In her classic book The Global City, Saskia Sassen tells how New York, London, and Tokyo became command centers of the global economy and, in the process, underwent massive and parallel changes. The book remakes the way we think about cities in the global economy and continues to provide lessons for the future.
Saskia Sassen is the Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology at Columbia University. Her books include Territory, Authority, Rights (Princeton) and A Sociology of Globalization.
"This is brilliant stuff, both in its broadness of sociological scope and its voluminous collection of data from a vast number of sources in the three cities."—Scott Lash, Times Higher Education Supplement
"A very significant book indeed. . . . A systematic detailed analysis of the three largest urban economies in the advanced world."—Peter Hall, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research
"[A] high-powered and at times horrific book. Sassen shows how dangerously city life has been affected by the influx of employees of the multinational firms which move into major cities and virtually colonize them, riving even greater wedges between the rich and poor."—The Observer
"The most detailed and sophisticated anatomy yet published of the functioning of the new producer services sector in the global economy."—Mark Levine, Urban Affairs Quarterly
"A multi-disciplinary tour de force that should be read not only by regional economists but also by urban geographers, sociologists, and planners."—Development and Change
"An exciting and persuasive work. It incorporates a herculean research effort."—Susan Fainstein, Journal of the American Planning Association
"The implications of Sassen's research . . . are sobering."—Rudolf Klein, Times Literary Supplement
"A landmark study in the political economy of cities."—Anthony King, Newsline
