THE

CONTEMPORARY
WORLD (GE03)
UNIT V – THE GLOBAL CITY
LESSON 1 – THE GLOBAL CITY

Learning Goals
1. Identify the attributes of a global city.
2. Analyze how cities serve as engines of globalization
GLOBAL CITY
• Global city is the concourse of the globalizing forces like: amalgamation of
population, migration of people, production flow, and birth of diverse ideas and
lived experiences and individual within the city. The key indicator of global
city is the establishment of cultural diversity due to migration and human
mobility. Because of mobility and migration there is now a wide spread of
cosmopolitan consumption, cosmopolitan work culture, global networking and
the newly conceptualized glocal transnational relation. Glocal is a combination
of the words “globalization” and “localization,” these are globally marketed
products and services into local markets.
• In 1927, Roderich McKenzie conceptualized the global networks of cities and by 1980’s the term global
cities was used in the social science literature after the development of the idea of globalization. In early
period, global cities can be associated with the cities which control imperial power or could be the cities
that rein at the cross roads of the international merchant routes. Today, the concept of global cities
breakout from the obsolete container model of society approach of the traditional social scientists since it
is unfit for the global age. Global cities make their own way out from the shadow of its nation states thus,
it goes beyond its host nation.
• Global cities surround the world with confined space which contains global problems, contradictions,
hostilities and inequalities. However, those who benefit from these global cities and those who consider
themselves citizens of the world, display and consider pleasant images of travel, explorations and worldly
recreations of the global city, everyday life is shaped by commercial culture, retail and shopping example
of these is the emergence of cross-cultural variety of food, fashion and entertainment. This may help the
migrants, who feel displacement, feel their ow culture through movies, music, food and other events. And
in this period of globalization, economic activities of production are distributed globally which also
requires an innovative form of financial and producer services that involves highly specialized skills.
These new trends in economics tend to cluster in a limited number of cities since specialized firms also
gather in these cities. These phenomena is called agglomeration economics. According to Renn (2012), a
global city is a significant production point of specialized financial and producer services that make the
globalized economy run.
• Sassen (1991) as cited by Peisker (2014), identifies three global cities namely:
New York, London and Tokyo. The criteria is based on economic standing of
the city, and these – “command centers” – are the main nodes of triumphant
global capitalism. It is believed that the more globalized the economy is, the
higher is the collection of central function in a relatively few site. After 20
years the same global cities with the escalation of their stock exchanges and
indices – New York’s Wall Street, London’s Footsie’ (FTSE 100 Index) and
Tokyo’s Nikkie – are still the same cities which qualify the criteria of a global
city.
• Zukin (1998) as cited by Peisker (2014) introduces another way of categorizing
global city. According to him Cultural View Approach reviews the cultural
innovation and the ability to attract visitors thus three global cities which
qualify the category are New York, London and Paris.
• While Renn(2012) enumerates some agencies that develop instruments that can
be used in identifying a global city, the following are some:
1. Business Activity (headquarters, service firms, capital market value, number of
international conferences, values of goods through ports and airports.
2. Human Capital (size of foreign born population, quality of universities, number of
international schools, international students population, number of residents with
college degree.
3. Information exchange (accessibility of major TV news channel , internet presence
basically number of search hits, number of international news bureaus, censorship,
and broadband subscriber rate.
4. Cultural experience (number of sporting events, museums, performing arts venue,
culinary establishments, international visitors, and sister city relationships.
5. Political engagement (number of embassies and consulates, think tanks
international organization, political conferences.)
THE MORI MEMORIAL FOUNDATION
CRITERIA
The Mori Memorial Foundation in Tokyo published another study with the following criteria;
1. Economy (Market attractiveness , Economic Vitality, Business Environment, Regulations and
Risk)
2. Research and Development (Research Background, Readiness for Accepting and Supporting
Researchers, Research Achievement)
3. Cuntural Interactions ( Trendsetting Potential, Accommodation Environment, Resources of
Attracting visitors, Dining and Shopping volume of Interactions)
4. Livability (Working Environment , cost of Living, Security and Safety, Life Support functions)
5. Environments (Ecology, Pollution, Natural Environment)
6. Accessibility (International Transportation Infrastructure, Inner City Transportation
Infrastructure)
THE ECONOMIC INTELLIGENCE UNIT’S
GLOBAL CITY COMPETITIVENESS INDEX
They rank cities on a number of domain
1. Economic Strength (Nominal GDP, per capita GDP, % of households with economic consumption > $14,000
year, GDP growth rate, regional market integration)
2. Human Capital (population growth, working age population, entrepreneurship, and risk taking mindset, quality
of education, quality of healthcare, hiring foreign nationals)
3. Institutional Effectiveness (electoral process and pluralism, local government fiscal autonomy, taxation, rule of
law, government effectiveness)
4. Financial Maturity (breadth and depth of financial cluster)
5. Global Appeal (fortune 500 Companies, frequency of international flights, international conference and
conventions, leadership in higher education, removal think tanks)
6. Physical Capital (physical infrastructure quality, public transport quality, telecom quality)
7. Environment and Natural Hazards, (risk of natural disaster, environmental governance)
8. Social and cultural Character (freedom of expression and human rights , openness and diversity, crime,
cultural vibrancy)
1. Advanced producer services production mode. The cities that concentrate in these
function have a Buffet-like “wide moat” sustainable competitive advantage. The
cities with large concentration of these are those cities which can generate
significantly above average economic output and income per worker.
2. Economic giants are cities with great GDP.
3. International Gateway - measures of the importance of a city in the international
flows of people and goods. Example , would be the airport and cargo gateway
figures.
