cuapter LO GLOBAL CITY Learning Outcomes At the end of the chapter, the students must: 1. define a global city; discuss the positive and negative sides of global cities; THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF AGLOBAL CITY lobal city is an important node in the global economic system. It is largely created and enacted in strategic locations, which are chosen according to the global system of finance, trade, and socio- cultural-political relations. The global city has a direct and tangible effect on global ‘affairs through socio-cultural economic and political means, Globalization has a profound impact on how the cities in the global south structure or organize the life in a socially/ spatially differentiated manner versus in the slobal north. ‘A global city is also known as world city, alpha city or world center. In geography and global studies, globalization refers to the largely created, facilitated, and enacted strategic geographic areas based on the significance of the global system of finance and trade. The existence ofa global city has a direct and tangible effects on the international affairs through socio-economic measures. Originally the term was megacity, which was later changed to a global city by the noted sociologist Saskia Sassen in her 1991 work entitled- The Global City: New York, London, ‘Tokyo, Patrick Geddes was the one who coined the term world city in 1915. Subsequently the term has meant the city’s influence and financial capital with the other factors considered less significant. 2 3, demonstrate the effects of global cities in our daily lives; and 4. explain the challenges experienced in a global city. Global city is the center of the different globalizing forces where there exist population concentration and mixing. The intertwined flows of people, capital, and ideas are lived ‘and experienced by the people in a global city. The consequence of this mobility is cultural diversity, which is considered as a “cosmopolitan feel”. Consequently, there is ‘a cosmopolitan consumption, cosmopolitan work culture, global networking, and glocal transnational community relations. Global city accommodates the world in a bounded space. Inevitably, there are global problems, hostilities, and injustices that transpire out of a global city. Cosmopolitanism is best described as large, diverse cities that attract people, material and cultural products worldwide. Zukin (1998) discussed that cosmopolitanism is concomitant with the capitalist context, which focuses mainly on consumption and is highly influenced by commercial culture, retail, and shopping. These are also shaped by cross-cultural variety of food, fashion, entertainment, and other artifacts. ‘An important characteristic of a global city is the presence of a cosmopolitan variety of cultural products, which satisfy the cross- cultural curiosity of people. The cosmopolitan consumption in all its richness and variety than a global city can offer requires time and nmoney. The foreigners in a global city are the constant people therein fully devoted to its cosmopolitan consumption. This hyper- mobile unreality is called an overseas holiday (Featherstone, 1998). A flaneur refers toa man-not even do women of today enjoy the same freedom to idly roam the city by themselves. According to Featherstone (198.921), there can exist an electronic flaneur who no doubt enjoys much greater mobility in the virtual reality through the social media. Research says that even the old survives in the new because of Internet networking. Global city isboth a dream and a nightmare. Indeed it is a huge source of attraction to the migrants and tourists and yet this can also be a source of inequalities and inequities in the society. There are high-living professionals with greener pastures yet undeniably, which ‘may not be visible to sight are the marginal Awellers, sweat-shop workers, poorly paid labour in the grey areas, asylum seekers, undocumented immigrants, drug dealers, sex workers, and the homeless. These global cities are hubs of innovatin, creativity and productivity and the creators of new trends and fashions, but unfortunately, these are also tthe niches of demi-monde and social ills ofall kinds. There are two sides ofa coin. This urban life in the global city is considered a pinnacle of civilization but at the same time these can also be dehumanizing and alienating people from the natural milieu (‘Tonnies, 1889/1957; Simmel, 1903/1971), ‘The concept ofa global cityisaphenomenon, which was preceded by the idea of world city.” This originated as early as 1927 by Roderick McKenzie, a Chicago academician. This is considered as the centers of imperial power or free cities at the crossroads of international merchant routes, which prevailed since ancient times. ‘The globalization paradigm evolved since 1980s and it has developed conceptual and ideological disputes, The importance of nation- states cannot be discounted, however, the SS oe ee {the global macro-processes in the pa sple is also increasing. lay lives of the peo} sven He ged by the global forces, from political, cultural, and the economic, geo-P : Cavironmental aspects. Every global city is ‘also a national