Global Cities

– Are the “command centers”

(according to sociologist
Saskia Sassen) of the global economy
•
Emphasizes that the criteria for global city
are primarily
economic
•
“The more globalized the economy
becomes, the higher the
agglomeration [or grouping] of central
functions in a relatively
few sites” [that is, global

Defining Global
cities]

City
– For definitions with primarily
economic criteria, these
criteria usually include:
• Manufacturing agglomerations
(although, now
moving away from global cities and
placed outside
them, normally in slum-ridden
megacities of the Third
World)
• Financial services – provided by
investment banks,
insurance companies, credit card
companies, stock
brokerages Defining Global
City
• Other ‘productive services’ such as
information
technology, law and accountancy
• Now, compared in the past, global
cities stop making
things and switch to handling and
shifting money and
Defining Global
ideas
City
• Apart from economic areas,
others focus on other
criteria for global cities:
– Cultural innovation and ability to
attract tourists (Sharon
Zukin)
– Geopolitical power, education
hubs, creative industries
(e.g. fashion, arts)