Writing the Global City explores the imperial and colonial origin of contemporary world and global cities and addresses new ways of framing urban and architectural debates.

Dedication. List of Illustrations. Preface and Introduction. Acknowledgements. Part 1: Re-theorising the City: Globalisation, Colonialism, Postcolonialism 1. Architecture, Capital and the Globalisation of Culture 2. Colonialism, Urbanism and the Capitalist World Economy 3. Writing Colonial Space 4. Representing World Cities: Cultural Theory and Social Practice 5. Postcolonialism, Representation and the City 6. Cities: Contradictory Utopias Part 2: Methodologies: Case Studies in Globalisation and Imperialism 7. Actually-Existing Postcolonialisms: Colonial Urbanism after the Postcolonial Turn 8. Imperialism, Internationalism, Postcolonialism, Globalisation: Frameworks for Vernacular Architecture 9. Postcolonial Cities, Postcolonial Critiques 10. Notes Towards a Global Historical Sociology of Building Types 11. Imperialism and World Cities 12. Imperialism and the Grand Hotel 13. Globalisation and Homogenisation: the State of Play Part 3: Defining Contemporary and Historical Cities 14. Imperial Cities 15. Global Cities Further Reading. Name Index. Subject Index