Global City

INTRODUCTION
Time has transformed the city considerably. Technology, cultural interactions, migration,
economic advancement, and social mobility have transformed the city concept. Cities are
innovation hubs. Strength of an urban center's commercial network, talent of its citizens, stability
of governmental institutions, and originality of cultural organizations all contribute to a thriving
corporate climate. (2017) With Globalization comes the Global Cities. The city has been a key
place for examining global and local phenomena over the past two decades. Work shows that a
growing global system of production, finance, telecommunications, culture, and politics is socially
and physically expressed through a worldwide network of cities (Scott, 2001). It's crucial to stress
the significance cities play in the global economy and how experts are paying more attention to
them (Beaverstock et al., 2002; Derudder et al., 2010; Sassen, 2001; Taylor, 2001). Major cities
serve as command and control nodes for global corporations and are called "global cities"
(Friedmann, 1986; Sassen, 1996).
Urban dynamics and politics are also reworking and reshaping globalization on the ground.
National and local players are reshaping their cities to be globally competitive as cities become
increasingly porous to global pressures. This convergence of the global and local has produced
cities arenas of globalization where global, national, and local processes and forces mix, blend,
and generate a new politics of place-making under globalizing capitalism (Genis, 2007). Global
cities effect Globalization in this way.

What is a Global City?

First and foremost, it is necessary to provide a definition of a global city. A Global city,
commonly referred to as a "alpha city" or a "world center," is a city viewed as a central node in
the global economic network (Alderson and Beckfield, 2004). Brenner (1998) defines a global city
as a metropolitan center that has strong competitive advantages and functions as a hub within a
globalized economic system. It derives from the notion that globalization is generated, fostered,
and implemented in strategic geographic localities (cities) according to a hierarchy of importance
to the operation of the global financial and commerce system (Smith, 2003). In practice, a global
metropolis acts as an essential hub for the existence of commerce, global trade, finance, tourism,
and globalization (Sassen, 1994).
The word has its beginnings in 1980s research on cities that investigated the similar
qualities of the world's most influential cities. In future years, however, as more emphasis was
devoted to globalization processes, these international cities were known as global cities. The
concept of spatial reorganization and the belief that cities were becoming essential nodes in global
networks of production, finance, and telecommunications were linked to globalization (Taylor,
2001).
Consequently, in certain versions of the global city thesis, such cities are viewed as the
foundation of globalization. In the context of a larger endeavor to rearrange state institutions, these
cities were simultaneously becoming newly privileged venues of local politics.
Global cities are metropolitan economies that are highly globalized and competitive, with
the highest concentrations of enterprises, capital, and talent. Six cities are notable. The 'Big Six'
consists of the traditional 'super cities' of London, New York, Paris, and Tokyo, but Hong Kong
and Singapore have recently joined this foursome. They have major competitive advantages, but
are vulnerable to other dynamic gateway cities that are ideally positioned to capture spill-over
demand, such as Seoul, Toronto, Sydney, and, in the longer term, Shanghai.
Friedman pioneered the concept of a global metropolis in the 1980s, but Saskia Sassen is
credited with a more substantial and grounded effort to evaluate and critique the concept. Sassen
is the most prominent urban thinker in the world. The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo
(1991) has influenced the concepts and methodologies used by contemporary theorists to evaluate
the function of cities and their networks.
Important to Sassen's vision of the global city is the emphasis on the flow of knowledge
and capital. She argued that cities are major nodes in the interconnected systems of information
and money, and that the wealth t
hey capture is intimately tied to the specialized businesses that facilitate those flows, such as
financial institutions, consulting firms, accounting firms, legal firms, and media organizations.
Sassen notes that these flows are no longer strongly tied to national boundaries and processes,
therefore the dynamics of the global metropolis are drastically different from those of regulation;
the great cities of the nineteenth century. This indicates that the concept of a Global city transcends
the national level at which the city is located geographically and instead emanates global character
as a result of the interconnected and integrated platforms of its operations, which have an
undeniable impact on the global sphere.

