Lesson 12

Global City

Is an urban centre that enjoys significant competitive advantages and that serves as a hub within a globalized economic system.

Global City

The term has its origins in research on cities carried out during the 1980s, which examined the common characteristics of the world’s most important cities.

Global Cities

With increased attention being paid to processes of globalization during subsequent years, these world cities came to be known as ________ _________.

Global Cities

Linked with globalization was the idea of spatial reorganization and the hypothesis that cities were becoming key loci within global networks of production, finance, and telecommunications.

Economic

What constitutes a global city were primarily ____________.

New York, London, and Tokyo

They can be identified as global cities, all of which are hubs of global finance and capitalism.

World Cities

They are categorized as such based on the global reach of organization found in them.

Cities

Although ______ are major beneficiaries of globalization, they are also the most severely affected by global problems.

City

Faces peculiar political problems, wherein it is often fruitlessly seeing to deal locally with global problems and local politics has become overloaded.

1. Seats of Economic Power

2. Centers of Authority

3. Centers of Political Influence

4. Centers of Higher Learning and Culture

5. Economic Opportunities

6. Economic Competitiveness

Six (6) Indicators of a Global City

Seats of Economic Power

New York may have the largest stock market in the world but Tokyo houses the most number of corporate headquarters. What type of indicator of a global city is this?

Seats of Economic Power

Shanghai may have a smaller stock market compared to New York and Tokyo, but plays a critical role in the global economic supply chain ever since China has become the manufacturing center of the world. What type of indicator of a global city is this?

Shanghai

It has the world’s busiest container port, moving over 33 million container units in 2013.

Centers of Authority

Washington DC may not be wealthy as New York but it is the seat of American state power. People around the world know its major landmarks: the White House, the Capitol Building (Congress), the Supreme Court, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument. What type of indicator of a global city is this?

Centers of Authority

Similarly, compared with Sydney and Melbourne, Canberra is a sleepy town and thus is not as attractive to tourists. But as Australia’s political capital, it is home to the country’s top politicians, bureaucrats, and policy advisors. What type of indicator of a global city is this?

Centers of Political Influence

Cities that house major international organizations may also be considered centers of political influence.

Centers of Political Influence

The headquaters of the United Nations is in New York, and that of the European Union is in Brussels. What type of indicator of a global city is this?

Centers of Political Influence

An influential political city near the Philippines is Jakarta, which is not just the capital of Indonesia, but also the location of the main headquarters of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). What type of indicator of a global city is this?

Centers of Political Influence

This indicator indicates that “Powerful political hubs exert influence on their own countires as well as on international affairs.”

Centers of Political Influence

The European Central Bank which oversees the Euro (the European Union’s currency), is based in Frankfurt. What type of indicator of a global city is this?

Centers of Higher Learning and Culture

A city’s intellectual influence is seen through the influence of its publishing industry.

Centers of Higher Learning and Culture

The New York Times carries the name of New York City but it is far from being a local newspaper. People read it not just across America, but also all over the world. What type of indicator of a global city is this?

Centers of Higher Learning and Culture

One of the reasons for many tourists visiting Boston is that they want to see Harvard University - the world’s top university. What type of indicator of a global city is this?

Centers of Higher Learning and Culture

Many Asian teenagers are moving to cities in Australia because of the leading language universities there. What type of indicator of a global city is this?

Centers of Higher Learning and Culture

Los Angeles, the center of the American film industry may also be considered a global city. What type of indicator of a global city is this?

Centers of Higher Learning and Culture

A less obvious example, however, is Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. It is so small that one can tour the entire city by bicycle in thirty minutes. It is not the home of a major stock market, and its population is rather homogenous. However, Copenhagen is now considered as one of the culinary capitals of the world, with its top restaurants incommensurate with its size. What type of indicator of a global city is this?

Centers of Higher Learning and Culture

Manchester, England in the 1980’s was a dreary, industrial city. But many prominent post-punk and New Wave bands - Joy Division, the Smiths, the Happy Mondays - hailed from this city, making it a global household name. What type of indicator of a global city is this?

Centers of Higher Learning and Culture

In Southeast Asia, Singapore is slowly becoming a cultural hub for the region. It now houses some of the region’s top television stations and news organization (MTV Southeast Asia and Channel News Asia). What type of indicator of a global city is this?

Economic Competitiveness

The Economist Intelligence Unit has added other criteria like market size, purchasing power of citizens, size of the middle class, and potential for growth.

Economic Competitiveness

Singapore is considered Asia’s most competitive city because of its strong market, efficient and incorruptible government, and livability. It also houses the regional offices of many major global corporations. What type of indicator of a global city is this?

Cities

They are the engines of globalization.

Cities

They are social magnets, growing faster and faster.

Urban Life

In the current generation, _______ _____ has become the dominant form of human life throughout the world.

Eighteen (18)

In 2000, there were _____ megacities (over 10 million)‚ such as Mumbai, Tokyo, New York City/Newark and Mexico City had populations in excess of 10 million inhabitants.

Tokyo

_______ already has 35 million megacities.

Hong Kong/Guangzhow

The ___________ area is even larger, perhaps 120 million megacities.

5, 50, and 75

In 1900, ___% of the world population was urban. In 2007, the count passed ___%. By 2050, up to ___% is anticipated.