The Global City

Saskia Sassen is the leading urban

theorist of the global world. Her ”The
Global City: New York, London,
Tokyo” (1991) has shaped the concepts and
methods that other theorists have used to
analyse the role of cities and their
networks in the contemporary world. The
core ideas in her theory of the global
city are presented in a 2005 article, "The
Global City: Introducing a Concept“
Key to Sassen's concept of the global city is an
emphasis on the flow of information and capital.
Cities are major nodes in the interconnected systems
of information and money, and the wealth that they
capture is intimately related to the specialized
businesses that facilitate those flows -- financial
institutions, consulting firms, accounting firms, law
firms, and media organizations.
Global city, an urban centre that enjoys significant
competitive advantages and that serves as a hub
within a globalized economic system. with increased
attention being paid to processes
of globalization during subsequent years, these world
cities came to be known as global cities. Linked with
globalization was the idea of spatial reorganization
and the hypothesis that cities were becoming key loci
within global networks of production, finance, and
telecommunications.
Sassen used the concept of global cities to describe
the three urban centers as economic centers as such
based on the global reach of organizations found in
them:
1. New York
2. London
3. Tokyo
Why is New York City a Global City?
• New York City is one of the greatest of the world
cities, comparable only to London in its
international connections and influence. Since the
seventeenth century – when it was founded as a Dutch
trading post – it has been a centre of trade and one
of the main gateways for immigration to the United
States.
• One of the first megacities, its current population
is 8.5 million – with more than 20 million in the
metropolitan area. Today nearly 40% of New York City
residents are foreign-born, and 67% non-white. It is
also home to one of the world’s largest Jewish
communities.
Why is New York City a Global City?
• As well as being the capital of finance and law in
the United States, New York is a centre for the
creative industries: fashion, design, art,
advertising and more. For instance, 28% of the
country’s fashion designers are based in New York.
The creative industries have grown dramatically over
the past decade, with employment in film and
television increasing by 53% and performing arts by
26% at a time when employment in finance remained
static. This is not all by chance: for example,
the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment has
deployed tax incentives and marketing to attract
film production to the city.
Why is New York City a Global City?
• In 2015, nearly 60 million tourists visited New
York, an increase of nearly 40% over a decade.
International tourism, now representing one fifth of
all visitors, has increased even more sharply.
Culture is one of the main drivers of tourism, and
the culture sector also benefits greatly from
tourist spending. In 2013-14 tourists bought 70% of
all Broadway tickets. They have also driven a 20%
increase in visits to the city’s Cultural
Institutions Group – including the Metropolitan
Museum, Lincoln Center, and the Natural History
Museum – between 2006 and 2014.
Why is New York City a Global City?
• Known for its skyline of iconic twentieth-century
skyscrapers, New York City’s built environment
continues to evolve. One World Trade Center, the
fourth tallest building in the world, replaced the
Twin Towers after their destruction on 9/11. Closer
to the ground, the High Line – a park created on an
old, elevated railway line – is now attracting 5
million visitors per year, and has inspired
imitation in other cities. Another railway-based
development is The Shed, a new mixed-arts venue or
cultural center that hosts activities in wide range
of cultural areas to open in 2018 as part of
the Hudson Yards project.
One World Trade Center - Lower Manhattan, New York City
The High Line - Manhattan, New York City
The Shed - Manhattan, New York City
Why is New York City a Global City?
• New York City’s recent economic prosperity has led
to dramatic gentrification, now feared to threaten
the city’s distinctive character. Rents have
increased dramatically in areas outside Manhattan
that were traditionally more affordable – by 76% in
Williamsburg between 2000 and 2012, for example and
47% in Bedford-Stuyvesant – meaning that most New
Yorkers now considered ‘rent burdened.’ Cultural
organisations are moving out of Manhattan in an
attempt to find cheaper rents, with many arts spaces
closing entirely.
• As a way of responding to this crisis, the Mayor has
committed to building 1,500 units of affordable
living and working space for artists and 500 work
spaces for artists over the next decade, to be
available at below-market rates.
Why is New York City a Global City?
• The city is also developing new approaches to
cultural engagement. Its new municipal ID card
– IDNYC– ensures that residents can access a range
of city services, regardless of their legal
immigration status. As well as functioning as a
universal library card, it includes free membership
at 33 cultural institutions, including performing
arts centers, museums, botanical gardens, in all
five boroughs.
Why is New York City a Global City?
