GE 3 – GLOBAL CITY

BSA 1 – CONTEMPORARY WORLD WITH IP EDUCATION

THE GLOBAL CITY  is the main physical and geographic

playground of the globalizing forces
Sassen (2005) because of the following:
 The Global City emerges from the global o in this space of population
dynamicsand processes such as privatization, concentration and mixing; and
deregulation, the opening of national economies o the global flows of people, capital
to foreign firms, and the growing participation of and ideas are woven into the daily
national economic actors in global markets lived experiences of its residents.
(Sassen, 2005).
 It was Saskia Sassen who popularized the term According to Sassen (2005), these are the
“globalcity” in the 1900’s where its main attribute or characteristics of a Global City:
determinant is“primarily economic” and it has 1. Dispersal of economic activities and
significant role in globalization. simultaneous integration of such geographically
 When Sassen published her book about global dispersed activities;
city in 1991, it identified three global cities and 2. Outsourcing of headquarters of large global
these are: firms such as buying a share of their central
o London functions from highly specialized service firms—
o New York accounting, legal, public relations, programming,
o Tokyo telecommunications, and other such services.
in 2005, she included 3. Specialized service firms engaged in the most
Paris Frankfurt complex and globalized markets are subject to
Zurich Amsterdam agglomeration economies.
Los Angeles Sydney 4. More headquarters outsource their most
 Her main reason is the dramatic changes of the complex, unstandardized functions, particularly
world’s economy in the recent past. those subject to uncertain and changing
markets, the freer they are to opt for any location,
Claudio (2018) because less work actually done in the
 defining a global city can thus be difficult. headquarters is subject to agglomeration
 One way of solving this dilemma is to go beyond economies.
the simple dichotomy of global and non-global. 5. Specialized service firms need to provide a
 Instead of asking whether or not one city is a global service which has meant a global network
global city, it is better to ask: In what way are of affiliates or some other form of partnership,
cities global and to what extent are they global? and as a result, we have seen a strengthening of
cross border city-to-city transactions and
Saskia Sassen (1991) networks.
• Saskia Sassen (1991) identified only three global 6. Growing numbers of high-level professionals
cities: New York, London, and Tokyo (hubs of global and high profit making specialized service firms
capitalism). have the effect of raising the degree of spatial
• This choice indicated that the criteria for the status and socio-economic inequality evident in these
of the global city were primarily economic. cities.
• are the ‘command centers’, the main nodes of 7. Growing informalization of a range of
triumphant global capitalism. economic activities which find their effective
demand in these cities, yet have profit rates that
Attributes of a Global City do not allow them to compete for various
 Despite the significant changes in the world and resources with the high-profit making firms at the
experts’ inclusion of other global cities, Sassen top of the system.
is still right that the main determinant of a “global
city” is primarily economic. It is also agreed by •In globalization, the global city can either be a
other experts (Claudio, 2018; Colic-Peisker, place of commerce where production,
2014). manufacturing or distribution of goods and
Colic-Peisker (2000) services from the said city trade to the rest of
GE 3 – GLOBAL CITY
BSA 1 – CONTEMPORARY WORLD WITH IP EDUCATION

world, or a city which had influential financial Global City

institution like New York City which have New  A global city generally considered to be an
York Stock Exchanges, London Stock important node in the global economic system; it
Exchange, Nikkei Stock Exchange in Tokyo, and is a significant production point of specialized
even in Shanghai, the Shanghai Stock financial and producer services that make the
Exchange (Claudio 2018). It can also be a globalized economy run. The idea of “global city”
political powerhouse like in the case of Hague, emerged in the social science literature in the
Washington, and other cities considered to be 1980s.
the seat .  The concept was preceded by the idea of
 It is also a city which became the tourist ‘world city’.
capital of the world like Paris, Amsterdam,  Through the global cities the nation-states
Seoul, Disney and many others. These are project their significance onto the global
cities known to us even if many of us have stage.
never gone there. Their impact to the world
is evident, particularly in the world of Global Cities are the main financial centers i.e.
commerce and trade, politics, and tourism. stock exchanges and indices
o New York’s Wall Street
• It is true that global cities have large, diverse o London’s ‘Footsie’ (the informal name for
cities attract people, material and cultural FTSE 100 Index of the largest listed
products from all over the world (Colic-Peisker, companies)
2014). It also true that almost everything can be o Tokyo’s Nikkei
found in those global cities, but they also have
dark contours. It challenges of different INDICATORS FOR GLOBAL CITY
extremities l ike where richest of the rich lives in Economic Power
luxury while poorest of the poor live in - Sassen remains correct in saying that economic
undersides of the city became usual victims of power largely determines which cities are global.
the socio-economic ills of the city. It is also place New York may have the largest stock market in
people from different races and ethnicity the world but Tokyo houses the most number of
converge for employment but human trafficking, corporate headquarters (613 company
force sex work, and other forms of criminalities headquarters as against 217 in New York).
are also pervasive. They are wonderful
destinations for those who can afford the rising Global cities are also centers of authority
living of standards of the city because it provides
different forms luxury like food, hotels, and other • Washington D.C. may not be as wealthy as New
wonderful places, but it also forces the poor, the York, but it is the seat of American state power.
marginalized and those who have been left People around the world know its major landmarks:
behind by the drastic development and dynamics The White House, the Capitol Building (Congress),
of the global city settling like slums, where socio- the Supreme Court, the Lincoln Memorial, and the
economic security is scare and uncertain. Washington Monument.
• Global cities house major international
GLOBAL CITY VS. WORLD CITY organizations and centers of political influence
such as:
• New York - United Nations
World City • Brussels - European Union
 It referred to a type of city which we have seen • Jakarta – ASEAN
over the centuries in earlier periods in Asia and
in European colonial centers. In this regard, it Centers of higher learning and culture
can be said that most of today's major global • New York Times - New York City
cities are also world cities, but that there may • Harvard University – Boston
well be some global cities today that are not
world cities in the full, rich sense of that term.
GE 3 – GLOBAL CITY
BSA 1 – CONTEMPORARY WORLD WITH IP EDUCATION

The Challenges of Globalization Cultural

- Global cities conjure up images of fast-paced, - First-name familiarity
exciting, cosmopolitan lifestyles. But such o New York
descriptions are lacking o Tokyo
- Global cities also have their undersides. o London
- They can be sites of great inequality and poverty o Paris
as well as tremendous violence. - Highly renowned cultural institutions,
galleries, sports complex, film centers, opera
“Pathologies” of Global Cities - Influential media produced (ex. NYT)
- Congested - Educational institutions
- Polluted - Tourism
- Major terror attack
- The phenomenon of driving out the poor in favor
of newer,wealthier residents is called
gentrification.

Salient Features of Global Cities

- International and national connectivity

- Diversified international population base
- International cuisine
- International culture
- International infrastructure
- International business presence
- Support for a recognized language of
international business
- Global economic and political importance

GLOBAL CITY: Key Indicators

Economic
- Corporate headquarter s multinational
corporations,
- International financial institutions,
- Significant financial capacity/output:
city/regional GDP
- Financial service provision e.g., banks,
accountancy
- Costs of living
- personal wealth; e.g., number of billionaires

Political
- Active influence and participation on
international events and world affairs
- Hosting headquarters for international
organizations (ex. UN)
- Large metropolitan area.
- Quality of life standards
- Expat communities