Mobility, Diversity, and Community in the Global City
Mobility, Diversity, and Community in the Global City
Introduction
The "global city" is central to understanding contemporary spatial patterns of globalization.
It is the main physical and geographic area where globalization's impact on local life is most visible.
Global cities are spaces of population concentration and mixing where flows of people, capital, and ideas are integrated into daily life.
Cultural Diversity
A key characteristic of the global city, resulting from human mobility and migration.
Often perceived superficially as a "cosmopolitan feel."
Involves encounters and engagement between "natives" and immigrants/visitors.
Leads to "cosmopolitan" consumption, work culture, global networking, and "glocal" transnational community relations.
Represents and contains the world in a bounded space, reflecting various global issues and inequalities.
Cosmopolitanism
Associated with global cities, attracting people, material, and cultural products worldwide.
Invokes images of travel, exploration, and "worldly" pursuits for those benefiting from globalization.
Often focused on consumption in global cities within a capitalist context.
Everyday life is shaped by commercial culture, retail, and shopping.
Offers cross-cultural variety in food, fashion, entertainment, and other consumables.
Cosmopolitan Consumption
Availability of diverse culinary traditions is taken for granted.
Global cities offer a variety of cultural products to engage with "otherness" and cater to immigrants reconnecting with their original cultures.
Examples include the coexistence of Hollywood and Bollywood and the availability of "world music."
Requires time and money, often overstated in tourist brochures compared to the reality for suburban dwellers.
Tourists are often the only ones fully devoted to cosmopolitan consumption during holidays.
The Flâneur
A time-rich, sophisticated urban enjoyer, is becoming a thing of the past.
In the age of the Internet, the flâneur may be replaced by an "electronic flâneur" with greater virtual mobility.
Internet and the Global City
Featherstone suggests the "data city" as an infinitely reconstructable city of bits.
Internet networking primarily occurs between people in close geographical proximity and often leads to face-to-face meetings.
Downsides of Global City Life
High housing costs, long working hours, competitive labor market, long commute times.
Urban anonymity, social isolation, fear of strangers and crime.
Residential hyper-mobility and challenges in practicing neighborliness and multiculturalism.
Can be both a dream and a nightmare.
Inequality in Global Cities
Attracts migrants and visitors but does not treat all residents equally.
Globe-trotting business people may experience a cosmopolitan dream.
Marginal dwellers like sweatshop workers, undocumented immigrants, and the homeless are often hidden.
Contradictions of Urban Life
Hubs of innovation and creativity but also concentrations of social ills.
Celebrated as the pinnacle of civilization but also criticized as harmful and alienating.
Concerns about the effect of crowds and overstimulation on the individual.
Classic cinematic and literary works portray shattered dreams in the city.
Focus of the Chapter
Mobility: tension between capitalist economic dynamism and the need for stability.
Diversity: intercultural contact and demographic variety.
Community: issues related to mobility and diversity.
What is a “Global City”?
Emergence of the Concept
The idea of the "global city" emerged in social science literature in the 1980s, following the concept of globalization.
Global cities, as centers of power or trade, have existed since ancient times.
The concept was preceded by the idea of "world city."
Roderick McKenzie conceptualized a global network of cities as early as 1927.
Imagining the Globe
To define a global city, one must first imagine the world as a single entity.
This is facilitated by graphic representations and debates on global issues.
Arguing why and how the human globe is one remains difficult.
Globalization Paradigm
Since the 1980s, globalization has dominated social sciences, leading to conceptual and ideological disputes.
Debates on the meaning and timing of globalization.
Arguments about who benefits from interconnectedness of economic, political, cultural, and environmental processes.
Critique of Methodological Nationalism
Attempts to reject traditional social sciences as obsolete due to "methodological nationalism."
This approach is seen as unfit for the global age with transnationalism and global interdependency.
Role of the Nation-State
The nation-state remains a powerful institution, but its power is relative and influenced by global forces.
Global cities partially escape full control of the nation-state, acting as transnational hubs.
Nation-states project their significance onto the global stage through global cities.
Empirical Approach to Defining Global Cities
Asking which cities are "global" and why.
Saskia Sassen (1991) identified New York, London, and Tokyo as the primary global cities.
Economic Criteria
Primarily economic criteria define the status of a global city.
Global cities are "command centers" and main nodes of global capitalism.