• Since its establishment in 2008, the New York City
Panel on Climate Change has been working to increase
the city’s resiliency. The devastating flooding
caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 – which led to a
lengthy closure for the Statue of Liberty and parts
of Ellis Island – has meant increasing public
recognition of the need for action. In 2017
construction will begin on the 
East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, a flood
protection system which may also become a major new
public space along the lines of the High Line
Why is New York City a Global City?
• In the twenty-first century, New York City has kept
its place as one of the world’s leading cities. Its
economic power, openness to ideas and immigrants,
and world-class cultural assets remain a potent
combination. Now facing the new challenge of
gentrification, the preservation of its cultural
ecosystem will be a priority for the future.
Why is London a Global City?
• London is home to some of the world's top
universities, such as Imperial College
London and University College London.
Imperial College London is a world-class university
with a mission to benefit society through excellence
in science, engineering, medicine and business.
University College London is a highly-
selective public research
university in London, England, and a constituent
college of the federal University of London. It is
the third largest university in the United Kingdom by
total enrolment, and the largest by postgraduate
enrolment.
Imperial College London
University College London
Why is London a Global City?
• Around 300 different languages are spoken in London
and there are at least 14 different faiths practiced
here.
• In fact, around 37% of the population in London were
born outside of the United Kingdom.
• In London there are an approximately 103,000
international students that are living and learning
in the city.
• London is the sixth biggest French city in the world
– more French people live in London than in
Bordeaux!
Why is London a Global City?
•  In London, there are endless venues
for entertainment; approximately 300 theatres,
12,000 restaurants, 500 cinema screens and also 240
museums and galleries.
• 40% of the city is green space, making London the
greenest city of its size in the world.
• London is a city where businesses thrive; around 40%
of the world's foreign equities are traded here,
this figure is larger than that of New York.
Having already been
deemed a World City and
a Super City, London
has been ranked as the
most innovative city
for the second year in
a row, making it very
clear that the
capital’s immense
presence on the global
stage is only set to
gravitate towards
further success.
Why is London a Global City?
• London is also in a major time-zone advantage for
doing business with Asia.
•  London was the first city in the world to have an
underground railway, known as the ‘Tube’, and now
has more than 1.34bn annual passengers.
Why is London a Global City?
• In London, there are an estimated 400,000
professional creatives as well as some of the
world's most exceptional scientists and academics.
• The renowned Harley Street in London is home to some
of the world's most advanced radiology equipment.
• London is also a focal point for transport with more
than 100,000 flights a month occurring to and from
destinations from all over the world.
Harley Street
Why is Tokyo a Global City?
While Tokyo (formerly the shogunal capital Edo) has
been Japan’s most important city for more than 400
years, it rose to global city status after WWII due
to a remarkable recovery from near complete
destruction by Allied firebombing. 
Japan’s post war “economic miracle” turned the
country into one of the world’s richest nations. This
economic rise had a profound impact on culture as
well as GDP. (After the Korean War, and accelerated
by it, the recovery of Japan's economy flourished.
The economic growth resulted in a quick rise of the
living standards, changes in society and the
stabilization of the ruling position of the Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP), but also in severe
pollution.)
Why is Tokyo a Global City?
• Elements of Japanese popular culture,
from karaoke to manga comics, anime, and sushi bars
spread across the globe, while creative technology
products like the Sony Walkman and PlayStation along with
the Nintendo DS and Wii have shaped the way the world
experiences culture and entertainment. Japanese artists
based in Tokyo, whether they are filmmakers like Akira
Kurosawa and Hayao Miyazaki or fashion designers like
Kenzo, Issey Miyake, and Rei Kawakubo, have achieved
worldwide reputations for the originality and quality of
their work.
• Since the early 1990s, after the collapse of Japan’s so-
called “bubble economy,” Tokyo has experienced a period
of economic stagnation, while the rise of other major
cities in East Asia, such as Shanghai and Seoul, has
increased regional competition. 
Why is Tokyo a Global City?
• The triple mega-disaster of the Great Eastern Japan
Earthquake on 1 March 2011 (Japan’s 3.11) followed by a
deadly tsunami and a nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima
have further shaken the country and the capital,
triggering major reassessments of social priorities and
causing many to discuss the precarity of Japanese
society. Still, Tokyo remains a vibrant metropolis of 13
million people, a cultural hub in East Asia for art,
fashion, technology, and cuisine.
• City residents have comparatively very high levels of
education and per capita income, and over 11% of the
city’s population is employed in the creative
industries. 
Why is Tokyo a Global City?
• As the future host of the upcoming 2020 Olympic and
Paralympic Games, Tokyo has redoubled its economic
stimulus for cultural activities, and is poised to
redefine itself for the new millennium.
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