Urbanization and World City

Formation in China
Shanghai’s Shifting Position in National
and Global Networks of Cities

Michael Timberlake & Xiulian Ma

University of Utah
Objectives of Research Program
 Contribute to research identifying China’s
leading cities
 Document changes in Chinese cities’
relative importance in national and global
city systems.
 Address broader theoretical issues in
political economy of globalization
 Key Assumptions of Research
 Cities grow and decline in the context of economic
regions.
 Such regions are nested, interlocking, and
hierarchical.
 As basing points in economic regions, cities serve
to integrate these regions internally through their
interrelations.
 The leading cities in a region may serve as bridges
across regions and hierarchical levels.
 Key focus of presentation
 China’s national system of cities
 Chinese cities’ positions in the world
system’s city system.
 Identifying China’s “World Cities”
 Increasing size of the urban population
1000000

800000
Mean Urban Population

600000

400000

200000

0
2000

2005

2010

2015

2020

2025

2030
1950

1955

1960

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

Year
 2030
Increasing level of urbanization

2025
2020
2015
2010
2005
2000
1995

Year
1990
1985
1980
1975
1970
1965
1960
1955
1950

0.0
80.0

60.0

20.0
40.0
Mean % Urban
 Underlying theme: China’s increasing participation
in the global economy
China ahead in foreign direct
investment
Published: August 2003
--OECD Observer
 Andconcomitant explosive economic
growth
 Have resulted in

– Increasingly integrated national system of cities

– Increasing centrality of key Chinese cities in

the world system’s city system
Globalization and Cities: Theoretical
Background
 Globalization
 the “facts”  the “dominant
– many global processes narrative”
are “place bound” – decentralization
natural resource extraction regime
 manufacturing regime

Tire “building” in Akron

P-15 & D-24 HOOD ORNAMENT ASSEMBLY Detroit

finance regime
 World Cities
 nodes in the international system
 “World Cities”
 Major cities found throughout the world
that “articulate” one major economic region
with another major economic region,
usually transnationally.

 As in previous GaWC diagram, some world

cities are more globally “central” than
others.
 Global Cities:
Atop the World City Hierarchy
 key nodes in the international system
 sites for crucial “producer” services
 sites for telecommunications centers
 sites for financial control
 sites for transnational markets
 Global Control Centers
Global Control Centers:
The Key Global Cities
New York
London
Tokyo
 World System of Cities
 The hierarchy extends through the world
system, from the top global cities through
the whole system.
The Global System: A Web of Place-Bound Transactions

Locale 2
Locale 1 Locale 3 Locale 4

City 1 City 2 City 3

Locale 5 Locale 6 Locale 7 Locale 8

 Conceptualizing the Global Inter-
City Transactions
 Relative centrality in networks of
overlapping intraorganizational control
capacity across cities (e.g., from
headquarters to branch offices)—Peter
Taylor and associates.

 Relative
centrality in flow networks of
commodities, people, and information.
 Cities and International
Transactions: Functions
 economic flows

Holiday Velour
from L.L. Bean
Select an
item:
TA 34658
Petite
$79.00
Regular
$79.00
 Cities and International
Transactions: Functions
 political transactions
 Cities and International
Transactions: Functions
 cultural flows
Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood rocks out to "It's Only Rock and
Roll" with tour bassist Darryl Jones, Saturday night at Ford Field
 Cities and International
Transactions: Functions
 social (social reproduction) transactions
 Cities and International
Transactions: Functions
 economic flows
 political transactions
 cultural flows
 social (social reproduction) transactions
 cities and international
transactions: content
 human transactions
 material transactions
 symbolic transactions
 human material information

economic

political

cultural

social
reproduction
 economic flows
 commodities and capital
 orders and directives within and between
firms
 businessmen/women
 labor migration
 political flows
 arms shipments
 ambassadors
 invasions
 international treaties
 cultural flows
 designer clothes
 popular music
 scientific exchange
 theater/dance troupes
 literature
 popular cinema
 social reproduction
 CARE packages and other humanitarian aid
 family migration
 “remittances”
 personal mail, telephone calls, e-mail
Cities are hierarchically linked in
such networks of globally-
structured flows
 Network Analysis and
Network Data
 Strict data requirements
– input/output for every pair within an alleged
network
Air passenger travel
 Findings
 National City System
 Top Cities’Positions on Four Network
Measures (Outflow, Betweenness,
Closeness, and Outdegree), four time points
(1992, 1995, 2000, and 2003).
 Outflow

12000000

10000000

8000000
Beijing
6000000 Guangzhou
Shanghai
4000000

2000000

0
1992 1995 2000 2003
 Betweenness

12

10

8
Beijing
6 Guangzhou
Shanghai
4

0
1992 1995 2000 2003
 1992 Betweenness

12
10
8
6 Series1
4
2
0

iij n
g ou
i an hai un ng ou en an d u
z h X g ch y a zh z h h ng
e n g u e
B
a ng ha an hen Lan hen W h
S C
G
u Ch S S
 1995 Betweenness