city, which oftentimes goes peyond the host nation, : ani ‘Sassen (1991) identified only three global cities, namely New York, London, ‘and Tokyo. The choice was mainly based on ‘economic standards. According to Sassen, global cities are the command centers; the main nodes of triumphant global capitalism, Ho contended that the globalized the economy becomes, the higher the agglomeration of central functions in a relatively few sites. Moreover, Sharon Zukin (1998:826) considered the cultural perspective of globalization and put New York, London, and Paris at the top of the * urban cultural hierarchy” in terms of cultural innovations. Wu (2000) discussed that the focus of production in a global city is no longer primarily material Tt seems that one of the conditions of the status of global city is to ‘stop making things and switch to handling and shifting money and ideas. These global cities are undeniably post industrial For instance, Shanghai was previously a state-controlled socialist industrial powerhouse, which claimed its global city status when the chimneys started to be replaced by steel-and glass skyscrapers. ‘The same is true with Singapore through its efficient global transport infrastructure and growing professional service sector (Baum, 1999, p.1097). Consequently, global cities are no longer tagged as landscapes of production but rather as the landscapes of consumption (Zukin, 1998, p.825). The abstract products like financial instruments, information, and culture have been growing in importance ‘This is best described as a symbolic or service economy with a cultural turn in the society. ‘Only five percent of the: New York residents composed the global cities at the start of the twentieth century, which later grew to 30ercentby the late 1980s, Colic-Peisker ( Elaborated that these knowledge mate pot necessarily part of the core wealth and power elite of global capitalism, but these are a globally mobile, career-minded middle class. Their growing presence in global cities, concomitant with the withdrawal of ‘manufacturing and its working class, results to the gentrification of previously industrial inner-city neighborhoods in the past centuries, Gentrification is referred to as the process of social class polarization and residential segregation of the affluent from the poor. ‘Zukin (1998:835) highlighted this situation as a ‘wedge between urban social classes.” Sassen (1991) stressed that these global cities are inevitably resulting to occupational and income polarization, with the highly- paid professional class on the one end and the providers of low-paid services on the other. Autor et.al. (2006) mentioned that the labour market of global cities is increasingly hourglass-shaped with a hollow middle as depicted in the polarization of housing markets, Global cities attract large population intakes, which also increases real-estate prices, like the ease of Australia in the past decade (Wood, 2004), Zhong, Clark, and Sassen (2007) utilized the census data to support their contentions that the income polarization is generally present in large gateway cities, which unfortunately depress the wages at the bottom of the labour market. ‘The Japanese Mori Foundation’s Global Power City Index (2011) revealed that the global ower of cities is measured by a combination of six criteria, namely: economy, research and development, cultural interaction, liveability, environment, and accessibility. Based on these criteria, the top five cities include New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, and Singapore. This flobal status is influenced by their “magnetism, which is a comprehensive power to attract creative poople and excellent companies from around the world in the middle of accelerated interurban competition, The best way to describe the twenty-first century cities is through the lens of the brain hubs. The latter refers to the concentrations of innovative people and firms and are also good human ecosystems for cutting-edge businesses, which grants the support functions or secondary services for the innovators ( Moretti, 2012:183, 247; Solimano, 2006) Knowledge spillover means that creative people thrive in the company of other creative people and tend to stagnate in isolation, even if Internet-eonnected. Apart from the economic importance of global cities are also its visible cultural and community features. Hence these global cities are home to a diverse and visible set of protagonists ofthe urban lifestyle. These are expounded by the economist Moretti and sociologist Florida sueh that these bigger brain concentrations consist of a thicker labour market as well. Florida (2005,113-14) saw the connection between the bohemian and alternative lifestyles with vibrancy and creativity, which ean nowadays be channeled into the core knowledge economy of the creative capitalism, ‘The urban cultural diversity is a creative mirror of economic polarization as the cities continue to attract the extremes of poor, migrant and footloose populations (Zukin, 1998:837). ‘There exist the different types of marginalitis, based on gender, ethnicity, culture, and class. Bat the flipsides of this is the coexistence of different