Globalization leads to agglomeration of central functions in few sites.
These three cities remain major financial centers with familiar stock exchanges and indices.
Cultural View
Sharon Zukin (1998) places New York, London, and Paris at the top of the urban cultural hierarchy for cultural innovation and visitor attraction.
Evolution of Global Cities
Two decades after Sassen's book, other cities, especially in Asia, gained global city status.
Concentration of financial and productive services like IT, law, and accountancy.
Shift from Manufacturing to Handling Ideas
The "things" produced in global cities are not primarily material.
Manufacturing is placed outside global cities, often in megacities of the "Third World."
A condition of global city status is switching to handling money and ideas.
Post-Industrial Nature
Global cities are post-industrial.
Shanghai claimed global city status by replacing industrial structures with skyscrapers for finance and research, facilitated by foreign capital.
Singapore is another addition with efficient infrastructure and a growing service sector.
The “Service Economy”
Zukin describes switching to a "service economy" as a "cultural turn."
A "symbolic economy" based on financial instruments, information, and culture gains importance.
"Symbolic production" by knowledge workers is largely invisible.
Global cities are experienced as "landscapes of consumption" rather than production.
Consumer culture reaches its peak, even in non-Western cities.
Financial Products
"Financial products" created in global capitalism's command posts triggered the 2008 global financial crisis.
Other Aspects of Global Cities
Concentrations of geopolitical power, cultural influence, education hubs, and creative industries.
Specific labor demand for the professional class, which has grown significantly.
Knowledge Workers
Highly mobile, career-minded middle class.
Presence leads to gentrification of inner-city neighborhoods.
Gentrification polarizes social classes and causes residential segregation.
Lifestyle and Needs of the Affluent
Brings an army of low-paid workers who deliver personal and labor-intensive services.
Global cities exhibit occupational and income polarization.
The labor market is "hourglass-shaped" rather than egg-shaped, with a hollow middle.
Polarization in Housing Market
Real estate is expensive in gentrified areas due to capitalization of urban advantages into higher property prices.
Less attractive outer areas have lower property prices.
Polarized housing markets exacerbate socio-economic inequality.
Housing Affordability
Global cities with large population intakes face high real-estate prices and falling housing affordability.
This is evident in Australia with high immigration intakes.
Income Polarization
Income polarization is mostly present in large gateway cities, where immigration depresses wages at the bottom of the labor market.
This labor market section comprises flexible workers in casual and insecure jobs.
Caution on Polarization Argument
Every city has local, national, and regional contexts that influence economic and social processes.
Globalization processes are tightly managed by the state in places like Singapore and Shanghai.
Dual Industrial Strategy
Singapore's dual industrial strategy keeps "up-market" manufacturing alongside professional services, reducing workforce polarization.
Expansion of Global City List
In the twenty-first century, the list of global cities has expanded, particularly in Asia.
Global Power Index
Japanese Mori Foundation's Global Power City Index measures power by economy, research & development, cultural interaction, liveability, environment, and accessibility.
Top five cities: New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, and Singapore.
Cities achieve global status through their magnetism, attracting creative people and companies.
Brain Hubs
Enrico Moretti argues that important cities are "brain hubs" with innovative people and firms and good support functions.
Knowledge Economy
Moretti argues Western economies' success hinges on the "knowledge economy."
Geographical Agglomeration
The knowledge economy has a tendency towards geographical agglomeration, despite Internet communication.
Larger "brain concentrations" have a "thicker labor market" and specialized supply of services.
Knowledge Spillovers
Creative people thrive in the company of other creative people.
Cities are critical concentrations of people and hubs of exchange.
Focus on the United States
Moretti identifies important American cities as hubs of digital innovation, contrasting them with struggling cities.
Brain hubs have a high proportion of university graduates.
Leading hubs include Silicon Valley, Washington DC, Boston, and Seattle.
Growing Polarization
Moretti develops thesis about growing labor market polarization within large cities.
American cities are becoming segregated by education and earnings.
Earnings Disparity
Workers in dynamic brain hubs earn two to three times more than counterparts in stagnating cities.
Brain hubs attract the best from around the world, while low-skilled immigrants go to low-tech cities.
Mobility, Migration and the Global City: Attracting the "Creative Class"
Globalization of Labor Markets
The globalization of labor markets has created a new type of professional nomadism.
