GLOBAL CITY

Unit 2: Lesson 8
What is Gobal City?
 Sociologist Saskia Sassen define
Global City as the hubs of global
finance and capitalism. A home of the
world’s top stock exchanges where
investors buy and sell shares in major
corporations.
New York Stock Exchange
It represents the highest
concentrations of capital in the
world.
Financial Times Stock Exchange

It represents an enormous corporation

of indices dominated by the London
Stock Exchnage.
 Nikkei

It is a stock market index for the

Tokyo Stock Exchange.
 Economic Power

Sociologist Sassen, remains correct in

saying that economic power largely
determines which cities are global.
Economic Opportunities
This is characteristic of a global city
which offers work and professional
opportunities for people in different
field.
Economic Competitiveness
This is a criterion of a global city
which pertains to market size,
purchasing power of citizens, size of
the middle class, and potential for
growth.
 Center of Authority
This criterion of global city maintains
the seat of power in the country,
meaning countries important political
offices are located in this city.
Center of Political Influence

This is a criterion of a global city

which pertains to the city as home or
headquarters of international
organizations.
Center of Higher Learning

This is criterion of a global city pertains

to the global city as the home of famous
universities and other academic
institutes.
 Center of Culture

This is a criteria of a global city

which embodies the global culture
such as culinary and arts.
 Vertical Farming

It is built in an abandoned building,

and it may lead the way towards
more environmentally sustainable
cities.
 Gentrification

It is the phenomenon of driving

out the poor in favor of newer,
wealthier residents.
 Banlieue

They are poor Muslim migrants who

are forced out of Paris and have
clustered around ethnic enclaves.
Why Study Global
Cities?
Globalization is
Spatial
 Globalization is spatial
01 because it occurs in
physical spaces.
 Globalization is spatial
because what makes it
02 move is the fact that it is
based in places.
Defining the Global
City
Sociologists Saskia Sakia popularized the term “global
city” in the 1990s. Her criteria for what constitutes a
global city were primarily economic. In her work, she
initially identified three global cities: New York,
London, and Tokyo, all of which are hubs of global
finance and capitalism. They are the homes, for
instance, of the world’s top stock exchanges where
investors buy and sell shares in major corporations.
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE)
Nikkei
 The global economy has
changed significantly since
Sassen wrote her book
 Defining a global city can
thus be difficult
It is better to ask:
In what ways are cities global and to what
extent are they global?
Indicators for
Globality
 Economic Power

⚫New York may have the largest stock market in the world but
Tokyo houses the most number of corporate headquarters.

⚫Shanghai may have a smaller stock market compared to New

York and Tokyo, but plays a critical role in the global economic
supply chain.
 Economic Opportunities
⚫ Since the 1970s, many of the top IT programmers and
engineers from Asia have move to the San Francisco Bay Area
to become some of the key figures in Silicon Valley’s
technology boom.

⚫London remains a preferred destination for many Filipinos

with nursing degrees.
 Economic Competitiveness

⚫ Based on these criteria, “tiny” Singapore is considered Asia’s

most competitive city because of its strong market, efficient and
incorruptible governments, and livability. It also houses the
regional offices of many major global corporations
 Center of Authority

⚫ Washington D.C. may not be a wealthy as New York, but it is

the seat of American state power.

⚫Australia’s political capital, it is home to the country’s top

politicians, bureaucrats, and policy advisors.
 Center of Political Influence
⚫ The headquarters of the United Nations is in New York, and
that of the European Union is in Brussels.
⚫The capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta, is the location of the
main headquarters of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN).
International Affairs:
⚫The European Central Bank, which oversees the Euro (the
European Union’s currency), is based in Frankfurt.
 Center of Higher Learning and Culture

⚫Many of the books that people read are published in places in

New York, London, or Paris.
⚫One of the reasons for the many tourists visiting Boston is
because they want to see Harvard University–the world’s top
university.
⚫Many Asian teenagers are moving to cities in Australia because
of the leading English-Language universities there.
⚫In 2015, the Australian government reported that is made as
much as 19.2 billion Australian dollars (roughly 14 billion US
dollars) from education alone.
⚫ Los Angeles, the center of the American film industry.
⚫Copenhagen is considered one of the culinary capitals of the
world. The birthplace of “New Nordic” cuisine.
⚫Manchester, prominent post-punk and New Wave bands–Joy
Division, the Smiths, the Happy Mondays–hailed from this city,
making it a global household name.
⚫Singapore houses some of the region’s top television stations
and news organizations (MTV Southeast Asia and Channel
News Asia).

⚫Songs about New York (Jay Z and Alicia Keyes’s “Empire

State of Mind”)
The Challenges of
Global Cities
 Global cities conjure up images of fast-paced,
exciting, cosmopolitan lifestyles. But such
descriptions are lacking. Global cities also have
their undersides. They can be sites of great
inequality and poverty as well as tremendous
violence. Like the broader processes of
globalization, global cities create winners and
losers.
 List of “Pathologies” of the
Global City based on the
research of the Chicago Council
on Global Affairs
 Cities can be sustainable because of their density.
“Ecologists have found that by concentrating their populations in
smaller areas, cities and metros decrease human encroachment
on natural habitats. Denser settlement patterns yield energy
savings; apartment buildings, for example, are more efficient to
heat and cool than detached suburban houses.”

—Richard Florida
Vertical Farms
Terror Attacks
The Global City and
the Poor
 We have consistently noted that economic globalization has
paved the way for massive inequality. This phenomenon is thus
very pronounced in cities.
Banlieue
Shrinking of the Middle Class
Conclusion
Thank You