Cities for thousands of years has been the
center of globalization for they have seen the
rise of empires, kingdoms, governments and
corporations come and go.
1 million people are added in global urban
population every week
Rapid unplanned urban growth can lead to
expansion of urban slums exacerbating poverty
and inequality, limited basic infrastructure and
accelerate environmental degradation
Urban networks are complex systems of people
and technology
12000 years ago, Nomads that roam the land
following seasons have lived without
technology infrastructure used hand toola and
shelters
Neolithic Revolution is the major paradigm shift
in our engineered environment . it is the first
major technology revolution, the development
of fixed and permanent agricultural production
and settlements.
Evolution of our engineered environment has
been directly related to knowledge of our
natural environment. Our scientific knowledge
is limited in scope and in depth. The expansion
of this that happened scientific revolution laid
massive explosion in technological change , the
hallmark of the modern era
Industrial revolution- the industrial age is the
age of machines as we tapped into new energy
source, no longer dependent on human and
animal energy sources
The global economy has switched from being
dominated by agriculture and industry to
becoming predominantly based on services and
information
Connectivity provided by urban networks as
economies shift from industrial to post-
industrial, cities is now the locus of high value
added services of innovation and knowledge
creation.
Urban centers functions as the hubs within
regional networks that reach into territory of
the locality
Global cities are urban centers that provide
services for integrating the whole network.
They are the landing points for capitals and
goods.
Financialization has changed the form of
investment in urban development
Anthropocene the age of humans
Megacities which are urban centers of more
than 10 million, New york was the first and now
we have 31 megacities
Slums fill the gaps for the of underfunded and
overextended government, that is why the
original plan is hard to adapt bc they changed
the original plan.
Inclusive growth is hard to accomplish bc
megacities are becoming economically unequal,
those at upper status are the only one getting
better. Inequality is the emerging issue the gap
between rich and poor is at the highest.
Environmental degradation is changing
ecosystems around the world and when people
can’t do what they used to do, they Migrate to
cities and they end up in slums
Globalization is the building of global systems of
economic, social and technological
organization. This connectivity crosses all
borders , reduces divides and increase
interdependencies, that bind people together
with shared interests, opportunities and
threats.
When successful, people become integrated
into global economy and society. When
unsuccessful, they become divided and
disconnected and the losses are shared globally.
THE RISE OF URBAN NETWORKS
 the economic and technological
transformation taking place in the
global economy today
 the complex system of people and
technology that constitute an
engineered environment
 physical means of connectivity
 the systems of technology that enable
us to cross
 physical borders and connect with ever
larger networks
Pre- historic Era- 30, 000- 10,00 BCE people live
as hunters and gatherers
Neolithic Era- 8,000- 3,000 BCE when the
permanent settlement of human within fixed
communities led to prolong and sustain
technological and economic innovation giving
arise to an advance civilization.
1800-less than 10% of the population were
living in cities
1900- 20% of the world population was urban
and the development of industrial economies
went hand in hand to the development of the
nation state as the social and economic
organizational unit of the modern era.
1950- urbanization have reached 30% of the
world
21st Century- now half of the human population
has been living in urban centers. Major new
technological and economical processes were
underway as the nation was becoming
increasingly into global networks of exchange.
Cities bring the world into a global economy of
exchange
 During the 19th and 20th century the
centralized and national
 government worked to influence these
new industrial technologies towards
 building their own national
infrastructure systems
 Building more infrastructures like
ports, buildings, roads, bridges,
railways, airports, power cables, and
telecommunication networks.
 Hubs of commerce, transportation,
communication and flows of finance
 The global economy has changed from
agriculture and industry to becoming
predominantly based on services and
information
 Urban centers provide access and
connectivity and they become the
locus of the high value added services
of innovation and knowledge creation
The effects when the population of the world is
increasingly concentrated to urban settlements
 The rapid expansion of urban slums
 Poverty and inequality
 Accelerate environmental degradation
 Pollution leads to poor health condition
 Increased employment opportunities
 Mass production
 Improved quality of life
 Large scale investment in infrastructure
and services
INTRODUCTION
The global city is the main physical and
geographic playground of the globalizing forces:
in this space of population concentration and
mixing, the global flows of people, capital and
ideas are woven into the daily lived experiences
of its residents .
Cultural diversity- a key marker of the global
city and a consequence of human mobility and
migration, is usually detected on the surface as
a ‘cosmopolitan feel’: the global city’s ‘natives’
encountering and engaging daily with a variety
of immigrants and visitors.
The result is ‘cosmopolitan’ consumption ,
‘cosmopolitan’ work culture, global networking
and glocal ’ transnational community relations.
Cosmopolitanism- a phenomenon most readily
associated with the global city: large, diverse
cities attract people, material and cultural
products from all over the world.
It often focuses on consumption in global cities,
where everyday life is significantly shaped by
commercial culture, retail and shopping. It can
be a cross cultural variety of food, fashion,
entertainment and various other consumables
and artifacts . The promise and allure of
cosmopolitan consumption is familiar to the
dweller of any large twenty first century city.
It is, in order to attract and satisfy those with
cross cultural curiosity keen to engage with
‘otherness’, as well as immigrants who fight
their feeling of displacement by engaging with
their ‘original cultures’ through movies, music
and other events, in the company of their
compatriots.
Cosmopolitan Consumption- In all its richness
and variety that a global city has to offer
requires time and money, and as an idea from
tourist brochures it is vastly overstated if we
consider the everyday lived reality of
(sub)urban dwellers.

Everyday life in a global city is likely to include

at least some downsides: high housing costs ,
long working hours, competitive and precarious
labor market ,long commuting times, urban
anonymity and a relative social isolation, a fear
of strangers and crime after or even before
dark, residential hyper mobility, as the flipside
of anonymity, the challenges of practicing
neighborliness and multiculturalism.

Global city can be a dream but also a nightmare.

Global cities are hubs of innovation, creativity

and productivity and the creators of new trends
and fashions, but also concentrations of demi
monde and social ills of all kinds.

Concerns about the effect of crowds and mental

overstimulation on the individual do not seem
to belong just to old-fashioned views of
romantically inclined sociologists but also found
confirmation in recent research.