The global city, as a dynamic hub of the capitalist economy, is a crucible of demographic and social change.
Economic dynamism and population mobility are signs of economic health, requiring a "flexible workforce".
Impact on Businesses and Employees
Both businesses and employees are submitted to the requirements of competitiveness and mobility.
Globalization has increased transnational mobility and migration and affected local labor markets.
Increase in Employment Mobility
Employment mobility has increased since the early 1970s, especially in English-speaking countries.
The concept of a "company man" and a "job for life" are largely relics of the past.
Hyper-Mobility in the United States
Moretti considers the United States a hyper-mobile outlier among developed countries where residential mobility is high.
Service sector is more dynamic and flexible than the manufacturing sector.
Ability to Attract Workforce
The importance of global cities is built on their ability to attract professional and innovative workforce, as well as necessary service workers.
Footloose Educated Population
Highly educated individuals are the most mobile, often changing jobs and relocating to different cities or countries for career advancement.
Lower-skilled service workers move jobs out of necessity but are less ready to move between cities and countries.
Cosmopolitans vs. Locals
Polarized workforce fits dichotomy of "cosmopolitans vs. locals" proposed by Merton and Gouldner.
"Locals" focus on local problems, while "cosmopolitans" seek status outside the local community and are more mobile.
Preference for Mobile Individuals
Globalized capitalist economy favors and rewards highly qualified and mobile individuals.
International Education Market
The international education market moves middle-class populations of young people across the globe.
International tertiary education has grown since 1975 due to economic interconnectedness.
Global cities are magnets for international students.
Synergies Between Education, Research, and Industry
Synergies between education, research, and industry are crucial for global capitalism and achieving global city status in the knowledge century.
Creative Class and Brain Hubs
Global cities need to be brain hubs attracting and retaining the creative class.
Cities remain critical incubators of creativity.
Role of Geography
Geography is not dead, as cities remain critical incubators of creativity.
Diversity and Community in the Global City
Ambiguous Concept of Diversity
Diversity is a context-dependent concept with both positive and negative connotations.
Positive Aspects of Diversity
Represents potential for successful merging of cultures and ideas (cosmopolitanism).
No cosmopolitanism without diversity.
Negative Aspects of Diversity
Potential for fracturing social cohesion and social capital.
Synonym for disadvantage.
Linguistically and Culturally Diverse (CALD)
Used to describe disadvantaged immigrant minorities (refugees, asylum seekers, temporary labor migrants, international students).
Discomfort Among Natives
Visible and audible diversity can cause discomfort about the presence of the "Other".
Socio-Economic Disadvantage
Concentrations of diversity (CALD-high areas) are areas of socio-economic disadvantage in immigration gateway cities.
Areas with few job opportunities and services suffer traffic disadvantage.
Global Inequalities
Immigrant-attracting global gateways populations reflect and perpetuate global inequalities.
Precarious Lives of Immigrants
Many recently arrived immigrants lead precarious lives, working in the shadow economy and experiencing occupational downgrading and poor housing.
Cultural and Community Features
Visible cultural and community features of global cities are relevant for their global role.
Protagonists of Urban Lifestyle
Global cities are home to artists, bohemians, new media designers, gay and youth subcultures, university students and immigrants.
Influence on Urban Subcultures
These groups influence urban subcultures and give character to certain areas.
Connection Between Bohemian Lifestyles and Urban Vibrancy
Bohemian and alternative lifestyles are connected with general urban vibrancy and creativity.
Capitalism's Ability to Commercialize Creativity
Capitalism can extract creative ideas from bohemia and commercialize them, especially in global cities.
Economic Polarization
Urban cultural diversity reflects the paradox of economic polarization, attracting both the poor and the affluent.
Babylonian Nature of Global Cities
Global cities bustle with action, diversity, excitement, freedom, and anonymity.
Marginalities
Global cities contain different types of marginalities based on gender, ethnicity, culture, and class.
Community in Segregated Groups
These groups form marginal and mutually segregated communities.
Fragmentation and Lack of Active Citizenship
Coexistence of disparate groups does not constitute a wider city community, and fragmentation rarely leads to active citizenship.
Priorities Over Civic Concerns
Consumption, style, work, and leisure take priority over public and civic concerns.
