On the surface, New York and Los Angeles are quintessentially American cities, and although each is recognizable by its media image, both are little understood. This program transcends that superficial imagery through the fascinating story of how both cities responded to, and were reshaped by, the pervasive forces of economic and social change that characterized late-20th-century America. The program explores both cities’ major urban redevelopment projects during the early 1990s and seeks to provide a balanced investigation of the complex interaction between those local and global forces of change that were involved in the restructuring and the reinvention of both cities. Produced by the Open University. (50 minutes)