The Making of a World City: London 1991 to 2021

Cities are a compelling phenomenon of the current era. The age of globalisation is also an age of globalising cities but the science of cities is only slowly emerging; there is limited understanding of how and why some cities succeed and others fail. The success of the 2012 Olympic Games marked a high watermark at the end of two decades of evolution and transformation in which London had become one of the most open and cosmopolitan cities in the world, while increasing its influence and soft power in the global systems of trade, capital, culture, knowledge, and communications. London holds a fascination for other world cities because it appears to be always slightly ahead of the curve, highly adaptable, and almost accidentally successful. What can other cities learn from London? Is London really a success? Or are there problems in store? Can London fix its own problems or is something more required? In The Making of a World City: London 1991 – 2021 Greg Clark draws on over 25 years of experience working within London policy and economic development organisations, and on interviews with around 100 leading thinkers about the past, present and future of London, including commentators and leaders in New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris, Singapore, and São Paulo. London’s path to becoming a leading world city is not well understood. The assumption is that the Big Bang, London Docklands, the EU, or global finance is the key explanatory factor. The reality is richer and more surprising. This book 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 open–ness 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 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.