Citizenship, Responsibility, and Cosmopolitanism
Featherstone questions whether new forms of citizenship can be generated from broader cosmopolitan identifications.
Community and Civic Life
Questions about how community and civic life coexist with the dynamism and anonymity of the global city.
Effort Required for Nurturing Communities
Sustained effort and stability are required for nurturing communities.
Dominance of Competitive Individualism
Mobility is imperative in global capitalism, relying on competitive individualism.
Frail and Temporary Human Bonds
Inter-human bonds require sustained investment of time and effort.
Time and Money Exchange
People are not sociable if time is readily exchanged for money.
The Short-Term Focus
Hyper-dynamic capitalism leaves no room for long-term projects.
Lacking Firm Ground
Shifting life in the global city leaves little firm ground for anyone to lodge an anchor.
Cosmopolitans vs. Locals
Hypermobility of competitive cosmopolitans does not allow room for community life.
Detachment from Neighbors
Residents of the global city are detached from neighbors and devoted to professional pursuits.
Disintegration of Community
Community is replaced by a network of random connections and disconnections.
Liberation from Community Control
Intensity and anonymity liberate the individual from community control.
Fragmented Social World
Residents live in a fragmented and atomized social world.
Self-Responsibility Over Solidarity
Self-responsibility substitutes for social solidarity.
Decline of the Welfare State
Increased academic reliance on “social capital” instead of community.
Consumer Culture's Primacy
Community care and common good become secondary, giving primacy to consumer culture.
Global Cities at the “End of the World”: The Case of Sydney and Melbourne, Australia
Case Study of Sydney and Melbourne
Aims to illuminate the conceptual framework and analytical debates presented earlier.
Addresses the question of whether Sydney and Melbourne are global cities.
Significance in Terms of Size and Economy
Both cities are undoubtedly important nationally and globally in terms of size and economic performance.
Historical Development
Started as remote British colonial outposts in the early nineteenth century.
Grew into significant cities by the end of the century due to the mid-century Gold Rush.
New World cities in immigration countries grew rapidly during this time.
Melbourne's Rapid Growth
Melbourne became one of the fastest-growing New World cities during the Gold Rush.
Reached half a million inhabitants in the 1880s.
Entered the top 20 largest cities in the world by 1890.
Stagnation and Rivalry
Melbourne stagnated after the end of the Gold Rush.
Sydney gradually became the largest Australian city.
Rivalry between the two cities developed after the 1901 federation of British colonies.
Competition for Federal Capital Status
Due to Failure to decide which city was fit serve as the federal capital a new city (Canberra) had to be built
Melbourne served as the Australian capital from 1901 to 1927.
Melbourne's Recent Growth
Melbourne experienced another growth spurt, surpassing Sydney in immigrant inflows.
"Greater Melbourne" recorded the largest growth between 2001 and 2011 Censuses.
Population Figures
In the 2011 Census, Melbourne had 4 million people, while Sydney had 4.4 million.
Geographical Location
Australia's geographical location can be a disadvantage in terms of global significance.
Remote location in the southern hemisphere.
Long travel times to Europe and the United States.
Tyranny of Distance
Reference to the "tyranny of distance" and remote location.
Led to Australians developing a "cultural cringe" and feeling inferior to northern-hemisphere metropolises.
Diminishing Impact of Distance
Impact of distance has diminished due to electronic communication and affordable air travel.
Australians are one of the best-traveled nations.
Global City Lists
Sydney has regularly appeared on various "global city lists," unlike Melbourne.
Familiarity and Recognizability
Sydney has achieved "first name familiarity" and recognizability through its landmarks.
One feels compelled to say "Melbourne, Australia" rather than just "Melbourne".
Socio-Economic Indicators
Sydneysiders are marginally richer and more diverse than Melbournians, but the differences are not significant.
Global Cities League
Both cities can claim their place in the global cities league based on economic outputs, industries, and population diversity.
Social Polarization
Sydney has a higher number of rich residents but a similar proportion of homeless people as Melbourne.
Integrating Into Global Economy
Sydney is most integrated into the global economy among major Australian cities.
Spatial Polarization
Sydney has more noticeable socio-economic spatial polarization.
Melbourne as a Knowledge City
Melbourne's main claim to global importance is its image as a "knowledge city."
ICT Hub
Melbourne supports a thriving information, communication, and technology (ICT) industry.