Characteristics of a Global City

We now shift the focus of the discussion to what defines a Global city. This will provide a
better understanding of how global cities exist and function. These are the following:
1. A wide range of international financial services are visible, particularly in finance,
insurance, real estate, banking, accounting, and marketing.
Financial institutions are essential for global cities because trade, commerce, and finance are
almost second nature to them. We must remember that these cities are important global trade and
economic hubs, which explains why banking and financial service providers are all the more
important in maintaining demand for exchange and financial mobility (Knox and Taylor, 1995).
2. The headquarters of a number of multinational corporations
Because of their advanced producer services (such as marketing, accounting, and finance),
cosmopolitan environments, and interconnectedness to the international market, global cities are
preferred locations for multinational corporation (MNC) investment. Global cities, like MNCs, are
not a homogeneous group, and individual firms make distinct decisions to locate their operations
in idiosyncratic global cities. (Belderbos and colleagues, n.d.) The idea that Global Cities serve
the trade and financial interests as well as the image of an MNC makes it a one-of-a-kind
destination, a preferred location of choice for some of the world's most established MNCs.
3. The presence of corporate headquarters, a stock exchange, and major financial
institutions.
Financial transactions pulsate at every turn in the heart of global cities. Banking, stock exchange,
and other financial institutions' proximity and accessibility are critical factors in the growth and
proliferation of global cities.
4. Control of a large surrounding area's trade and economy
Global cities are dominant business and commercial hubs with massive capital and investment
flows. Global cities are the necessary trading and commercial hubs of the Information age, just as
ancient cities were important economic centers of antiquity. These cities, which have high levels
of information exchange, are frequently located in countries with some of the most stable
governments and economies in their regions, and they are typically cultural centers in countries
with younger and more liberal populations. Many of these city governments fund seed accelerators
or offer grants to multinational corporations looking to enter and grow the ecosystem. Tel Aviv,
for example, has one of the world's highest start-up densities, a strong entrepreneurial spirit, and
300 multinational R&D centers. Berlin, too, is a growing regional hub, attracting start-ups from
London and Paris who are drawn to the city's lower costs, openness to other nationalities, and
creative legacy. Finally, Bangalore has emerged as a hub for young technology workers in India,
with entrepreneurial success stories ranging from e-commerce to healthcare (Taylor et. al, 2011).
5. Significant manufacturing hubs with port and container facilities
Most major global cities, such as Hong Kong, have massive port and container infrastructures to
facilitate additional international commerce and trade.
6. Significant decision-making power on a daily and global scale
Global cities have the ability to have an immediate impact through their decisions, actions, and
policy directions. Because of their significance in the global economic field, their decisions,
whether political, economic, or even socio-cultural, have a relatively large global appeal.
7. New idea and innovation hotspots in business, economics, culture, and politics
According to Smith (2003), the trailblazing and pioneering spirit of Global cities will always be
present due to the conglomeration of people present as well as the architecture for development
that is firmly established and includes numerous research and development facilities.