disparate groups, which rarely leads to active citizenship, According to Featherstone (1998912), itis possible to see new forms of citizenship and responsibility as a result of broader cosmopolitan identifications and the tolerance of diversity According to Colic-Peisker (2010), the hypermobility of competitive does not allow much ‘room for community life. The competition in global cities is apparent with the locals devoted to nurturing the community life and abandon the short attention span of competitive capitalism. Bauman detected though a disintogration of locally grounded shared community living. He further said that ‘the community becomes replaced by network, | Se ee |which is a matrix of random connections and disconnections. ‘The Global University City Index ranking uses four main criteria of a global city : 1) Global university recognition, meaning there should be at least two high profile universities in the city, with at least five percent; 2) Amenity, meaning the connectivity of people through the Internet use and the population scale must be larger than two million people; 8) Research inputs and performance in the form of royalties and lieense fees; and 4) Education inputs and performance as measured by the GDP expenditure on higher education outcomes. CHARACTERISTICS OF AGLOBAL CITY 1. It involves cultural diversity, eosmopoli- tanism, movement of people, capital, ideas, and creativity, imagination and urban consciousness , and symbolie productivity. 2. There is creativity, duidity, and produeti- vity. 3. It is opposed to the methodological na- tionalism where the nation-states serve as a container, which are too static and bounded. 4. Ibis primarily economic financial versus geo-political- cultural and environmental experiences. GLOBAL CITY: HYPERMOBILITY, HOMOGENIZATION, AND. DIFFERENTIATION ‘The differentiated insertion and engagements with the global city involve the high-rolling capitalists and high-end professionals vis-a-vis the marginalized migrants, sweatshops, and grey economy. This impacts the flow of finance, goods, people, ideas, models, ete. What is apparent in a global city is the knowledge economy. There is the high- ‘end real estate exclusive developments and gentrification. The polarization of the socio- ‘economic cultural aspects among the markets, finance, and labor markets becomes evident. 1a Oe Ina global city, the intra and inter regiong) trade flows occur. The flow of goods, services, finance, people, data, and communication jg inevitable, This further requires a new king of citizenship. SIGNIFICANT FEATURES OF A GLOBAL CITY (cf. Sassen, Friedmann, Val Colic-Peisker) 1. Geographic dispersal of economic acti ties, simultaneous integration that feed the growth and importance of central corporate functions; 2, Central functions increasingly complex, headquarters of large global firms out. source them from highly specialized ser- vice firms; ’ 8. Specialized service firms engaged in high- ly complex and globalized markets subject to agglomeration economies; 3 4, Headquarters outsource their most com- plex, unstandardized funetions, esp. those subject to uncertain/changing markets, thus, can opt for any location; 5. Specialized service firms need to provide a global service, which has meant a glob- al network of affiliates; strengthening of ‘ross border city-to-city transactions and networks; 6. Economic fortunes of these cities become increasingly disconnected from their broader hinterlands or even their national ‘economies; and 7. Growing informalization of economic ac tivities which find their effective demand in these cities, yet have profit rates that do not allow them to compete for various resources with the high-profit making firms at the top of the system. TENDENCIES AND STRUCTURAL FACTS : GLOBAL CITIES (Sassen, 2006) ‘The concentration of wealth in the handsof owas paras nd profesional oid with the high-end firms in this, ‘system. There is © Growing disconnection between the city anits region. The growth of a large manginalized population is struggling to survive in the marketplace defined by these high-end activities, Constituting an economic engine that gradually elevates the income and welfare of the whole population, the modern global city funnels flobal surpluses into the hands of a global elite dispersed over a few dozen global cities. This creates the new social geographies of power and hierarchy/ranks. Widening separation/disparity of the quality of life (QOL, ef Porio 2015) between different socio-economic groups in global cities & cities of the global south; between the urban elites/poor & rural elites/poor (e.g. gated communities & informal settlements; cities & upland IP communities, minority populations, ete.) The central functions involve the top level financial, legal, accounting, managerial, executive, planning functions necessary to run a corporate organization operating in more than one country are centralized but deterritorialized (e.g. in Global South cities-backroom services like BPOs). This mode of global busglobal business creates a tight network of supporting specialist firms positioned to capture a significant level of ‘wealth and income. Impacts: 1) spatial