The GLOBAL CITY Facilitator: Voltaire B. Jacinto
QUESTIONS???? What are global cities? What are the attributes of a global city? Why globalization is a spatial phenomenon? How cities served as engines of globalization?
KEY TERMS: GLOBALITY GLOBALISM Imperialism and Internationalism
GLOBALITY is the end-state of Globalization. A hypothetical condition in which the process of globalization is complete or nearly so, barriers have fallen, and "a new global reality" is emerging. The term was used in 1998 by author and economist Daniel Yergin in a Newsweek article that described the end-state of the globalization process, and in his book, Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy.
William Safire traces the etymology of “globality” in his book No Uncertain Terms and identifies a range of citations as far back as 1942, when it was used as a synonym for
“global.”
Current use of “globality” as it applies to business – as a description of the current competitive state of world commerce – was not adopted until recently. The term has been described by William J. Holstein in the New York Times as "a
new buzzword [that] doesn’t work — it merely describes trends that have been under way for at least two decades under a very similar name."
GLOBALITY vs. GLOBALISM
GLOBALISM a national policy of treating the whole world as a proper sphere for political influence. Compare with: Imperialism and Internationalism
What are GLOBAL CITIES?
Defining the Global City New global cities have since arisen not only as financial centers but also a producers of services that are global in scope Global cities are post-industrial Manufacturing has been scattered across national and global networks Turn from “landscapes of production” to “landscapes of consumption”
Defining the Global City Global cities are “brain hubs” and centers of a “knowledge economy” Economies of scale and concentration are necessary despite the proliferation of communications technology Network economies and spillover effects include “thick labor markets” in knowledge workers.
Polarization extends to differentiation by human capital (skills and formal education)
Global City? Sociologist Saskia Sassen popularized this term. Her The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo (1990) has shaped the concepts and methods used to analyze the role of cities and their networks in the contemporary world. Sassen’s concept of Global City gives emphasis on the flow of information and capital.
Global Cities are major nodes in the interconnected systems of information and money, and the wealth that they capture is intimately related to the specialized businesses that facilitate those flows.
making sense of urban systems and their global networks
In the age of globalization, the activities of production are scattered on a global basis. These complex, globalized production networks require new forms of financial and producer services to manage them.
WHY STUDY GLOBAL CITIES?
Globalization as Spatial Phenomenon Spatial as it occurs in physical spaces. - Foreign investments and capital move through a city - Companies build skyscrapers Globalization is spatial because what makes it move is the fact that it is based in places. In other words, cities act on globalization and globalization acts on cities: -Los Angeles, home of Hollywood, is where movies are made for global consumption -Tokyo, headquarters of Sony, the company coordinates the sale of its various electronics goods to branches around the globe
Attributes of Global City SEATS OF ECONOMIC POWER New York have the largest stock market in the world Tokyo houses the most number of corporate headquarters Shanghai plays critical role in the global economic supply
CENTERS OF AUTHORITY Washington DC, not wealthy as New York, but it’s the seat of American Power Canberra is Australia political capital: home to country’s politicians and bureaucrats
CENTERS OF POLITICAL INFLUENCE Cities that house major International Organizations: UN-New York, EU-Brussels
CENTERS OF HIGHER LEARNING AND CULTURE
The question then becomes how to
identify these cities, and perhaps to determine to what extent they function as global cities specifically, beyond all of the other things that they do simply as cities.
1. AT Kearney’s list, developed in conjunction with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Global Cities Index uses criteria across five dimensions: A. Business Activity (headquarters, services firms, capital markets value, number of international conferences, value of goods through ports and airports) B. Human Capital (size of foreign born population, quality of universities, number of international schools, international student population, number of residents with college degrees)
C. Information Exchange (accessibility of major TV news channels, Internet presence (basically number of search hits), number of international news bureaus, censorship, and broadband subscriber rate) D. Cultural Experience (number of sporting event, museums, performing arts venues, culinary establishments, international visitors, and sister city relationships).
E. Political Engagement (number of embassies and consulates, think tanks, international organizations, political conferences)
2. The Institute for Urban Strategies at The Mori Memorial Foundation in Tokyo published another study called “The Global Power City Index 2011.” This report examined cities in terms of functions demanded by several “actor” types: Manager, Researcher, Artist, Visitor, and Resident.
