The Global City

Why Study Global

Cities?

• How ideas of internationalism

shaped modern world politics.
• We also examined cultural
movements like K-pop, and how
they spread through media like
the internet.
• What this lesson will emphasize,
however, is that globalization is
spatial. This statement means
two things.
Why Study Global
Cities?

• First, globalization is spatial because

it occurs in physical spaces. You can
see it when foreign investments and
capital move through a city, and
when companies build skyscrapers.
• Second, globalization is spatial
because what makes it move is the
fact that it is based in places. Los
Angeles, the home of Hollywood, is
where movies are made for global
consumption.
Why Study Global
Cities?

• In the years to come, more and

more people will experience
globalization through cities.
• In 1950, only 30 percent of the
world lived in urban areas.
• By 2014, that number increased
to 54 percent. And by 2050, it is
expected to reach 66 percent.
 Defining the Global
City

• Sociologist Saskia Sassen

popularized the term “global city” in
the 1990s.
• Her criteria for what constitutes a
global city were primarily economic.
• In her work, she initially identified
three global cities: New York,
London, and Tokyo all of which are
hubs of global finance and
capitalism.
The New York Stock
Exchange (NYSE)
represents the highest
concentration of
capital in the world.
• The global economy has changed
significantly since Sassen wrote her
book, and any account of the
economic power of cities today
must take note of the latest
developments.
• Other consider some cities “global”
simply because they are great
places to live in.
• Defining a global city can thus be
difficult. One way of solving this
dilemma is to go beyond the simple
dichotomy of global and non-global.
 Indicators for Globality

• So what are the multiple

attributes of the global city?
• The foremost characteristic is
economic power. Sassen
remains correct in saying that
economic power largely
determines which cities are
global.
• Economic opportunities in a
global city make it attractive
to talents from across the
world.
• To ensure the economic
competitiveness of a city,
The Economist Intelligence
Unit has added other criteria
like (1) market size,
(2)purchasing power of
citizens, (3) size of the
middle class, and (4)
potential for growth.
• Global cities are also centers
of authority.
• The cities that house major
international organizations
may also be considered
centers of political influence.
• Power political hubs exert
influence on their own
countries as well as on
international affairs.
• Finally, global cities are
centers of higher learning
and culture, A city’s
intellectual influence is seen
through the influence of its
publishing industry.
• It is the cultural power of
global cities that ties them to
the imagination.
• Today, global cities
become culturally diverse.
In a global city, one can
try cuisines from different
parts of the world.
• Example, Berlin and Tokyo
offer some of the best
Turkish food one can find
outside of Turkey. Manila
is not very global because
of the dearth of foreign
residents (despite the
massive domestic
migration), but Singapore
is, because it has a
foreign population of 38%.
The
Challenges of
Global Cities
• Global cities conjure up images
of fast-paced, exciting,
cosmopolitan lifestyles. But such
descriptions are lacking.
• Cities can be sustainable
because of their density, As
Richard Florida notes: Ecologists
have found that by concentrating
their populations in smaller
areas, cities, and metros
decrease human encroachment
on natural habitats.
• Moreover, in cities with
extensive public transportation
systems, people tend to drive
less and thereby cut carbon
emissions.
• Some cities like Los Angeles are
urban sprawls, with massive
freeways that force residents to
spend money on cars and gas.
• And while cities like Manila,
Bangkok, and Mumbai are dense,
their lack of public transportation
and their governments’ inability
to regulate their car industries
have made them extremely
polluted.
• Cities, especially those
with global influence,
are obvious targets for
terrorists due to their
high populations and
their role as symbols of
globalization that many
terrorists despise.
 The Global City and
the Poor
• We have consistently noted
that economic globalization
has paved the way for
massive inequality.
• Yet many cities, particularly
those in developing
countries, are sites of
contradiction. In places like
Mumbai, Jakarta, and Manila,
it is common to find
gleaning buildings alongside
massive shantytowns.
• In the outskirts of New York and San
Francisco are poor urban enclaves
occupied by African Americans and
immigrant families who are often denied
opportunities for a better life.
• They are gradually being pushed farther
away from their cities’ economic hubs.
• As a city attracts more capital and
wealthier residents, real state values rise,
forcing impoverished people to transfer to
less expensive locations.
• Gentrification: the process of displacing
the poor in favor of newer, wealthier
residents.
• Poor Muslim migrants in France have
been pushed out of Paris and have settled
in ethnic enclaves known as Banlieues.
• In most of the world’s global cities, the
middle class is also thinning out.
Globalization creates high-income jobs
that are concentrated in global cities.
Conclusion

Global cities are sites and

media of globalization. They are
material representations of the
phenomenon. Through them, we
see the best of globalization; they
are places that create exciting
fusions of culture and ideas. They
are also places that generate
tremendous wealth. However,
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.