The making of transnational urban space: financial professionals in the global city Tokyo

Abstract

Transnational urban space-making has been discussed either in the context of corporate impacts on global cities or of transnational urbanism in the migration literature. This chapter brings together these two research strands and discusses the dual role of transnational professionals in global city making as both decision-making business practitioners in transnational corporations and also individuals with transnational social-spatial practices as specific transmigrants themselves. It is based on data deriving from 45 semi-structured interviews with transnational financial professionals accompanied partly by mental maps drawn by them, and complemented by expert interviews with real estate agencies as well as a group interview with Tokyoite peers. The chapter sheds new light on a so far neglected aspect of global city making by presenting empirical evidence on transnational professionals and their dual space-making process as micro-level actors embedded in the global cities network.