Homotopy colimits of 2-functors

Like categories, small 2-categories have well-understood classifying spaces. In this paper, we deal with homotopy types represented by 2-diagrams of 2-categories. Our results extend lower categorical analogues that have been classically used in algebraic topology and algebraic K-theory, such as the homotopy invariance theorem (by Bousfield and Kan), the homotopy colimit theorem (Thomason), Theorems A and B (Quillen), or the homotopy cofinality theorem (Hirschhorn).