Global Cities - Ch 4

primate city

a city that is by far the largest city/urban area in a country in terms of population, commodities, goods, and services available (ex: Lagos, Nigeria; population >17mil)

reasons for no primate city

evenly well-developed and urbanized (ex: U.S.A., Japan, U.K., Germany, China)

globalization

a world economy and world society that is inter-connected and integrated to a high degree

pre-globalization economic structure

economies were localized

Asia

continent with the most large and fast-growing cities (due to lower global wage rates and industrialization)

rural-to-urban migration

principle reason growing cities are growing so fast (in the last 40 years or so)

push factors

factors that push people from rural areas; civil war, lack of employment, fewer amenities, smaller food supply, no land ownership (think modern sharecropping + the curse of landlords), climate/weather factors

pull factors

factors that pull people to urban areas; opportunities for better education and wages, walkability/public transport, healthcare, industrial jobs

developing world

areas in the process of industrializing; Africa, Asia, and Latin America

shanties

squatter settlements in the city outskirts; typically settlers from rural areas who aren’t able to get into the city proper; few to no public services (water, sewer, police, fire, medical)

megacity

population >10mil; most of these cities are in Asia (a few in Africa, one in U.S., one in Mexico, one in Brazil)

number of megacities in 1950

2 - only NYC and Tokyo

number of megacities in 1975

3 - NYC, Tokyo, and now Mexico City

number of megacities in 2000

18

number of megacities in 2018

>45

world city

great cities that disproportionately conduct the world’s most important businesses; centers of political power, population, points of entry, hospitals, education, money, etc; term coined by Sir Patrick Geddes

examples of world cities

NYC, Tokyo, Paris, London (special case: Hong Kong; lots of international finances; being assimilated into China)

NYC world city elements

UN headquarters, banks, Wall Street, the met, JFK and Newark airports

London world city elements

Barclay’s Bank, BBC HQ and similar, London Stock Exchange, Heathrow airport

secondary definition of world city

places the global elites live (of ~2,700 billionares, 100 live in Beijing and 99 live in NYC); this indicates the goods and services available

economic specialization

method of production where any business, industry, or region focuses on production of products or services; region gets ‘known for’ specific goods/services

urban specialization

when cities specialize in certain economic activities (ex: London and finances, Detroit and automobiles, Silicon Valley and IT industries)

knowledge economy

cause of events (like urban growth) is not natural resources, but due to the people and their knowledge

world cities can decline if

there is a decline in specialization (ex: Detroit and automobiles)

peripheries (function)

supply raw materials to the core

global cities

seats of corporate HQs, MNCs, and TNCs; international center for business decisions and corporate strategies; seats for command, control, and coordination of the global capital and New International Division of Labor

New International Division of Labor (aka)

Global Division of Labor (aka)

London

oldest global city (has been one for hundreds of years; central to the British Empire)