| The postwar years have been witnessed to a major transformation of the structure of the U.S. economy. Widely heralded as the advent of the service economy, this transformation has involved the increasing prominence of large corporations, the rise of nonprofit and public sector activities, the growth of producer services as well as changes in technology, location of activities and the nature of work.;In the final analysis, this study argues that a new urban hierarchy is well in the making, one which differs sharply from that which prevailed through much of the industrial era, from the turn of the century to the decades following the second world war.;This study is an attempt to investigate more fully than has been done heretofore the impact of this transformation on both the economic base of individual cities and the entire structure of the U.S. system of cities. It is based on an empirical investigation of key changes in the locational behavior and agglomeration tendencies of major service and nonservice activities and of the new kinds of institutional and economic linkages that are developing among cities. Particular attention is paid to national, regional and divisional headquarters of large firms; to commercial banking, insurance, accounting and advertising; to wholesaling, air transportation and telephone communications; to federal and state governmental institutions; and to R&D, higher educational and medical facilities. |
