The text offers a critical perspective on complex and consequential aspects of growth and change in London, viewed through the lens of multiscalar space. It demonstrates how capital, culture and governance have combined to reproduce London, within a frame of relational geographies and historical relayering.

Emphasis is placed on the sequences of governance change, capital relayering, industrial restructuring and cultural infusions which have transformed space in London since the 1980s. Hutton contributes to the rich discourse on London's experiences of urbanization, by producing a fresh perspective on its development saliency. It includes a major review and synthesis of research literatures on globalizing cities, with specific reference to the role of capital and culture to the reproduction of space at different scales. Hutton has a wider synthesis of literatures, and also benefits from a nuanced treatment of geographical scale — in the blending of global/transnational processes with the fine-grained imprint of governance processes and social relations in the manifestations of contemporary urban inequality. The author presents a spatial model of metropolitan development by exploring how growth and change in twenty-first-century London is manifested internally as an enlarged zonal structure extending beyond the traditional territories of central and inner London. The serious threats to London are discussed – from the isolating implications of Brexit, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the dire threat of ecological crises and deteriorating public health associated with climate change.

This will be an invaluable text for postgraduates, established scholars and upper level undergraduates, from any discipline or field with an interest in urban studies, including geography, planning, and urban studies.