World Cities and Nation States takes a global perspective to show how national governments and states/provinces/regions continue to play a decisive, and often positive, partnership role with world cities. The 16 chapter book ? comprised of two introductory chapters, 12 central chapters that draw on case studies, and two summary chapters – draws on over 40 interviews with national ministers, city government officials, business leaders and expert academics.
After two decades of evolution and transformation, London had become one of the most open and cosmopolitan cities in the world. The success of the 2012 Olympics set a high water-mark in the visible success of the city, while its influence and soft power increased in the global systems of trade, capital, culture, knowledge, and communications. The Making of a World City: London 1991 – 2021 sets out in clear detail both the catalysts that have enabled London to succeed and also the qualities and underlying values that are at play: London’s openness and self-confidence, its inventiveness, influence, and its entrepreneurial zeal. London’s organic, unplanned, incremental character, without a ruling design code or guiding master plan, proves to be more flexible than any planned city can be. Cities are high on national and regional agendas as we all try to understand the impact of global urbanisation and the re-urbanisation of the developed world. If we can explain London’s successes and her remaining challenges, we can unlock a better understanding of how cities succeed.