D.

G L O B A L CITIE S

If everyone is given the chance, are they

STARTING POINT:
Watch any of the following videos: “The
World’s Greenest City” (2014) or “Solar City
Malmo” (2009). How do cities in the said
documentaries differ from typical cities in
the Third World? Can they be considered as
cities of the future? Why or why not?
going to move to New York? To Tokyo or to
Sydney? Most of the travelers would like to
move to these major cities. Maybe you or your
friends or relatives have already traveled to
these cities as tourists or temporary residents.
This module introduces the development of
global cities. It also highlights the present
condition of the world that contributes to
globalization.

OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this section, the learners are expected to:
1. Identify the attributes of a global city;
2. Analyze how cities serve as engines of globalization, and;
3. Explain how multinational corporations influence the development of global cities.

DIAGNOSTICS:
Instructions: Write AGREE if you think the statement is correct; otherwise, DISAGREE.
_________ 1. Global cities are culturally diverse.
_________ 2. Globalization is spatial.
_________ 3. Technological innovation is a factor of human interconnectedness.
_________ 4. World Bank is an example of multinational corporation.
_________ 5. Globalization is evident in the economic, social, cultural, and political realms.

www.wikipedia.com

“A concrete jungle where dreams are made of...” – Alicia Keys (Empire State of Mind)

GLOBAL CITY
The global city serves as a hub for production, finance, and telecommunications. It cannot
be helped that a multitude of cultures interact with each other when nation-states and
multinational corporations behave in a grander scheme, and this constant interaction of cultures
occur in a particular geographical setting which is called the global city. Italso houses industries
that promote the globalization of markets.

Saskia Sassen (1991), a

sociologist and writer of the famous
book ‘The Global City’, defines global
city where it is primary economic and
outlined the different characteristics
of globality that maintain its link to
globalization. She characterized
global city in four ways:
1) the cultural diversity of the people
2) existence of a center of economy

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3) geographical dispersal of economic activities that marks globalization; and

4) global reach performance.
These characteristics are observed in famous global cities such as New York, Tokyo, Singapore
and Seoul. According to the 2019 Global Cities Report, New York ranked the highest, followed
by London, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
-
 New York – ranked the highest in terms of business activity, human capital, information
exchange, cultural experience, and political engagement, and have the largest stock
market in the world i.e., NYSE- New York Stock Exchange (New York)
 London – 4% of the city is green space, making London the greenest city of its size in the
world, around 40% of the world’s foreign equities are traded here i.e., FTSE- Financial
Times Stock Exchange (London), where businesses thrive and much larger than that of
New York, also in a major time-zone advantage for doing business with Asia
 Paris – is a quintessential global city, has been one of the world's most visited places for
centuries, and its economy prospers because of a well-educated workforce, modern
infrastructure, and global niches in creative industries, business services, and tourism
 Tokyo – the most number of corporate headquarters, which are hubs of global finance
and capitalism (613 inTokyo, while 217 in New York) i.e., Nikkei. The Tokyo metropolitan
area is the largest world city-region globally, and is the location where many of Japan's
advanced functions are centralized.
 Hong Kong – named the most expensive city in the world for the second year running,
mainly due to its high housing prices. The survey measures the cost of 200 items in
209 cities i.e., items include housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods, and
entertainment

Others consider some cities “global” simply because they are great places to live in
 Australia, Sydney- commands the greatest proportion of capital
 Melbourne- “most livable city”, a place with good public transportation, a thriving cultural
scene and relatively easy pace of life.

In what ways are cities global and to what extent are they global?

Why Study Global Cities?

1. Globalization is spatial because it occurs in physical spaces.
2. Globalization is spatial because what makes it move is the fact that it is based in places.
 Los Angeles- home of Hollywood, where movies are made for global consumption.
 Tokyo- main headquarters of Sony, and from there, the company coordinates the
sale of its various electronics goods to branches across the world.
 San Francisco- home of the most powerful internet companies- Facebook,
Twitter, and Google.
 Shanghai, Beijing & Guangzhou- centers of trade and finance.

In 1950, only 30% of the world lived in urban

areas. By 2014, that number increased to 54%
percent. And by 2050, it is expected to reach
66%.

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INDICATORS FOR GLOBALITY: Multiple Attributes of the Global City

1. Economic Power- foremost characteristic

 Shanghai- may have the smaller stock market but plays a critical role in the global
economic supply chain ever since China has become the manufacturing center of the
world.
- has the busiest container port, moving over 33 million container units in 2013.
Added criteria of Economist Intelligence Unit to measure the economic competitiveness
of a city:
 market size
 purchasing power of citizens
 size of middle class
 potential for growth
 Singapore- considered Asia’s most competitive city because of its strong market,
efficient and incorruptible government, and livability.

2. Centers of Authority
 Washington D.C.- seat of American state power (White House, the Capitol Building
(Congress), the Supreme Court, the
Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument)
 Canberra- is a sleepy town and thus is not as attractive to tourist, but Australia’s
political capital, it is homme to the country’s top politicians, bureaucrats, and policy
advisors.

Cities that house major international organizations may also be considered centers
of political influence
 New York- headquarters of the United Nations
 Brussels- headquarters of the European Union
 Jakarta- headquarters of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
 Frankfurt- European Central Bank, which oversees the Euro

3. Centers of higher learning and culture

- city’s intellectual influence is seen through the influence of its publishing industry.
 Boston- Harvard University- the world’s top university
 Copenhagen- culinary capitals of the world, with its top restaurants incommensurate
with its size.
 Singapore- slowly becoming a cultural hub for the region.
Metro Manila is not very global because of the dearth of foreign residents, but Singapore is,
because it has a foreign population of 38%.

