Anthony D. King, 2004: Spaces Of Global Cultures. Architecture, Urbanism, Identity. London: Routledge

摘要

From the very beginning, research on transnational urbanism has been characterized by a great variety of perspectives, ranging from quantitative-positivist approaches over world-systems analysis to postmodernism. Anthony King (1995: 219-20) was one of the first authors to stress that so-called 'world city literature' was characterized by such a multiplicity of approaches. King thereby advanced that two main theoretical paradigms could be discerned in the study of transnational urbanism: one focusing on questions of culture, identity and meaning, and the other on political economy. In his own work, however, King has always managed to bridge this divide. Although his research chiefly concentrates on architecture, culture and identity, King has always made intense use of concepts and insights that are firmly rooted in political economy. Indeed, one of the most remarkable features of King's research output is that, despite largely dealing with issues of meaning and identity in the study of the built environment, he has never retreated into an undiluted poststructuralism.