Abstract
Inequality in metropolitan areas is part of a paradoxical triangle of competing motives over resources allocation. Chief among inequality/equity rivals is economic development, but ecological sustainability matters as well. Understanding inequality in global cities in such a context requires first recognizing the intense economic development motives involved in pursuing worldwide centrality, connectivity and command over the forces of globalization. As a comparative analysis of 53 large U.S. metropolitan areas, this paper examines the apparatus of a global city in response to globalization, and the subsequent impact on socioeconomic inequality. Through causal path analysis, it empirically identifies essential components of the paradoxical triangle in the struggle of global cities to sustain their world-city status. In so doing, the evidence suggests heightened inequality is a function of (a) the global city’s use of certain “cornerstone” resources to sustain global advantage, and (b) its resultant polarized employment structure.