Abstract
Though the effects of globalization are generally perceived as good, this blurring of boundaries also generates concern. Globalization is much more than a liberalization of trade, engendering a series of significant social effects as well. These dual effects illustrate how globalization is much more than the liberalization of trade. This paper looks at one major result of globalization the centralization of international business infrastructures such as telecommunications and finance in what Saskia Sassen has termed the "global city." Using Sassen's theoretical framework, this paper examines the factors that characterize a global city and the role these new global cities play, both within their own nation states and in international trade. These factors are then applied to analyze London as a global city. The paper then examines the social costs of globalization as manifested in the city of London. It explores how development policies geared towards creating major capitals of finance have also resulted in greater disparities of wealth, by engendering phenomena like gentrification and the transnationalization of labor. These theories are again applied to the London experience.
Finally, this paper draws on the experience of London as a global city and proposes the integration of "social development" principles put forth by Susan Fainstein, to propose better globalization policies that promote a global city's progress on the international economic stage without neglecting the needs of the marginalized members within its community.

From the Paper
"These increased investments also served to attract foreign banks into London, as well as highly skilled people to provide the much-needed financial and technical expertise. The concentration of networks and people also made London a center of information, where relationships between people and corporations can be built. Though not as significant as its financial resources, the network of personal and business relationships also helped London become an important business center. Not coincidentally, the opening of cafes, restaurants and other such meeting places also increased with London's growing economy, another indication of the auxiliary facilities needed by a global city.
Finally, in keeping with Sassen's observations regarding the darker side of global cities, the London government has consistently passed regulations that favor the economic development and the needs of big business, even at the expense of its poorer residents. This is illustrated more fully in its treatment of its worker and immigrant populations, and in the case of the regeneration of the Docklands, at the time the world's largest redevelopment project that eventually caused the bankruptcy of the world's largest office developers."

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