6
5
4
3
2
1
0
i u ng
iij n
g ou
ha
gd i an an i en
lia
n ng
zh ng n X uh gq z h a ya
Be ng a h e
on en D n
ua S h C W
h S h S he
G C
 2000 Betweenness

4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
ou ai g an d u ng ng n ou en
h h ji in i g i a a h h
gz
ang
Be
X en
ngq ny uh gz nz
n en
ua S h Ch h o
S he W
h S he
G C Z
 2003 Betweenness

6
5
4
3
2
1
0
i u ng o
ha ou
iij n
g an d i an i i ng a en
g zh Jin ng X gq m g d z h
an
ng Be e n n i n n
S h
ua Ch h o K u Q
S he
G C
 Closeness

102
100
98
96
94 Beijing
92
Guangzhou
90
88 Shanghai
86
84
82
80
1992 1995 2000 2003
 OutDegree

43
42
41
40
39 Beijing
38 Guangzhou
37 Shanghai
36
35
34
33
1992 1995 2000 2003
 Table 8. Blocks of Chinese cities, and network positions in 1992 and 2003
1992 2003 1992 2003
Block
1 Beijing, Shanghai, Beijing, Shanghai, Core Core
Guangzhou (3)a Guangzhou, Shenzhen (4)
2 Haikou, Guilin, Hong Chengdu, Haikou, Hong SPb 1 SP 1
Kong, Shantou, Xian (5) Kong (3)
3 Chengdu, Chongqing, Chongqing, Dalian, SP 2 SP 2
Dalian, Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Harbin,
Hangzhou, Harbin, Kunming, Nanjing,
Kunming, Nanjing, Qingdao, Shenyang, Wuhan,
Shenyang, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Xian (11)
Urmqi, Wuhan, Xiamen
(13)

a The number in the parenthesis indicates how many cities the block includes.
b “SP” = Semi-periphery, “P” = periphery, “D” =“Disconnected
 1992 2003 1992 2003
Block

4 Changsha, Guiyang, Hefei, Changsha, Urumq, P SP3

Lanzhou, Nanning, Changchun, Fuzhou,
Qingdao, Taiyuan, Wenzhou, Taijing, Jinan,
Tianjing, Wenzhou, , Guilin, Guiyang, Zhengzhou
Zhengzhou (10) (10)
5 Hothot, Jinan, Nanchang, Hefei, Shantou, Ningbo, P P
Ningbo, Yantai (5) Nanchang, Nanning,
Taiyuan, Yantai (7)
6 Qiqihar, Xining, Yinchuan Lanzhou, Xining (2) D D
(3);
7 Baotou, Changchun, Baotou, Yinchuan (2) D D
Lasha, Shijiazhuang (4)
8 Hothot, Lasha, Qiqihar, D
Shijiazhuang (4)
 Findings
 China’s Cities in the World City Hierarchy
 Global Outflow

250

200
Beijing
150
Guangzhou
Shanghai
100
Hong Kong
50

0
1990 1995 2000 2005
 Global Outdegree

250

200
Beijing
150
Guangzhou
Shanghai
100
Hong Kong
50

0
1990 1995 2000 2005
 Global Betweenness

250

200
Beijing
150
Guangzhou
Shanghai
100
Hong Kong
50

0
1990 1995 2000 2005
 Global Outclosenness

300

250

200 Beijing
Guangzhou
150
Shanghai
100 Hong Kong

50

0
1990 1995 2000 2005
 Table 9. Network Blocks and Positions in the World City System in 1990
Blocks Cities Position

1…Seoul/Bangkok Bangkok, Dublin, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, London, New York, Core
(13) Paris, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo
2…Amsterdam (51) Amsterdam, Athens, Atlanta, Auckland, Banjul, Barcelona, Boston, Brussels, Cairo, SP 1
Chicago, Copenhagen, Cork, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Fukuoka, Geneva,
Guadalajara, Guam Island, Hamburg, Jeddah, Lisbon, Los Angeles, Madrid,
Malaga, Malta, Manila, Mexico City, Miami, Milan, Montreal, Munich, Nagoya,
Nice, Osaka, Oslo, Penang, Puerto Plata, Pusan, Rome, Saipan, San Francisco,
Santo Domingo, Seattle, Shannon, Stockholm, Sydney, Toronto, Vancouver,
Vienna, Washington DC, Zurich
3…Berlin West (7) Berlin West, Bombay, Dallas, Dubai, Houston TX, Montevideo, “San Juan, PR” SP 2
4…Birmingham (42) Birmingham, Bogota, Brisbane, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Calgary, Cancun, Caracas, SP 3
Casablanca, Christchurch, Cologne, Delhi, Detroit, Dhahran, Guatemala City,
Istanbul, Karachi, Kingston, Larnaca, Lima, Manchester, Marseilles, Melbourne,
Montego Bay, Monterrey, Moscow, Nandi, Panama/Balboa, Perth, Prague, Puerto
Vallarta, Rio De Janeiro, Riyadh, San Jose, Santiago, San Paulo, Stuttgart, Tampa
FL, Teheran, Tel Aviv, Tunis, Warsaw
5…Abidjan (5) Abidjan, Colombo, Harare, Lagos, Nairobi SP 4
6…Darwin (4) Darwin, Conakry, Niamey, Oujda SP 5
7…Addis Ababa (5) Addis Ababa, Alexandria, Manaus, Santiago COMP., Stansted SP 6
 Table 9. Network Blocks and Positions in the World City System in 1990

