Global–local interaction and its impact on cities

This introduction paper to the special issue of Journal of Housing and the Built Environment explores the interrelations among ‘globalization, urban systems, and local development’ by focusing on global-local interactions and their impacts on cities. After tackling the idea that globalization is about the spread of capitalism and capitalist principles throughout the world, the paper introduces the questions that each article intends to answer. The issues addressed by these questions were grouped under four headings: global versus local forces and urban change; urban systems within the global network of cities; globalization and property markets; and governance of globalizing cities.