correlates of centrality/ power, 2) ICTs create inequalities between cities (global North/South), within cities; between the rural-urban areas, 3) new organizational structure of the economy (Sassen), 4) new conceptual architecture a place for location and space: global cities are not disembodied; functioning of their global firms depends on a network of activities and lesser firms within the spatial scope of the city and its environs, 5) space for political contest between parties over the division ofthe global, regional and national-local surplus of capital, goods, labor, services (Sassen, Friedman, Wallerstein, Gunder Frank, Castells, etc.), economy: tilted not in favor of disadvantaged/ disenfranchised groups (poor men/women of color, IPs, ete.) Cf. Beneria-Sen’s home-based workers (Mexico's slums) or Aiwa Wong's factory workers (KL). Table 10.1 Global City: Key Indicators a Corporate ‘Active influence ond headquarters participation on ‘muttinational international events corporstions.and and world affairs international financial institutions, Significant financial ‘Hosting headquarters ‘copacity/output: clty/ for international regional GDP ‘ergonizations (UN) Financial service Large metropaiitan Provision eg, banks. rea. ‘accountancy Quality of tre sstondards| Expat communities Costs of ving Personal wealth ‘eg, number of billgnaires First-name forniiority Advanced ‘rofsportation system New York ‘Major international Tokyo irports and ports Pars Londen Highly renowned Advanced —' ‘cultural institutions, communications galleries, sports ‘complex fim centers, ‘opera Inftuential meata ‘Siyscropers produced (ex NYT) Educational institutions: Tourism ery rent ord wei sam wat eerany Woes Gade rok ete) ‘Source Foundatona conteps Cartr-perery ee.lustrative Examples: luals and Corporati Concentration of wealth and disparity among the wealthy Individuals pe poratien 1. The Top Richest billionaires in Fortune Magazine (World/Phib@Global North/South; 2. Wealthy regions/cities (Bast Asia vs. Pacific Asia; Luzon vs. Visayas and Mindanao; ‘Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, Metro Davao vs. its surrounding regions. Table 10.2 Top Richest Billionaires in Fortune Magazine a ae a ec 1 BillGates 75.0 bition 60 Amancio eal See 570 bilion 79 3 Warren Buffett 60.8 bilion 8s 4 Carlos Sim 50.0 bition 76 S— JeffBezos 452 bition se Mork © nceberg 448 illon 32 7 Larry Elson 43.6 bilfon nm Michael 8 pbentery | 420bIten 4 2 CharlesKoch 39.6 billion 50 10 Devidkoch ©, 38.8 billon co Does place matter? It does, as shown in ‘these aspects :telecommunications, globalized ‘markets, information industries, global and digital age, and the digitalized consumption. Centralized territorial nodes are still existent. These are run with the’ help and contribution of many specific and important ‘material and place-bounded activities. Sassen ‘encourages us tolook beyond the skyscrapers and into the layered and complicated organizational pattern of global cities. Global cities are place- bounded. Global cities are key sites for not only the specialized servicing, financing, and ‘management of the global economic process but also the incorporation of large numbers of immigrants in activities that service the strategie sectors. 76 Unted States Merosor Spon index United States Berkshire Hotnowoy resco ‘Morea Mow Guiza United totes Amazon.com Untea sates Facebok Unted'States race Corporation United States, Bloomberg LP. United Sates Koch Industries United States Koch. (eieree Directly: through need for blue collar, workers of color, female labor for domestic services (e.g, hotel/‘tourism, for global north HU) f, Dierdre on global care-chain Indirectly: through consumption practices of high-income professionals. This leads to the growth of low wage workers being an important aspect of the slobalized city. A rising “service class” sector of mainly migrant women (OFWs, migrant, cireular labor). Globalization includes the demand for high-level professionals and an increase of employment’ of women in corporate Professional jobs, There are growing shares of household tasks relocated to a market immigrant community, Cn GROESOR EE ae ee ee |ind GENDER AND GLOBALIZATION (PUBLIC-PRIVATE SPACES) The service workers (migrants, mostly women) do two very important thing: 1. Send remittances back home “indebted countries. ae 2. Provide cheap labor which though these valueless jobs, the key components of expanding economies are built upon. Globatization: 1. Establish links between countries, cities, towns, and communities. 