silver After a brief historical review of Jakarta, Silver chronicles how the policies of the national government, under President Suharto, transformed region into a global city. He concludes by offering a planning vision for the Jakarta's future in the 21st Century 15. Actor Networks and Hybrid Developmental States: Malaysia's Multimedia Super-corridor and New York's Silicon Alley - Michael Indergaard Guided by Actor-Network Theory, Indergaard compares Malaysia's Multimedia Super-corridor (MSC) with New York's Silicon Alley. He concludes that the MSC's development approach presents a hybrid model, melding developmentalism and neo-liberalism a a 16. Ulsan: South Korea's Great Industrial City - A.J. Jacobs In an effort to reassert the importance of industrial centers, Jacobs chronicles how global, national, and local forces have transformed Ulsan into a 'Great Industrial City', a major international locus of motor vehicle, ship, and petrochemicals manufacturing a PART THREE: The City-Region as the Engine of Economic Activity/Growth The City-Region as the Engine of Economic Activity and Growth: Overview - A.J. Jacobs 17. Regions, Globalization, Development - Allen J. Scott & Michael Storper In their seminal article on agglomeration theory, Scott & Storper argue that contrary to contemporary theories of development and trade, advancing globalization has not made regional economies irrelevant, but rather more indispensable to national growth 18. The Bratislava-Zilina Auto Corridor: Capitalist Agglomeration in the Post-Socialist CEE - A.J. Jacobs Offering it as a microcosm of Central & Eastern European regions, Jacobs describes how FDI has transformed Bratislava from Socialist controlled into an important tri-national, foreign-led motor vehicle production zone, and the catalyst behind Slovakia's ascension into the EU. 19. The Development Industry & Urban Redevelopment in New York & London- Susan Fainstein Fainstein argues that the deregulation of the financial industry in the 1980s and a related dramatic rise in capital flows, induced a speculative fury and an ensuing extraordinary boom and bust cycle in the property markets in New York and London 20. Hong Kong: An Entrepreneurial City in Action- Bob Jessop & Ngai-Ling Sum Drawing upon Schumpeter, Harvey, and others, Jessop & Sum show how Hong Kong's long history of urban entrepreneurship, make it a prime case study of an 'Entrepreneurial City' which has acted strategically in order to facilitate local economic growth 21. Innovation in Europe: A Tale of Knowledge and Trade in Five Cities- In one of his many articles on the topic, and utilizing Amsterdam, London, Milan, Paris, and Stuttgart as case studies, Simmie & his colleagues explore how clusters of innovative firms have sparked economic growth in a handful of European city-regions. 22. From World Cities to Gateway Cities: Extending the Boundaries of Globalization Theory - John R. Short, Carrie Breitbach. Stephen Buckman & Jamey Essex Building upon his past research on urban boosterism, Short & his collaborators offer seven case study cities worldwide in their attempt to expand the contemporary narrow understanding of the globalization/city relationship by introducing the concept of 'Gateway City' 23. From Modernist to Market Urbanism: The Transformation of New Belgrade - Paul Waley Through his case study of Belgrade, Waley reveals the challenges confronting many Central, Eastern, and Southeastern European city leaders in their efforts to reconcile and accommodate Socialist urban form with neo-liberal development forces a a a 24. Collaborative Regionalism and FDI Growth: The Cases of Mississippi's PUL Alliance and Alabama-Georgia's Auto Valley Partnership- A.J. Jacobs Through his case studies of two small American auto producing regions, Jacobs shows how economic decline has provoked adjacent local governments to collaborate in order to compete for FDI and job growth a CONCLUSIONS and LESSONS The Nexus City Model: Bridging the Local, Regional, National, and International Contexts - A.J. Jacobs Integrating many of the ideas presented in the book's readings, Jacobs offers a 12-factor, conceptual toolkit or model for use by students and scholars in their own examinations and comparisons of the world's city-regions.