8. Media and communication focal point for global networks

According to Chalaby (2005), media conglomerates have adopted new organizational structures
in which headquarters grant affiliates increased autonomy, strengthen specialization, and connect
them into an interdependent corporate network. A strategy of this type aims to achieve global reach
and efficiency while remaining responsive to the needs of local markets. According to Castells
(2009,) "only global networks can master the resources required in global media production, but
their ability to conquer market shares is dependent on adapting their content to the taste of local
audiences."
9. National region dominance with significant international significance
The global city's dominance over the national region is very visible nowadays. Demographics have
had an impact. Cities housed roughly 10% of the world's population a century ago. More than half
of the world's population is now urbanized, with that figure expected to rise to more than 60% by
2030. Furthermore, structural shifts in the global economy, changes in the nature of international
challenges, and improved intercity organizational techniques have all contributed to the
globalization of cities (Klaus, 2017). This explains why, when discussing a country, such as Japan,
one can easily associate it with a major city such as Tokyo, or why, when visiting the United States,
New York is a top-of-mind destination. Indeed, the economic, technological, and networking
changes brought about by globalization have made cities the focal point of our nation states in
almost every way.
10. A high proportion of residents work in the service and information sectors.
Because of the presence of technologically driven businesses, most global cities' employment
patterns must be directed towards a manpower capital pool that is also information oriented. This
explains why the demand for business and IT graduates is relatively high, particularly in most
global cities. Furthermore, the attractiveness of global cities to most tourists necessitates service
requirements, particularly in the tourism and hotel industries (Robinson, 2006).
11. Excellent educational institutions, including renowned universities, international student
enrollment, and research facilities
Global cities are popular destinations for higher education and more engaged scholarship. Global
cities have very high literacy rates and are frequently home to world-renowned universities. Paris,
Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo all have very strong domestic educational attainment records,
including in core subjects such as Math and Science. London and New York's models rely slightly
more on external talent, and as a result, they have a higher proportion of foreign-born citizens than
their peers (35%+). These institutions' instructional and research backbones are indeed very strong,
as are academe-industry linkages, furthering the growth and mobility of most global cities. These
cities have a dominant business sector that often develops as a result of robust university systems
that produce technically trained professionals in that particular industry. Boston, for example, has
a long history of biotechnology and some of the best universities in the country and the world. The
emerging start-up ecosystem in Montreal, which is largely based on the robotics program at the
Université de Montréal, specializes in artificial intelligence. And Moscow's universities produce
highly trained technical engineers who are ready to work on IT solutions such as big data and cloud
technology. (Kearney, 2017)
12. Multi-functional infrastructure with some of the best legal, medical, and entertainment
facilities in the world.
Most global cities' growth and development enable them to become important destinations for
some of the most prestigious legal and medical services to be established. Medical advancements,
particularly in medical research, are housed in some of the most sophisticated medical research
hubs found in these global cities. Furthermore, the infrastructures, ease, and effectiveness of
transportation have made these global cities entertainment and tourism capitals.
13. A wide range of languages, cultures, religions, and ideologies
The presence of urban spaces can reveal some of the cultural dynamics of global cities. The
materiality of streets, buildings, and signs reflects the culture of cities. Urban space is also the
location of a variety of rites and practices ranging from spirituality to artistic performances to daily
life. The fluidity of global cities allows their inhabitants to engage in creative cultural
experimentation, moving back and forth between hybridization and pluralization. The former
ensures enough homogeneity for expatriates to feel targeted, while the latter ensures the cultural
diversity required to meet their cosmopolitan aspirations (Klaus, 2017).
Examining Global Cities
The Globalization and World Cities Research Network was founded by Jon Beaverstock,
Richard G. Smith, and Peter J. Taylor (GaWC). The GaWC Research Bulletin 5 ranks world cities
based on their connectivity to four "advanced producer services": accounting, advertising,
banking/finance, and law.
The following diagram depicts a list of alpha cities from the 2016 GaWC study. It's worth
noting that Manila was designated as an Alpha-city. This demonstrates that our National Capital
Region's economic importance resonates well with global standards and is regarded as an emerging
global economic player.
Index of Global Cities
The GCI examines 128 cities across six world regions. The Global Cities Index assesses
cities' current performance across five dimensions: business activity, human capital, information
exchange, cultural experience, and political engagement. The Index provides information about
the world's largest cities' global reach, performance, and level of development. It also enables the
comparison of various cities, as well as the identification of core strengths and distinguishing
differences.
The Global Cities Outlook assesses a city's potential using the rate of change for 13 metrics spread
across four dimensions: personal well-being, economics, innovation, and governance. These
metrics aid in the evaluation of long-term investment and success by evaluating factors such as
environmental performance, infrastructure, and innovation capacity. The Outlook examines city-
level policies and practices that shape future competitiveness, identifying growing cities that are
likely to become the world's most prominent cities.
 The top ten cities in the 2016 Index remain in first place in 2017, but the city in first place
has shifted yet again. After years of dominance, New York City lost the top spot to London in
2016. This year, New York reclaimed first place by improving information exchange and
maintaining a higher ranking than London in business activity and political engagement. The
performance of New York in these categories offset London's strength in cultural experience,
allowing New York to unseat London. In comparison to other cities in the Index, both cities have
high human capital.

