The Global City

Activity:
1. Identify and enumerate the attributes of a global city;
2. Analyze and explain how cities serve as engines of globalization; and
3. Explain how multinational corporations influence the development of global cities

Discussion
The 21st century is the hub for the closer relation of states and for a wider
perspective in technological development. As such, the world became a web where
people can witness the interconnectivity of nations. It is globalization that made nations
closer to each other. According to Thomas Friedman in his book The World is Flat
(2005), there are three (3) stages of globalization. The first stage is called Globalization
1.0 that lasted from 1942 to 1800 and “shrank the world from a size large to a size
medium”. This is known as the age of mercantilism and colonialism and the driving
forces were workforce, horsepower, wind power, and, later on, steam power. The second
stage is the age of Pax Britannica, when Great Britain was the hegemonic power in terms
of trade and economy; it is known as Globalization 2.0. the driving force was new
institutions, particularly the emergence of global markets and multinational
corporations. The third stage, which occurred during the second half of the 20 th century,
refers to the age of Pax Americana when the United States of America was the
hegemonic power in terms of security, trade and economy. This is called Globalization
3.0. After the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1980s, the United States of America became
the sole superpower in the so-called Unipolar World. This system was developed by the
reigning hegemonic state by defeating other great powers, not necessarily in a military
aspect, but in terms of economy and influence to other states in the world.

Unlike in the 19th and 20th century, the present condition does not use the tactics
of force as a primary strategy in maintaining one’s influence over another state, rather it
uses soft power to retain one’s dominance over the less powerful states. Soft power,
according to Joseph Nye (2004) who coined the term, uses a different method to
establish cooperation – attraction. This form of power “arises from the attractiveness of
a country’s culture, political ideals, and policies.” When these policies are deemed
justifiable by other states, soft power is enhanced. Nye argues that it will be a mistake if
a country does not use this as part of its national strategy. He further posits that
attraction has always been more effective than force; shared values such as democracy,
human rights, and individual opportunities are highly persuasive. Admittedly, the
United States of America has been employing its soft power in various ways.

With the development of technology, corporations around the world tried to

expand their footholds outside their own countries. Gore (2013) explained that the
world is changing dramatically and there are six driving forces in this global change.
One of the drivers of global change is the emergence of a deeply interconnected global
economy that increasingly operates as a whole entity.

Multinational corporations (MNCs) play a substantial role in the global economy

and enjoy a multitude of privileges such as unquestionable access to vast amounts of
wealth they drawn from their income, theoretical immortality to a certain extent, and
the ability to pit themselves against one another. Nation-states are the centerpieces of
the global community to the extent that MNCs threaten nation-states themselves (Gore,
2013). MNCs are also more flexible and independent in comparison to nation-states
which seem to lack the capacity to dictate how MNCs ought to behave.

Therefore, form these established premises, one can infer that MNCs play a
pivotal role not only in the global economy but in the international political community
as well, alongside nation-states in terms of their capacity to sustain themselves and
considerably to influence the members of the international community. In a sense,
MNCs seem to tie together an otherwise politically separated and clouted world under
an all-encompassing banner of commerce and economy. Products and goods have the
intrinsic capability to attract a target market regardless of geographical location and
political ideology. MNCs, in a sense, have the capacity to erase and transcend the
borders of the world.

MNCs and the irrefutable continuity of nation-states act as key actors of the
global community. With these, the world, at least figuratively, seems to be smaller and
more connected. The evidence of such connectivity is the concept and actual
manifestation of the global city.
 The global city serves as a hub for production, finance, and
telecommunications. Sassen (2005) outlined the different characteristics of globality
that maintain its link to globalization. Some of the obvious characteristics of a global city
are 1) the cultural diversity of the people; 2) existence of a center of economy; 3)
geographic dispersal of economic activities that marks globalization; and 4) global reach
performance. These characteristics are observed in famous global cities such as New
York, Tokyo, Singapore, and Seoul. According to the 2018 Global Cities Index, New York
ranked the highest in terms of the general criteria i.e., business activity, human capital,
information exchange, cultural experience, and political engagement. New York is
followed by London, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

It cannot be helped that a multitude of cultures interact with each other when
nation-states and multinational corporations behave in a grander scheme. The result of
this constant interaction among a wide array of cultures is a conglomeration of cultures
in a particular geographical setting which has been labelled as the global city. Cities are
hubs for high economic, commercial, cultural, and at times even political activities
which can contribute to human progress and development through collaborative efforts
of multicultural individuals situated therein. Thus, global cities represent cities around
the world that exemplify these characteristics of a city better than other cities. For
example, the cities of San Francisco and New York in the United States of America were
showcased as global cities that exhibit strength in innovation and strong performance in
business activity and human capital, respectively, in 2017 and 2018 by A.T. Kearney’s
Global Cities Report. Further, global cities are also perceived as sources of economic
growth and are also economic powerhouses themselves, coupled with being industry
leaders and regional hubs.

Global cities house industries that promote the globalization of markets. As the
development of global condition, cultural diversity of markets among countries arises
and the world as people know it is currently in the state where people are diverse, yet
connected. Through the development of multinational corporations, global cities have
been established. The 21st century brought the countries together into global
competition. In the coming decades, the number of global cities will dramatically
increase.