2, Enable local-regional practices becoming slobal (food, faith. Global cities require us to study: = politics of culture; = gendering; and immigration, ete. CHALLENGES OF AGLOBAL CITY 1. The lack of a integrated planning frame- work in many urban areas taking into account the inter-permeability of citi 2. A multiplicity of local bodies obstructing efficient planning and land use; 8, Rigid master plans and restrictive zoning regulations that limit the land available for building, which constrict the cities’ * opportunity to grow in accordance with changing needs; 4, Increasing vulnerability to climate change (GLR, urban heat, floods, ete.) and disas- ters and infrastructure deficit; and 5. Increasing prosperity amidst poverty, inequality, inter-city strife/political con- flicts, displacement, and migration need for social protection mechanisms. Table 10.3 Filipino Contributors in Becoming a Global City a ‘SM investments Honey Site diversified ‘Corp. City of $13.3 billion oe ‘Dreams Manila 36 Summit John Gokongwe! Holdings, Cebu as Jr. diversified pacific, Universal ST Blflon Robino Asia Brewery Philip Morris cle Tan ond fi Fortune Tobacco, 380 ake diversed Hee $.biton Airioes: Pitppine National Bank 0 Tyond A Gr Capital, e soy OH ane banking Metrobonk $38 ili 569 avid Consuni construction. DMC Holdings, $32billon Megawortc MeDonalds. : Ton versed Emperador $31 billon BPE, Aner Distillers, Resorts Were Mania Joibeé Foods cet, ramet oa atl ‘Chowking. international Container 22 Enrique Razon Jr. ports: Terminal Services, ees biog ‘Solaire ResortLio ana Susan 1 st Tan Robert Coyiuto ue 121 fc 1367 ‘Manuel Villar retailing reolestote Puregota Price ‘Cub Prudential Guarantee & ‘Assurance, PGA Cars, National Grid Corp. Starmails, Visto Land & Landscapes $163 bition $159 bilfon, $1.33 bilion Global cities have become more important 3. ‘The extensive technical infrastructure in recent times for these reasons. How they ‘impact our human lives: 1. The greater size, “instaniety” and velocity of world capital flows; 2. The increased need for centralized com- mand-and-control posts in a seemingly decentralized world economy and multi- ple networks of capital, institutions, and needed by the FBS (financial and business services) industries (e.g., BPOs); and Renewed expansion of these cities (both in the Global North/South) was dependent also on the surprising rapid growth of ‘modia-related, informational, and cultural enterprises (e.g, social media). people; Sa ag gg EXERCISES A. Trueor False, Write True ifthe given statement is correct, and False iit is not. Write your answer on the space provided before each number. ett eae 3. 10. Poi ee eee SS OT ie a A global city is also called world city or sometimes alpha city or world center. ‘The use of “global city”, as opposed to“megacity”, was: ‘Popularized by sociologist Saskia Sassen in her 1991 work, The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo, Cultural diversity, a key marker of the global city and a consequence of human robility and migration, is usually detected on the surface as a“ cosmopolitan feel” Global city represents and in many ways contains the world in a bounded space. Universalism is a phenomenon most readily associated with the global cit. large, diverse cities attract people, material and cultural produets from all over the world ‘The cosmopolitan consumption in all ts richness and variety than a global ct has to offer requires time and money, Global city can be a dream but also a nightmare, Global cities ec bub afincaration, creativity and productivity and the creators of new trends and fashions, but also concentrations of demi- ox : peony Genie rations of demi- monde and social Saskia Sassen (1991) identified only three global cities. Tokyo. Global cities, according to Sassen, are the “co of triumphant global extreniism, New York, London and mand centres,” the main nodesB. Identification. Identify the correct answer for each question. Write your answer on the space provided in each number. Fi describes the process of switching to a“service economy” as a“ cultural turn” in the advanced societies where a symbolic economy, based on abstract products such as financial instruments, information, and culture has increasing importance. 2. According to Sassen (1991: 280t), global cities constituted only ____percent of New York residents at the beginning of the twentieth century but grew to 30 percent by the late 1980s. 3. The labour market of global cities is increasingly “ *, with a hollow middle. 4, _______ means that creative people thrive in the company of other creative people and tend to stagnate in isolation, even if Internet-connected, 5, _____a“ disintegration of locally grounded, shared community living “ and argued that community has been largely replaced by “ network”: a matrix of random connections and disconnections, 5, The_____Index highlights those cities where there is confluence between their size, liveability and connectedness, the number of excellent universities within their bounds and sustained investment in education and research. 6 ete, studies world cities in the context of globalization and classifies them into Alpha, Beta, and Gamma world cities. 7. ____ are key sites for not only the specialized servicing, financing, and management of the global economic process but also the incorporation of large numbers of immigrants in activities that service the strategic sectors. 8. Accordingto urban cultural diversity is a creative mirror to the paradox of economic polarization because cities continue to attract the extremes of poor, migrant and footloose populations, but also the affluent and the super rich. 9. Global cities are no longer experienced as “landscapes of production” but as “landscapes of. ” ( Zulkin, 1998, p.825). 10. is an important node in the global economic system. 79