Heavy reliance on universities and international student population.
University City Ranking
Melbourne has been ranked fifth among global university cities, behind London, Boston, Paris, and Tokyo.
Sydney is ranked sixth.
The Index highlights cities where there is confluence in size, liveability, connectedness, number of excellent universities and sustained investment in education and research.
Global University City Index Criteria
Global university recognition, amenity, research inputs and performance, and education inputs and performance.
All criteria and sub-criteria adopted in the Global University City Index have been previously developed in international research reports.
Most Liveable City Title
Melbourne won the title of the world's "most liveable city" in 2011 and 2012.
Sydney was in seventh place.
Conflicting Rankings
Melbourne does not appear among the top ten in the Mercer 2012 Quality of Living Survey, while Sydney takes the tenth rank there.
In most other rankings, the two cities are not far from each other.
Attractiveness to Visitors
Sydney serves as a primary attraction for overseas visitors.
Natural Environment and Landmarks
Sydney serves as a primary attraction for overseas visitors its attractive and diverse natural environment and glamorous city landmarks,
Melbourne is presented as a gastronomic and artistic city.
Street Art Capital
Melbourne claims to be the global "street art capital."
Balance Between Outlawed Vandalism and Democratic Expression
Street art has balanced between outlawed vandalism and democratic expression.
Key Word
Diversity is the key word
Variety of Cosmopolitan Cultural Diversity
Immigrant Population
1.469 million Melbourne residents (36.7%) and 1.759 million Sydney residents (40.1%) were born overseas.
Multicultural population represents attraction for overseas relatives and friends through transverse ongoing national connections
Diversity Composition
Top origin countries for Melbourne: UK, India, China, Italy.
Top origin countries for Sydney: England, China, India, New Zealand, Vietnam.
Transience
High mobility represented by international students and young travellers (working holidaymakers).
Categories of workers
includes Temporary migrant categories, the workers are educated, enthusiastic and easy to hire and fire
skilled 457 visa workers bring workers in on four-year visas
Visitors
Constant presence of tourists and short-term family visitors.
International Student Contribution
International students diversify culture, strengthen global networks, and contribute to the Australian economy.
"Education services" are Australia's largest service export industry.
Tertiary Education
In Australian tertiary education, 22% of students are foreigners.
Ambition to Qualify
Some internatinal student have the goal of permanently qualifying for permanent residence
Low Density Cities
Sydney and Melbourne, like most New world cities, are low density cities
"Greater Melbourne" occupies 9990 km2, with a population density of 400 people per km2.
Three-quarters of Melbournians and nearly two-thirds of Sydneysiders are suburbanites in detached houses.
Increased Congestion
High mobility and car dependence cause traffic congestion.
Decreasing Component
Frustraion and traffic are steadily decreasing both cities ability to be liveable
Conclusion: Global Cities, Social Change and “Liquid Life”
Contradictions in Super-Diverse Cities
Global cities harbor numerous contradictions outside promotional advertising.
Strongholds of capitalist neo-liberal globalization but also centers of social change.
Alternative lifestyles challenge existing political, social, and ideological structures.
Role of People and Local Communities
People and communities are not simply puppets of economic and political forces.
Opportunities and Challenges
Globalization endangers livelihoods but offers opportunities concentrated in global cities.
People migrate to these cities for business, work, adventure, education, and cosmopolitan experiences.
Unequal Outcomes
Not everyone finds success and fulfillment in global cities.
Competitive globalization creates winners and losers.
Agency and Influence
Some individuals have more agency due to gender, ethnicity, socio-economic background, etc.
Others may end up in sweatshops or as trafficked sex workers.
In terms of global cities they win and lose depending on whether or not they can attract innovative workforce and immigrants of desirable workers
*Winners and losers in global cities often end up in different residential areas, increasing social segregation
Desirable Quality
The best trait to cultivated in an era of "liquid modernity" is the virtue of flexibility.
They need to adapt to changes faster than routines can consolidate and recognize choices come with the cost of uncertainty.
These cities are the places to be for creative enterpreunial people with cross-cultural competence
Flexible Workforce
*However, it is not the same for everyone there are flexible workforce in poorly paid, uncertain jobs or as arrivals working in underground jobs
Not everyone succeeds in the light the city shows offer those who fail expierence the darker side of the city