The functional areas were: A. Economy (Market Attractiveness, Economic Vitality, Business Environment, Regulations and Risk) 2. Research and Development (Research Background, Readiness for Accepting and Supporting Researchers, Research Achievement)
3. Cultural Interaction (Trendsetting Potential, Accommodation Environment, Resources of Attracting Visitors, Dining and Shopping, Volume of Interaction) 4. Livability (Working Environment, Cost of Living, Security and Safety, Life Support Functions) 5. Environment (Ecology, Pollution, Natural Environment) 6. Accessibility (International Transportation Infrastructure, Inner City Transportation Infrastructure)
Mori Foundation Global City Power Index (2015)
Global Power City top 10: (2016) 1. London,
2. New York City,
3. Tokyo, 4. Paris, 5. Singapore, 6. Seoul, 7. Amsterdam, 8. Berlin, 9. Hong Kong,
10. Sydney.
3. Another popular ranking is the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global City Competitiveness Index. They rank cities on a number of domains:
A. Economic Strength (Nominal GDP, per capita GDP, % of households with economic consumption > $14,000/yr, real GDP growth rate, regional market integration) B. Human Capital (population growth, working age population, entrepreneurship and risk taking mindset, quality of education, quality of healthcare, hiring of foreign nationals) C. Institutional Effectiveness (electoral process and pluralism, local government fiscal autonomy, taxation, rule of law, government effectiveness)
D. Financial Maturity (breadth and depth of financial cluster) E. Global Appeal (Fortune 500 companies, frequency of international flights, international conferences and conventions, leadership in higher education, renowned think tanks) F. Physical Capital (physical infrastructure quality, public transport quality, telecom quality) G. Environment and Natural Hazards (risk of natural disaster, environmental governance) H. Social and Cultural Character (freedom of expression and human rights, openness and diversity, crime, cultural vibrancy)
4. Jon Beaverstock, Richard G. Smith and Peter J. Taylor established the Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC). A roster of world cities in the GaWC Research Bulletin 5 is ranked by their connectivity through four "advanced producer services": accountancy, advertising, banking/finance, and law Alpha world cities (with four sub-categories), Alpha ++, alpha +, alpha, alpha-
Beta world cities (three sub-categories), Beta +, Beta, Beta-
Gamma world cities (three sub-categories) and additional cities with High sufficiency or Sufficiency presence. Gamma+, Gamma, Gamma-
Suggested activities: 1. Look (Google) for these global cities according to any of the four ranking/research groups. Compare the ranking, criteria, and sustainability factors. Analyze how globalization contributed to their success 2. Present a video-tour of these cities (Youtube will help you) to amaze our students. Critique and process. 3.
CHALLENGES OF GLOBAL CITY GLOBAL CITIES CAN BE SITES OF GREAT INEQUALITY AND POVERTY New York and Tokyo can be sustainable because of their density: denser settlements yield energy savings; extensive public transportation systems enable people to drive less cutting carbon emission
Los Angeles meanwhile are urban sprawls, with massive freeways that force residents to spend money on cars and gas Manila, Bangkok, and Mumbai are dense, their lack of public transportation and the government’s inability to regulate car Industries have made them extremely polluted
TREMENDOUS VIOLENCE CAUSE BY TERROR ATTACKS 9/11 attack in New York in 2001 Attacks by Zealots of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant in Paris
THE GLOBAL CITY AND THE POOR MASSIVE INEQUALITY SITED IN SOME MAJOR CITIES Cities like Mumbai, Manila and Jakarta have gleaming building alongside massive shanty towns
GENTRIFICATION is a phenomenon of driving out the poor in favor of newer, wealthier residents African-Americans and Immigrants in New York and San Francisco are being forced to move farther away from the economic centers of their cities
BANLIEUE A cluster of ethnic enclaves which includes poor Muslim migrants forced to be out of Paris
CONCLUSION Global Cities are material representation of Globalization They are places that create the exciting fusion of culture and ideas which also generate tremendous wealth Yet, they remain sites of great inequality, where global servants serve global entrepreneurs
The question of how globalization can be made more just is partly a question of how people make their cities more just
Talking Points: 1. While most of us will not be living in global cities, how will our lives be affected by them? 2. Are the contradictions and polarizations in the global city inevitable? 3. In what sense are cities mediums of globalization? 4. Why is economic power the most crucial determinant of a global city? 5. Why is there a lot of inequality in global cities?
Suggested activities: 1. Identify other challenges and threats on global cities. How these threats were managed? 2. City Selection: Divide class into ten groups. Each group
will feature one of the top ten global cities. Present and critique in class. Creativity and visual presentation is necessary.
3. My Global City : 1. Write a petition/position letter to the LGU (City Council) what you want you city to have in future as a global city. A. Cite facilities and infrastructure necessary B. How to manage the challenges and threats to human condition? C. what would make you city unique?
(How would you enhance/integrate local and national heritage into your global city. ) Note: variant activities exploring the same topic would be more appropriate.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.