What makes Tokyo a Global City?

Global cities such as Tokyo have good infrastructure and are also advanced in
transportation system that has made it to be known as a global city. Tokyo has the
advancement of communications infrastructure such as the high-speed communication
lines, fiberoptics and fast wifi networks that many multinational corporations around the
globe rely on. This has made Tokyo to be known as the world’s technology and digital
capitals. Besides, Tokyo is also the largest cosmopolitan city in the world.

According to the 2010 statistics for human capital in the top ten global cities, Tokyo is
ranked the seventh. This is because its life expectancy is literally the highest in world and
also has abnormally high population with tertiary degrees. Human capital tend to measure
how well a city is for its citizens. And the higher the human capital of the city, the more
likely it is to be considered as a global city.

Why is Tokyo important globally?

Tokyo’s population exceeded one million in the late 19th century, and as Japan’s political,
economic, and cultural centre it became one of the world’s most populous cities in the 20th
century. The city is an important wholesale centre, where goods from all parts of the country and
the world are distributed.

Nowadays globalization occurs in places where a mass of people work and live in cities.
However, for a city to achieve the title of being global, it must have values and ideas that will
have an impact of the rest of the world. 

A global city has wealth, power and influence to other countries as well as hosts the largest
capital markets. Moreover, a city that has wealthy multinational companies, good infrastructure,
better economy, well-educated and diverse populations and powerful organizations as well as a
good political structure that are linked to the other parts of the world like nowhere else is
considered to be global. A global city, therefore, is the world’s most important and influential
city that covers the dimensions of the globalization. These dimensions are cultural experience,
business activity, human capital as well as political engagement.

There are several ways in which a city can be considered as a global city:-

1. A city should have a combination of powerful, strong and unique culture, style and
history. This is because culture is one of important businesses in a city that provides
many tourist attractions. Culture may not necessarily mean the traditions and values in
that particular city but also the art, food and architecture.
2. A global city is a city of demographic and economic change. It contains international
organizations, different firms such as law firms, headquarters for the multinational
countries as well as stock exchanges that influences the world’s economy. Also, in a
global city, the cost of living is better than other cities and there are a number of
billionaires.
3. The size of a city does not determine a city to be considered as global rather its
infrastructure and workforce.
4. Lastly, in order for a city to be considered as a global city it should have good political
structure whereby it can influence and participate in world affairs and different
international events.