Global Cities and Labor

Tyner (2000) seen that the ‘global city’ concept has captured the attention of
geographers and other social scientists, and most of the researches focus’ predominantly on
capital mobility and the important managerial role exerted by cities in the ‘developed’ realm (i.e.,
New York, London, Tokyo). However, the mobility of labor is also important and yet has been
neither critically conceptualized nor sufficiently analyzed in existing studies of global cities.
Seeing the Philippine setting as a case study, it was examined 1) how global circuits of labor are
socially organized, and 2) the extent to which this social organization is spatially concentrated
in Manila, and seen the critical role played by Third World cities as global cities.
Citing an illustration, London is one of the paradigmatic global cities. Following Sassen
(1991), scholars on global cities have mostly agreed that these cities’ labor markets are
economically differentiated into the highly paid professional elites and low-wage unskilled
service workers. Global Cities at Work takes a sharp look at the characteristics of employment
in low-income occupations and explores the influence of immigration on the labor market in
London. It showed how the neoliberal economy has created the conditions of supply and demand
that shape the migrant division of labor in the British capital city. There are arguments centered

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on the role of the “reserve army of labor” for the emergence of current working conditions in
the United Kingdom. Wills, et al revive the conventional Marxist concept and provide a study
analyzing the economic, welfare, and immigration policies that have resulted in the division of
labor force (Cieslik, 2010).

The Global City and the Poor

 Some large cities, particularly those in Scandinavia, have found ways to mitigate
inequality through state- led social redistribution programs.
 In places like Mumbai, Jakarta, and Manila, it is common to find gleaming buildings
alongside massive shantytowns.
 In the outskirts of New York and San Francisco are poor urban enclaves occupied by
African- Americans and immigrant families who are often denied opportunities at a
better life.
Gentrification- a phenomenon of driving out the poor in favor of newer, wealthier
residents.
 In Australian cities, poor aboriginal Australians have been most acutely affected by
this process.
 In France, poor Muslim migrants are forced out of Paris and have clustered around
ethnic enclaves known as banlieue.

The Challenges of Global Cities

- They can be sites of great inequality and poverty as well as tremendous violence.
- By concentrating their populations in smaller areas, cities and metros decrease
human encroachment on natural habitats.
- Cities with extensive public transportation systems, people tend to drive less and
thereby cut carbon emissions.
- Some cities are urban sprawls, with massive freeways that force residents to spend
money on cars and gas.
- While cities are dense (Manila, Bangkok and Mumbai), their lack of public
transportation and their governments’ inability to regulate their car industries have
made them extremely polluted.
- Because of the sheer size of city populations across the world, it is not surprising
that urban areas consume most of the world’s energy. (Cities only cover 2% of the
world’s landmass, but they consume 78% of global energy.)
- Major terror attacks of recent years have also targeted cities.

Conclusion:
 Global cities are sites and mediums of globalization.
 They are places that create exciting fusions of culture and ideas.
 They are also places that generate tremendous wealth.
 They remain sites of great inequality.

www.socialist.org

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Exercise 1: The Global City

Exercise 1: Globalization and I
Name: ______________________________ Date: ____________
Name: ______________________________ Date: ____________
Course and Section: ____________________ Score: ___________
Course and Section: ____________________ Score: ___________

Instructions: Find, read and attach an opinion-editorial (op-ed) article

Instructions: Create an outline of an action plan that will elevate Manila among
discussing globalization. Extract the underlying concept of globalization
the leading global cities in the world. The plan must be divided into three aspects
explained in the article.
– political, economic, and social. The plan should be realistic and can be practically
achieved in the next 20 years.
___________________________________________________
Title and Author of the Chosen Article
Action Plan

1. Based on the article, is globalization

Political a process, a condition, or anSocial
Economic ideology?
Explain your choice.
___________________________________________________________
Objectives
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
Tasks
2. On whose perspective is the definition of globalization anchored (political
scientists, economists, or culture and communications experts) Give at least
three (3) reasons to support your choice.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
Time Frame
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

Resources

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Exercise 2: The Global City

Group No: ____________________________ Date: ____________
Course and Section: ____________________ Score: ___________

Group Members:
1. ________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________________
4. ________________________________________________________
5. ________________________________________________________

Instructions: Form a group of five members via messenger or text (or any
available). Choose a city outside Metro Manila and brainstorm about the given
categories. Write your answers on the space provided.

I. Name of the Chosen City _____________________________________

II. Issues/ Challenges in the chosen city

__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

III. Strengths of the chosen city

__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

IV. Weaknesses of the chosen city

__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

V. Trends in the chosen city

__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

VI. Reasons why your chosen city qualifies as a global city.

__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

VII. Ways to develop your global city to achieve global competitiveness.

__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

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References:

Brazalote TM & Leonardo RM (2019). The Contemporary World: Outcome-Based Module. Edited
by Ofalia BC. Quezon City. C & E Publishing, Inc.

Ceislik, Anna M. (2010). Reviewer of Global Cities at Works. London. Pluto Press.

Claudio & Abinales (2018). The Contemporary World. Quezon City. C & E Publishing, Inc.

San Juan, David Michael M. (2018). Journeys Through Our Contemporary World. Quezon City.
Vibal Publishing, Inc.

https://www.kearney.com/global-cities/2019

https://www.galliardhomes.com

https://www.google.com/search

https://www.cambridge.org/the-rise-of-global-cities-and-the-new-labor-demand

https://journals.sagepub.com

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