Flashpoints on the Concept of a Global City

As follows, Sassen (2001) presents her hypotheses for a global city and its growing role in
the economics of a nation-state:
There are seven fundamental "Global city" hypotheses.
1. The geographic dispersion of economic activities that characterizes globalization, as well as the
concurrent integration of such geographically dispersed activities, is a key factor fueling the
growth and importance of central corporate functions.
2. As these central functions become more complex, the headquarters of large global firms
increasingly outsource them: they purchase a portion of their central functions from highly
specialized service firms.
3. Agglomeration economies affect specialized service firms operating in the most complex and
globalized markets.
4. The more a headquarters outsources its most complex, non-standardized functions, particularly
those subject to volatile and changing markets, the freer it is to choose any location.
5. Because these specialized service firms must provide a global service, they must establish a
global network of affiliates... and strengthen cross-border city-to-city transactions and networks.
6. These cities' economic fortunes become increasingly disconnected from their larger hinterlands
or even national economies.
7. One effect of the dynamics described in hypothesis six is the growing informalization of a
variety of economic activities that find effective demand in these cities but have profit rates that
do not allow them to compete for various resources with the high-profit-making firms at the
system's top.
According to Little (n.d.), three key trends appear to emerge from these structural facts
about global cities. One is a concentration of wealth in the hands of the owners, partners, and
professionals associated with the system's high-end firms. Second, there is a growing disconnect
between the city and its surroundings. Third, there is an increase in the number of marginalized
people who are finding it difficult to make a living in the marketplace defined by these high-end
activities. Rather than serving as an economic engine that gradually raises the income and well-
being of the entire population, the modern global city channels global surpluses into the hands of
a few dozen global cities.
These tendencies appear to be consistent with several observable features of modern urban
life around the world: a growing disparity in quality of life between a relatively small elite and a
much larger marginalized population; an increase in high-security gated communities and
shopping areas; and dramatically different graphs of median income for different socioeconomic
groups. New York, London, and Hong Kong/Shanghai represent a massive concentration of
financial and business networks, as well as the resulting concentration of wealth. These
characteristics of the global city economic system imply an increasing disparity between elite
professionals and specialists and the larger urban population of service and industrial workers
(Geniş, 2007).
They also imply a growing disparity between North and South. Sassen's conceptual
architecture keeps a place for location and space: global cities are not disembodied, and the
functioning of their global firms is dependent on a network of activities and smaller firms within
the city and its environs. As a result, Sassen believes there is room for political contestation among
parties over the distribution of the global surplus. Sassen investigates the micro-level impact of
globalization, focusing on the consequences for the people who live in these cities, ranging from
highly specialized workers in law, accounting, and advertising firms to the powerless, 'invisible'
individuals who live on the outskirts, such as migrant and low-wage workers, and the homeless or
disadvantaged (Leorke, n.d).
When we consider that global cities concentrate both the leading sectors of global capital
and a growing share of disadvantaged populations (immigrants, many disadvantaged women,
people of color in general, and, in developing-country megacities, masses of shanty dwellers), we
can see that cities have become a strategic terrain for a slew of conflicts and contradictions. In the
following topic, we will look at how migration, mobility, and the global city are intertwined
(Dematteis, 2000).

Mobility, Migration, and the Global City

Global cities serve as economic, political, and cultural centres. The lights and sounds of
the metropolis have tempted people to dwell in global cities to find steady jobs and a more family-
friendly atmosphere. Globalization has influenced the construction of the Global city and created
routes for migration (Hall and Pain, 2006). Migration and people movement in the Global city
must be examined.
Capital, information, and production may traverse national borders smoothly in this
globalized era. Globalization has blurred the boundary between countries, yet the flow of economic
resources like human and financial capital is easier than production, territory, social processes, and
institutions. This once-borderless realm. Globalization redefines economic relationships and has
contributed to urban migration. Without the contribution of international migrants, who travel to
seek a better life (Anderson, 2015), global cities could not be as influential in the global economy.
Global cities attract corporations because they may tap a reservoir of highly trained employees,
including expatriates (Brenner, 1998).
How has globalization affected migration? Sassen (1991) says globalization's geography
is dynamically dispersed and centralized. Increasing spatial dispersion of economic activities at
urban, national, and global levels has led to a new territorial centralization of top-level
management and central company functions.
Human resources, technology, and compliance are growing increasingly complex, thus
many large worldwide corporations outsource them. Transnational corporations would operate in
global cities to benefit from agglomeration economies. In urban economics, enterprises can gain
economies of scale and network effects through agglomerating; as more connected firms cluster,
production costs reduce, improving returns to scale (Glaeser, 2011).
Both major global firms and specialized service firms can profit from operating in global
cities. By providing global services, these organizations strengthen their global network. Long-
term, this business model would improve the global economy by securing jobs and benefiting both
international service firms. Global cities are crucial to the global economy and employment-
oriented migration (Alderson et al). (2010).
Large companies invest much on technology to streamline operations. Accenture, IBM
enjoy several commercial prospects as a result (Taylor, 2004).
Many TNCs near-shore or offshore their business processes to save money and avoid
customer data leaks. Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley operate in Birmingham and Glasgow due
to lower operational costs than London, the global hub. Many banks outsource their technology to
Bangalore, India's Silicon Valley. Offshoring can improve the global economy by providing job
stability for offshore-office personnel, but over-reliance on particular services, such as technology,
can impair a country's long-term development. Pigeonholing may be a kind of division of labor
and economies of scale, allowing employees to do what they do best while reducing costs for
companies. Offshoring could provide a better standard of living for people in developing countries
like India; however, this may lead to wealth inequality between the offshore city and the rest of
the country. For example, 39.93% of people in Chhattisgarh live below the poverty line, which is
almost double that of Karnataka (the state of Bangalore) with 20.91%. (Reserve Bank of India,
2014).
Without the contribution of international migrants, a person who goes to another region to
seek a better living, global cities may not be as influential in the global economy. Global cities are
attractive to corporations because they may tap a varied pool of highly skilled personnel, including
expatriates (Findlay, Li, Jowett, and Skeldon, 1996) 'Diversity' (racial, gender, cultural) is now
one of many TNCs' 'business values' (Transnational Corporations). Companies hire increasingly
diverse candidates. Senior or middle management migrants are attractive in the job market.
The influence of highly trained migrants on global cities depends on local business needs.
Before 1997, non-Chinese or expatriates worked in Hong Kong's asset wealth management
industry as portfolio managers or private bankers for overseas or British tycoons. Given the
development of Chinese wealth, highly trained international migrants, i.e. non-Chinese private
bankers, are pushed to leave Hong Kong since investment banks tend to hire Chinese-speaking
private bankers to serve their new targeted customers, Chinese tycoons. In Hong Kong, the
influence of highly trained migrants (in this example, non-Chinese-speaking private bankers)
depends on business demands and client expectations (Taylor, 2001).
 Low-skilled migrants are desirable in global cities. In Hong Kong, security guards and
construction workers are often Southeast Asian migrants due to a labor shortage. Whether they
want permanent residency or a better life, these low-skilled employees have given much to the
local city as part of that sector's labor force. The impact of foreign migrants in global cities depends
on the job's type and required skills. While TNCs want to hire more international migrants to
increase their 'diversity ratio,' many of the recruited international migrants work in non-client-
facing areas like the middle or back office in investment banks (Lam, 2016). Since opportunities
are present and well-defined in most global cities, migration is likely to increase throughout time.