9…Beijing Aruba, Basel, Beijing, Bilbao, Bordeaux, Dakar, Faro, P

(25) Gothenburg, Hanover, Ho Chi Minh CY, Lyon,
Madras, Mazatlan, Medan, Okinawa, Oporto, Palma
Mallorca, Philadelphia, Pisa, Port Au Prince,
Rotterdam, San Jose CABO, Toulouse, Turin, Venice.

15…Shanghai Acapulco, Adelaide , Ankara, Antwerp, Bahrain ISLD, P

(27) Bergen, Bologna, Bremen, Calcutta, Cali, Edinburgh,
Edmonton, Glasgow, Graz, Havana, Kano, Linz,
Marrakech, “Papeete, Tahitt”, Paramaribo, Rabat,
Reykjavik, Salonika, Salzburg, Shanghai, Tenerife,
Valencia
 Table 10. Network Blocks and Positions in the World City System in 2005

1…Seoul/Bangkok (13) Amsterdam, Bangkok, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Core

London, Madrid, New York, Paris, Seoul, Singapore,
Taipei, Tokyo

2…Beijing/Shanghai Athens, Barcelona, Beijing, Boston, Buenos Aires, SP 1

(29) Chicago, Copenhagen, Guam Island, Honolulu, Jakarta,
Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, Lisbon, Los Angeles,
Malaga, Manila, Mexico City, Munich, Osaka, Oslo,
Prague, San Francisco, Santiago, San Paulo, Shanghai,
Stockholm, Sydney, Toronto, Washington DC,
 Table 10. Network Blocks and Positions in the World City System in 2005

5…Guangzhou/ Birmingham, Bucharest, Budapest, Busan, Cairns, Cairo, SP 4

Shengyang(27) Cancun, Dallas/ Fort Worth, Delhi, Detroit, Edinburgh,
Glasgow, Guangzhou, Hamburg, Helsinki, Hanover, Ho
Chi Minh CY, Kuwait, Lyon, Mauritius, Montevideo,
Penang, Philadelphia, Rio De Janeiro, Saipan, Shengyang,
Stuttgart, Vienna
6…Baku (5) Baku, Kyiv, Monterrey, Port-Au-Prince, Yerevan SP 5
7…Calgary (11) Calgary, Dhaka, Guatemala City, Guayaquil, Male, Managua, SP 6
Medellin, Panama City, Quito, San Salvador, Tashkent
8…Dalian (18) Bahrain, Bilbao, Bristol, Christchurch, Cincinnati, Dalian, P
Denver, Gothenburg, Hanoi, Jeddah, Krakow, Leeds,
Puerto Vallarta, Sevilla, Turin, Valencia, Yangon
9…Hangzhou/Kun Antananarivo, Bangalore, Beirut, “Charlotte, NC”, Cochin, P
ming/ Hangzhou, Hanover, Hyderabad, Islamabad, Kolkata,
Xiamen/Yantai Kunming, Lahore, Nairobi, Naples, Newcastle, Ottawa,
(27) Phuket, Riga, Sapporo, Seattle, Sofia, Tallinn, Vilnius,
Xiamen, Yantai, Zagreb, Zurich
 Summary Findings
 Consolidation and integration of Chinese
national city system over past 15 years.
 Remarkable rise of Shanghai within this
national city system.
 Increasing integration of Chinese city
regions in global economy.
 Emergence of Shanghai as China’s World
City
Summary Findings
Remarkable
Rise of
Shanghai
within the
National City
System
Increasing integration of Chinese city regions in global economy
Emergence of Shanghai as China’s World City
 Theoretical Discussion
 Importance of national city system to world city
formation vs. declining significance of the state.
– Increasing national city system articulation
accompanies world city formation.
 Beijing as world city (as well as Shanghai)—
again, importance of role of the state.
 Bejing’s role in Shanghai’s rise as world city.
– State-centered urban “development coalition”?
 Future research
 Social polarization and world city
formation?
 Changing role of the state with respect to
social programs.
 Labor markets and rural-urban migration.
 Sustainability.
Social polarization and world city formation?
Changing role of the state with respect to social programs
Labor markets and rural-urban migration
Sustainability.
The environment