4. Political and Cultural Hub – an important distinction should perhaps
• Be made here hubs that may be large of primarily national to regional importance
and those of truly international significance. For example, there are many media
hubs around the world, but few of them are home to outlets like the BBC that drive
the global conversation.
• From being manufacturers global cities shifted to handling and shifting money and
ideas. Factories and other manufacturing activities are done outside the global cities
which is within the slum ridden ‘megacities’ of the third world. Like shanghai,
another global city, claimed its global status when chimneys started to replace by
steel-end-glass sky scrappers home to finance, commerce and research (Wu, 2000 as
cited by Peisker, (2014) While Singapore is known for its rising efficient global
transport infrastructure and professional service actor. With these rise of Singapore, it
is an indication of the great importance of the Asia-Pacific region in globalization
according to Baum (1999) as cited by Peisker (2014)
• Change is vividly observed today as well as the Landscape of global cities-from
production to consumption (Zukin, 1998). Famous symbolic products which are
created in the command center creates commercial products which cause inflation
and implosion that trigger the 2008 Financial crisis.. Thus, global cities today are also
center for geopolitical power. Cultural trendsetting powerhouse, higher education
husband playground of creative industries – art, fashion, and design (Peisker, 2014)
• Global cities demand for specific workforce like the professionals. In new York City
from the start of 20th century, it demands for 5% professionals, and it increases to
30% by late 1980’s These professionals are known as the knowledge workers – they
are high mobile and career minded and middle class. This change in the workforce is
known as gentrification which is the effect of mushrooming presence of the
knowledge workers. Gentrification is a process of social class polarization and
residential segregation of the rich and the poor (Peisker, 2014)
• As global cities and characterized by occupation and income polarization it is
known as provider for high and low paid services (Sassen, 1998). Instead of egg
shaped economy, due to the increase of demand for middle-class. - labor market in
the global cities became an hour-glass shaped where there is hallow at the middle.
Gentrification in the inner cities, delivered service rich areas with expensive real
estate and exploit higher property prices. Sinxce global cities attract more population,
high real estate priced caused population growth o suffer from the diminution in the
affordability of buying real estate property.. This may cause people to move out from
these cities to avoid high priced properties thus, labor market will suffer.
• It should not be perceived that the sole drivers for global city are the economy and social
aspects since in the case of Singapore and Shanghai, both countries are far less ‘laissez
faire’ and tightly manage by the state like for example, Singapore’s dual industrial
strategy actually created the ‘up market’ manufacturing is kept alongside massive
professional services which lessened the workforce polarization effect (Baum, 199).
• Japanese Moretti foundation’s ?Global Power City Index provided criteria for global
cities and accordingly the top five cities are New York, London, Paris, Tokyo and
Singapore. Alongside with the economic prowess of these cities one important element is
magnetism – comprehensive power to attract creative people and excellent companies
amidst inter urban competitions.
• Enrico Moretti (2012) as cited by Peisker (2014) explained that the most important 21 st
century are represented by firms and brain hub. The concentration of innovative people
and firms and of good human ecosystem for cutting-edge business, providing all support
function or secondary services for the innovators. The continuation of the success of the
western economies center on the knowledge economy with the creation of new ideas,
technologies and products - knowledge economy – an essential tendency towards
geographical cluster.
• The geographic economies of scale remain relevant since larger brain
concentration means thicker labor market. The high supply of professional and a
high demand for them which is critical in the time-driven and horizontal
knowledge economy and a more supply of business services , thus there will be a
knowledge spill over where creative people succeed in the company of other
creative people and tend to stagnate in isolation even if internet-connected.
Concentration of people and hubs of exchange of produces is not new since this is
already started even during earliest civilization. Workers in the dynamic brain
hubs receive two or three higher-earnings that that counterparts in the stagnating
and brightest from around the world while a low-skilled migrants in a and
brightest from around the world while a low-skilled migrants in a and brightest
from around the world while a low-skilled migrants in a low-tech cities will lead
to mobility. People will try to look for a better opportunity, unfortunately these
key cities only demand for professional as a result these low-skilled migrants will
lead to low paid jobs.
• Due to globalization, professional nomadism is develop from being a dynamic
hub of global capitalist economy to a highly liquid environment (Baum, 2007.
Global city became the vessel of demographic and social change – a hub of
creative destruction. According to some experts, the symbol for healthy
economy is the high level of economic dynamism and population mobility,
thus, the mantra is competitive economy requires flexible workforce.
Globalization did not only create global labor market but also affected local
labor market. Castle (2003) as cited by Peisker, 2014) since employment
mobility has been increasing since 1970s. And most English speaking countries
have higher mobility thus residential and job mobility became interconnected.
• Service sector is more flexible and dynamic compared to manufacturing sector which shaken a
and shrunk with the oil shock in 1973. Global city’s reputation depends on their ability to attract
key professional innovative workers. And investors as migrants to their cities. The most
educated and known as the foot-loose sector min the midle-class workers since they have more
control and autonomy in their work place. These middle-class often change job and is ready to
move out from their cities for a better opportunities (Monetti, 2012) as cited by Peisket, (2014.
But we should not under estimate the so-called lower skilled laborers - they may move out from
their cities due to necessity but are always ready to migrate. These two sectors (Knowledge and
low-skilled workers are good examples of dichotomy of cosmopolitanism vs, local as discussed
by Merton in 1950.
• The life of the locals are preoccupied by local problems while the cosmopolitans seek for social
status outside their local; community probably from their peers because their local community
can neither validate nor reward their professional competence. For example, geologist and
scientist in the Philippines. Leave the country for Australia and other cities. For better
opportunity and recognition. Cosmopolitan are more mobile but the world needs both types of
workforce: however, globalized capitalist favor more the highly qualified and the mobile
workers.