This special issue examines how cities functioned as central agents and arenas in shaping global business and capitalism. Rather than serving merely as passive backdrops, cities provided the institutional and infrastructural foundations through which firms, entrepreneurs, and diverse economic actors structured processes of globalization. The issue seeks to integrate scholarship from business history, urban history, and global studies to develop a comparative understanding of urban business environments across different world regions and historical periods.
Contributions may explore how businesses used cities as hubs for finance, trade, and manufacturing; how real estate and property markets became globalized; how urban infrastructures like ports and warehouses connected global production and consumption; how migrant communities and informal networks built alternative economic circuits; or how cities adapted to crises and environmental change. The special issue particularly welcomes research on underrepresented regions including Japan, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America.