31. Global cities

In response to technological advancements, the reduction in the costs of transportation and communication, and the deregulation of trade and investment, multinational corporations (MNC) have dispersed their operations around the world. Yet, a counterintuitive aspect of the process of globalization is that, rather than a balanced distribution of economic activity, particular locations seem to continue to attract much greater attention. , for example, found that over 50 percent of MNC operations were located in 23 global cities. Similarly, indicated that a group of 35 global cities received as much as 45 percent of global investment. Further, indicated that 35 percent of MNC investment was centered on just 10 global cities, with 77 percent of that investment located in 55 global cities.