Reviews

The book does a great job of including three major, but usually separate, perspectives on urban studies. Leading authors are represented, such as Abu-Lughod, Friedmann, Hill, Sassen, Scott and Storper, and Short.... For undergraduate courses, the global view provided by the book is more important. Chapters on Asia and North America in all three parts, chapters on Mexico City, Johannesburg, and Dubai representing Latin America, Africa, and Middle East, respectively, and chapters on Europe primarily in Part III, are nicely balanced. -Ed Malecki, Geography, Ohio State University The World's Cities goes where other readers have not ventured. The variety of theoretical perspectives and cases is truly impressive. The book offers an enticing invitation to a dialogue about cities and regions across the world. -Michael Indergaard, Sociology and Anthropology, St. John's University This book provides a valuable framework and exemplars for understanding and analyzing the transformation of the world's major cities in the era of globalization. -Michael Timberlake, Sociology, University of Utah This is the volume for which the teachers of global cities courses have long been waiting. Jacobs mixes classic articles and theoretical perspectives with interesting case studies of Tokyo, Shanghai, Jakarta, London, Mexico City, New York, Toronto, and more--material to which students can actually relate. Jacobs has produced a most usable volume for the classroom!--Myron A. Levine, Urban Affairs, Wright State University Cities no longer only serve and thrive locally and operate in highly complex regional and global environments. The World's Cities is a compilation of contributions to three major schools of thought on how cities interact within their contexts, and what constitutes these contexts. Students and scholars of cities will find this book a great resource.--Mahyar Arefi, Planning, University of Cincinnati Making sense of a large, disparate, rapidly expanding literature, Jacobs provides an indispensable aid for students struggling to understand cities in economic globalization. Careful choice of key readings provides both critical introduction to the subject and insights into on-going debates. -Peter Taylor, Built and Natural Environment, Northumbria University

The book does a great job of including three major, but usually separate, perspectives on urban studies. Leading authors are represented, such as Abu-Lughod, Friedmann, Hill, Sassen, Scott and Storper, and Short... For undergraduate courses, the global view provided by the book is more important. Chapters on Asia and North America in all three parts, chapters on Mexico City, Johannesburg, and Dubai representing Latin America, Africa, and Middle East, respectively, and chapters on Europe primarily in Part III, are nicely balanced. -Ed Malecki, Geography, Ohio State University The World's Cities goes where other readers have not ventured. The variety of theoretical perspectives and cases is truly impressive. The book offers an enticing invitation to a dialogue about cities and regions across the world. -Michael Indergaard, Sociology and Anthropology, St. John's University This book provides a valuable framework and exemplars for understanding and analyzing the transformation of the world's major cities in the era of globalization. -Michael Timberlake, Sociology, University of Utah This is the volume for which the teachers of global cities courses have long been waiting. Jacobs mixes classic articles and theoretical perspectives with interesting case studies of Tokyo, Shanghai, Jakarta, London, Mexico City, New York, Toronto, and more--material to which students can actually relate. Jacobs has produced a most usable volume for the classroom!--Myron A. Levine, Urban Affairs, Wright State University Cities no longer only serve and thrive locally and operate in highly complex regional and global environments. The World's Cities is a compilation of contributions to three major schools of thought on how cities interact within their contexts, and what constitutes these contexts. Students and scholars of cities will find this book a great resource.--Mahyar Arefi, Planning, University of Cincinnati Making sense of a large, disparate, rapidly expanding literature, Jacobs provides an indispensable aid for students struggling to understand cities in economic globalization. Careful choice of key readings provides both critical introduction to the subject and insights into on-going debates. -Peter Taylor, Built and Natural Environment, Northumbria University

Author Information

A. J. Jacobs is an Associate Professor and the Director of Graduate Studies in East Carolina University’s Department of Sociology. He was an Assistant Professor in the University of Cincinnati’s School of Planning, a Visiting Associate Professor in Hosei University’s Faculty of Business (in Tokyo, Japan), and a Visiting Assistant Professor in Michigan State University’s Urban Planning Program. He received his Ph.D. in Sociology–Urban Studies from Michigan State University and his Master’s in Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions