Global City

The GLOBAL CITY
QUESTIONS????
 What are global cities?
 What are the attributes of a global city?
 Why globalization is a spatial phenomenon?
 How cities served as engines of globalization?
KEY TERMS:
 GLOBALITY
 GLOBALISM
 Imperialism and Internationalism
GLOBALITY is the end-state of Globalization.
 A hypothetical condition in which the process of globalization is complete or
nearly so, barriers have fallen, and "a new global reality" is emerging.
 The term was used in 1998 by author and economist Daniel Yergin in a Newsweek article that described
the end-state of the globalization process, and in his book, Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World
Economy.
 William Safire traces the etymology of “globality” in his book No Uncertain Terms and identifies a range
of citations as far back as 1942, when it was used as a synonym for “global.”
 Current use of “globality” as it applies to business – as a description of the

current competitive state of world commerce – was not adopted until recently.
 The term has been described by William J. Holstein in the New York Times as "a
new buzzword
[that] doesn’t work — it merely describes trends that have been under way for at
least two decades under a very similar name."
GLOBALITY vs. GLOBALISM
 GLOBALISM a national policy of treating
the whole world as a proper sphere for
political influence.
 Compare with: Imperialism and

Internationalism
 What are GLOBAL CITIES?
Defining the Global City
 New global cities have since arisen not only as financial
centers but also a producers of services that are global in
scope
 Global cities are post-industrial
 Manufacturing has been scattered across national and
global networks
 Turn from “landscapes of production” to “landscapes of
consumption”
Defining the Global City
 Global cities are “brain hubs” and centers of a “knowledge
economy”
 Economies of scale and concentration are necessary despite the
proliferation of communications technology
 Network economies and spillover effects include “thick labor
markets” in knowledge workers.
 Polarization extends to differentiation by human capital (skills and
formal education)
Global City?
 Sociologist Saskia Sassen popularized this term.
 Her The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo
(1990) has shaped the concepts and methods used to
analyze the role of cities and their networks in the
contemporary world.
 Sassen’s concept of Global City gives emphasis on the
flow of information and capital.
 Global Cities are major nodes in the interconnected
systems of information and money, and the wealth
that they capture is intimately related to the
specialized businesses that facilitate those flows.
 making sense of urban systems and their global

networks
 In the age of globalization, the activities of
production are scattered on a global basis.
 These complex, globalized production networks require new forms of financial and
producer services to manage them.
 WHY STUDY GLOBAL CITIES?
Globalization as Spatial Phenomenon
 Spatial as it occurs in physical spaces.
- Foreign investments and capital move through a city
- Companies build skyscrapers
 Globalization is spatial because what makes it move is the fact that it is based in
places. In other words, cities act on globalization and globalization acts on cities:
-Los Angeles, home of Hollywood, is where movies are made for
global consumption
-Tokyo, headquarters of Sony, the company coordinates the sale of its
various electronics goods to branches around the globe
Attributes of Global City
 SEATS OF ECONOMIC POWER
 New York have the largest stock market in the world
 Tokyo houses the most number of corporate headquarters
 Shanghai plays critical role in the global economic supply
 CENTERS OF AUTHORITY
 Washington DC, not wealthy as New York, but it’s the seat of American Power
 Canberra is Australia political capital: home to country’s politicians and bureaucrats
 CENTERS OF POLITICAL INFLUENCE
 Cities that house major International Organizations: UN-New York, EU-Brussels
 CENTERS OF HIGHER LEARNING AND CULTURE
 The question then becomes how to identify
these cities, and perhaps to determine to
what extent they function as global cities
specifically, beyond all of the other things
that they do simply as cities.
1. AT Kearney’s list, developed in conjunction with the Chicago Council on
Global Affairs. Global Cities Index uses criteria across five dimensions:
 A. Business Activity (headquarters, services firms, capital

markets value, number of international conferences, value of
goods through ports and airports)
 B. Human Capital (size of foreign born population, quality of
universities, number of international schools, international
student population, number of residents with college degrees)
 C. Information Exchange (accessibility of major TV news
channels, Internet presence (basically number of search hits),
number of international news bureaus, censorship, and broadband
subscriber rate)
 D. Cultural Experience (number of sporting event, museums,
performing arts venues, culinary establishments, international
visitors, and sister city relationships).
 E. Political Engagement (number of embassies and consulates,
think tanks, international organizations, political conferences)
2. The Institute for Urban Strategies at The Mori Memorial Foundation in
Tokyo published another study called “The Global Power City Index 2011.” This
report examined cities in terms of functions demanded by several “actor” types:
Manager, Researcher, Artist, Visitor, and Resident.
The functional areas were:

 A. 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. Cultural Interaction (Trendsetting Potential, Accommodation
Environment, Resources of Attracting Visitors, Dining and Shopping,
Volume of Interaction)
 4. Livability (Working Environment, Cost of Living, Security and
Safety, Life Support Functions)
 5. Environment (Ecology, Pollution, Natural Environment)
 6. Accessibility (International Transportation Infrastructure, Inner City
Transportation Infrastructure)
Mori Foundation Global City Power Index (2015)
Global Power City top 10: (2016)
 1. London,
 2. New York City,
 3. Tokyo,
 4. Paris,
 5. Singapore,
 6. Seoul,
 7. Amsterdam,
 8. Berlin,
 9. Hong Kong,
 10. Sydney.
3. Another popular ranking is the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global City
Competitiveness Index. They rank cities on a number of domains:
A. Economic Strength (Nominal GDP, per capita GDP, % of households

with economic consumption > $14,000/yr, real GDP growth rate, regional
market integration)
B. Human Capital (population growth, working age population,
entrepreneurship and risk taking mindset, quality of education, quality of
healthcare, hiring of foreign nationals)
C. Institutional Effectiveness (electoral process and pluralism, local
government fiscal autonomy, taxation, rule of law, government effectiveness)
 D. Financial Maturity (breadth and depth of financial cluster)
 E. Global Appeal (Fortune 500 companies, frequency of international flights,
international conferences and conventions, leadership in higher education, renowned
think tanks)
 F. Physical Capital (physical infrastructure quality, public transport quality, telecom
quality)
 G. Environment and Natural Hazards (risk of natural disaster, environmental
governance)
 H. Social and Cultural Character (freedom of expression and human rights,
openness and diversity, crime, cultural vibrancy)
4. Jon Beaverstock, Richard G. Smith and Peter J. Taylor established the
Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC). A roster of
world cities in the GaWC Research Bulletin 5 is ranked by their connectivity
through four "advanced producer services": accountancy, advertising,
banking/finance, and law
 Alpha world cities (with four sub-categories),

 Alpha ++, alpha +, alpha, alpha-
 Beta world cities (three sub-categories),
 Beta +, Beta, Beta-
 Gamma world cities (three sub-categories) and additional cities with High
sufficiency or Sufficiency presence.
 Gamma+, Gamma, Gamma-
Suggested activities:
 1. Look (Google) for these global cities according to

any of the four ranking/research groups. Compare the
ranking, criteria, and sustainability factors. Analyze
how globalization contributed to their success
 2. Present a video-tour of these cities (Youtube will help
you) to amaze our students. Critique and process.
 3.
CHALLENGES OF GLOBAL CITY
 GLOBAL CITIES CAN BE SITES OF GREAT INEQUALITY AND POVERTY
 New York and Tokyo can be sustainable because of their density: denser settlements yield energy
savings; extensive public transportation systems enable people to drive less cutting carbon emission
 Los Angeles meanwhile are urban sprawls, with massive freeways that force residents to spend
money on cars and gas
 Manila, Bangkok, and Mumbai are dense, their lack of public transportation and the government’s
inability to regulate car Industries have made them extremely polluted
 TREMENDOUS VIOLENCE CAUSE BY TERROR ATTACKS
 9/11 attack in New York in 2001
 Attacks by Zealots of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant in Paris
THE GLOBAL CITY AND THE POOR
 MASSIVE INEQUALITY SITED IN SOME MAJOR CITIES
 Cities like Mumbai, Manila and Jakarta have gleaming building alongside
massive shanty towns
 GENTRIFICATION is a phenomenon of driving out the poor in
favor of newer, wealthier residents
 African-Americans and Immigrants in New York and San Francisco are being
forced to move farther away from the economic centers of their cities
 BANLIEUE
 A cluster of ethnic enclaves which includes poor Muslim migrants forced to be
out of Paris
CONCLUSION
 Global Cities are material representation of Globalization
 They are places that create the exciting fusion of culture and ideas
which also generate tremendous wealth
 Yet, they remain sites of great inequality, where global servants serve
global entrepreneurs
 The question of how globalization can be made more just is partly a
question of how people make their cities more just
Talking Points:
1. While most of us will not be living in global cities, how
will our lives be affected by them?
2. Are the contradictions and polarizations in the global city
inevitable?
3. In what sense are cities mediums of globalization?
4. Why is economic power the most crucial determinant of a
global city?
5. Why is there a lot of inequality in global cities?
Suggested activities:
 1. Identify other challenges and threats on global cities. How
these threats were managed?
 2. City Selection: Divide class into ten groups. Each group will
feature one of the top ten global cities. Present and critique in
class. Creativity and visual presentation is necessary.
3. My Global City :
 1. Write a petition/position letter to the LGU (City Council) what you want
you city to have in future as a global city.
 A. Cite facilities and infrastructure necessary
 B. How to manage the challenges and threats to human condition?
 C. what would make you city unique?
(How would you enhance/integrate local and national heritage into your global
city. )
 Note: variant activities exploring the same topic would be more appropriate.
 THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

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What are global cities?

What are the attributes of a global city?

The GLOBAL CITY

 Current use of “globality” as it applies to business – as a description of the

 Compare with: Imperialism and

 making sense of urban systems and their global

 A. Business Activity (headquarters, services firms, capital

The functional areas were:

A. Economic Strength (Nominal GDP, per capita GDP, % of households

 Alpha world cities (with four sub-categories),

 1. Look (Google) for these global cities according to

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