Cities around the world are experiencing profound economic and social change as they seek to compete in a globalizing world. Global Metropolitan seeks to explain such changes. It explores how the discourse of globalizing has become a major narrative in the restructuring of cities around the world. It illustrates how a similar range of globalizing practices including the hosting of mega-events, the siting of urban spectaculars, the rewriting of the city, and its representation to a world of global flows, are important processes structuring urban socio-spatial transformation in the contemporary world.

Moving beyond the debate surrounding the measurement of world cities, John Rennie Short suggests a new paradigm for urban studies; globalizing cities where the emphasis is on how cities are embarked on a global project to maintain economic competitiveness and cultural relevance. The book sets a new agenda for both globalization and urban studies.