The matter of a transformation in the spatial dynamics of accumulation and in
the institutional arrangements through which it takes place is taken up by Saskia
Sassen, whose works have generated new imageries of a restructuring of space and
place under globalization. Sassen’s modern classic The Global City (1991) has had
an exceptionally broad impact across the disciplines and left an indelible mark on
the emergent fi eld of globalization studies. Sassen’s study is grounded in a larger
body of literature on ‘world cities’ that view world-class cities as sites of major
production, fi nances or coordinating of the world economy within an international
division of labour, and more recent research on ‘globalizing cities’ (see, e.g., Marcuse
and van Kempen 2000).