Acknowledgments

THIS BOOK is part of a project that began many years ago. There are,
then, many persons and institutions to thank, many more than I could
list here.
Financial support for the research and travel came from several insti­
tutions: the United Nations Centre for Regional Development in Nagoya,
Japan; the Revson and Ford Foundations, for a project on the employ­
ment of immigrant women in New York that was central to my research
on low-wage workers and informal labor markets; the Chicago Institute
for Architecture and Urbanism, for research on social class and space; the
Department of Economics of the University of Tokyo, for generous sup­
port with research assistants during my stay in Tokyo; the School for In­
ternational and Public Affairs of Columbia University, for support on re­
search on labor markets as part of a larger project funded by the Andrew
and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
There are other institutions that were central to my work. The Social
Science Research Council through the Committee on New York provided
assistance in the preparation of a major paper on New York City; the
Economic Social Science Research Council of England supported an En-
glish-American team doing research on New York City and London; the
Department of Urban Planning at MIT set up a team of U.S. and Japa­
nese researchers working on deindustrialization and economic restructur­
ing; the Development and Population Unit of City College of London
provided various kinds of assistance, as did the Bartlett School of Plan­
ning. Many staff members of the Greater London Council and the vari­
ous units after its abolition were particularly helpful. In Tokyo, many in­
dividuals and institutions were extremely helpful and often crucial to the
research: the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and several of its staff
members were unusually supportive and provided much important infor­
mation. I also wish to thank staff at the Ministry of Labor, Ministry of
Trade and Industry, and Office of Immigration of the Ministry of Justice.
I am particularly indebted to Kalabao, an organization for immigrant
workers set up by daily laborers in Japan, the poorest workers helping
the most vulnerable newcomers.
Many colleagues and friends, as individuals and as members of re­
search teams, need to be thanked: Susan Fainstein and Norman Fain-
stein, Manuel Castells, Janet Abu-Lughod, Bennett Harrison, Michael
Storper, Ann Markusen, Michael Smith, Kiriro Morita, Peter Marcuse,

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XVI ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Ian Gordon, Michael Harloe, Nick Buck, Michael Edwards, Hidehiko

Sazanami, Toshio Iyotani, Toshio Naito, Mika Iba, Tokue Shibata, Haruhi
Tono, Naoko Iyori, Mako Yoshimura, Munesuke Yamamoto, and many
others.
Research assistance was a major part of this study. Michelle Gittelman
and Peter Marcotullio were key persons in the research on the financial
markets and the trade in services. Sako Osaka helped with preparation of
materials in Japanese. Wendy Grover used her detective instincts to get
at much information on the informal economy. And then there was a
group of students who worked little miracles with the entering of the text
and preparation of tables, and all of it under the pressure of deadlines.
Jesus Sanchez, Jerry Johnson, Brian Sahd, David Silodor, Karen Heme-
leski, and Julie Burros were the most supportive assistants one could
have wished for. I also need to thank Ted Reinert and Barbara Hemeleski
for solving many a computer crisis when all seemed lost and Jinnah Mo-
hamed for final preparation of tables. Gail Satler often took full respon­
sibility for ensuring that the various parts of the project functioned
smoothly and managed matters while I was away. I would also like to
thank the many people at Princeton University Press for their support,
particularly my editor, Gail Ullman, and her assistant, Cindy Hirschfeld,
and Jane Low, in charge of editorial production. The copyeditor, Lyn
Grossman, took on an unusually large burden of editing and proofing; I
am immensely grateful for all her work.
It is my experience that in all major projects there are one or two in­
dividuals who play a critical role, one not necessarily related to time
spent on the project, but more to the strategic character and the sub­
stance of their contribution. My single largest debt is to Zhen Wu from
the Department of Urban Planning at Columbia University and to Pro­
fessor Kiriro Morita from the Department of Economics at Tokyo Uni­
versity. Zhen Wu was an exceptional researcher, whose intelligence and
determination made all the difference. She did a lot of the research on
the producer services in London and in New York City for Chapters
Five, Six, and Eight. Professor Kiriro Morita made the most important
contribution to my research in Tokyo. He provided me with researchers
and introduced me to several key people. His generosity and interest
were exceptional.
And then there are those on the family front. My husband, Richard
Sennett, and my son, Hilary Koob-Sassen, were a great source of sup­
port, love, and many a fine dinner. Without them there would have been
so much less laughter and enjoyment.

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