The European Metropolis in the late Twentieth Century: Winners and Losers

This paper offers a commentary on some of the recent work on globalisation in the context of the European city in the late 20th century. It points out that the current European urban hierarchy has a strong historical dimension. It notes the considerable degree of convergence in the urbanisation experience of late 20th century metropoles across Europe. The differential success of cities in dealing with decentralisation has been in part affected by politics and governance. In terms of future economic growth more stress needs to be put on tourism and the low service sector rather than the impact of global companies. Major contrasts are drawn between the relative success of Northern periphery cities like Helsinki and Dublin against the relative weakness of West European metropoles.