London is unarguably one of the most significant cities of the world. It is the capital of the United Kingdom as well as of the Commonwealth states. It is also one of the global cities of the highest hierarchy within the world. Undoubtedly the service sector dominates its economy. Key services among the sector are finance and business services, the public sector, tourism and hospitality and the creative and cultural industries. Finance and business services alone accounted for 35 per cent of London's Gross Value Added (GVA) in 1998. However, manufacturing is still an important part of London's economy, accounting for over 11 per cent of London's GVA in 1998 and the third highest region in cash terms, with a GVA of £13 billion. Beyond these economic features one has to mention that London also has an unrivalled cultural, artistic and architectural heritage, helping to confirm its place as a vibrant and dynamic city.
The UK´s capital is home to over 7 million people and has a resident workforce of some 3.4 million, which is supplemented further by a large number of commuters. The 2001 census reveals that 29 per cent of London's population belonged to a minority ethnic group, most of them coming from a member country of (country of a member of) the former British Empire. It is an interesting detail that one in five small businesses is owned or managed by members of minority ethnic communities.
While London stands out as one of the most successful regions in the UK, it is also a divided city. The extremes of wealth creation and success collide with deprivation and social exclusion. For example, the average gross weekly earnings of male full-time, non-manual London employees is a third higher than in the UK as a whole, and yet 20 per
Klaus Zehner
Department of Geography
University of Koeln