Global City and Mobility

A growing migration trend and a desire to live in cities bring with them a slew of issues
that are inextricably linked to urbanization. One of these concerns people's mobility. By 2050,
cities will house 70% of the world's population. And, if current trends continue, those people will
be subjected to even more crowded conditions, polluted air, and overburdened infrastructure than
we are now. Statistics on urbanization warn that the degree to which major cities can implement
intelligent, sustainable transportation solutions will determine the quality of life in many cities.
Traffic is a real issue, especially in densely populated areas. Traffic congestion is becoming a
global issue, with drivers in some cities around the world spending nearly half of their driving time
stuck in traffic. The Philippines is no different. Traffic in Manila is getting worse, and according
to a Boston Consulting Group study, motorists and commuters are stuck in traffic for an average
of 66 minutes per day. According to the 2017 study, Metro Manila is the third worst in the South
East Asian region, with an average of 66 minutes stuck in traffic per day. It follows Bangkok,
Thailand, which is said to have the worst traffic (72 minutes), and Jakarta, Indonesia, which is
ranked second worst (68 minutes). According to a study conducted by the Japan International
Cooperation Agency, worsening traffic in Metro Manila now costs P3.5 billion in lost
opportunities per day, highlighting the need for new and modern infrastructure to alleviate
congestion (JICA). Singapore (30 minutes) and Hong Kong (35 minutes) are the best performers
in terms of traffic. Both Asian states are considered global cities.
It gets worse for residents of Manila during rush hour. The diagram below depicts traffic
conditions during peak travel hours.

Investing in Public Transportation

Car prohibition may reduce traffic congestion, but it is not an effective solution. One option
is to invest in public railways (Brenner, 1998). Most alpha cities have a complex yet efficient mass
transportation system. One only needs to look at the MTR in Hong Kong or the MRT in Taiwan
to see how an efficient mass transit system can effectively reduce road traffic. The Saudi city of
Riyadh is a good example of the tremendous efforts being made in this area. Riyadh, which has a
population of five million people and is still rapidly expanding, is currently planning the world's
largest subway project, which will be 175 kilometers long (Lam, 2016).
Multilateral agencies have proposed improving public infrastructure as a long-term
solution to traffic congestion. The study echoes this, noting that Manila, Jakarta, and Ho Chi Minh
City have all announced plans to invest more than $60 billion in rail infrastructure by 2022. The
Philippine government is attempting to address the poor infrastructure situation through its Build,
Build, Build campaign, which aims to increase public spending on infrastructure from 5.3% of
GDP this year to 7.4% by 2022, with a large portion going toward improving the mass
transportation system.