Class-Divided Cities: London Edition

Social class has become an inescapable presence in American cities. Here on Cities, this past winter and spring, I examined the geography of class in America's twelve largest metros. Today, I turn my attention globally to the class geography of London.

London today stands alongside New York as one of the world's two most powerful global cities. In his sweeping analysis of the rise and fall of great financial centers, Capitals of Capital, Youssef Cassis notes London's remarkable comeback as a world-leading financial center over the past the several decades, even in the wake of the U.K.'s long-run economic decline. Today, it is one of the largest centers of the world's super-rich, and regularly nears the top of lists ranking influence or economic power. New investments have turned East London's Tech City into a center of start-up and venture capital activity. It has become one of the most expensive places to live on the planet. And as has happened in so many cities, from New York to San Francisco, its urban economic renewal has brought with it deep economic divides.