“‘Global media cities’: major nodes of globalising culture and media industries”

This chapter highlights the particular role of the culture and media industry in the formation of a world city network, emphasizing the variety of economic activities which are involved in globalization processes. It examines the link between cities and culture from the point of view of the production of cultural goods and media products. The culture and media industry is a prime mover for globalisation processes in the urban system, in which cultural production clusters act as local nodes in the global networks of the large media groups. Media city is a term used to describe culture and media centers operating at very different geographical levels. They range from small-scale local urban clusters in the media industry to the cultural metropolises of the global urban system. Global media cities are functioning as “lifestyle producers” which includes the production of lifestyle images.