World Cities

Urban history, as a tool, has drastically changed our understanding of cities over the centuries. ‘Urban histories possessed an explanatory power far above the intricate workings of one city; providing larger narratives centered on industrialization or other macro-economic developments’.

Closely associated with the process of globalisation is the notion of ‘World cities’. World cities are those such as London, New York and Tokyo where urban function has moved beyond the national scale to become a part of the international and global system. They are centres of culture, economics, employment, tourism, transport and communications and have been referred to as the command centres of the World’s borderless economy.

A world city is a large city that has been outstripped its natural urban network and become part of an international global system. World cities have become the central connecting point for the multiplicity of linkages and interconnections that sustain the contemporary world economy, and its social and political systems. According to the 2004 GaWC studies world cities can be ranked based on their provision of ‘advanced producer services’ such as accountancy, advertising, finance and law. In 2008 the rankings according to the GaWC determined that London and New York were Alpha ++ cities whilst Sydney, Paris, Hong Kong and Singapore were Alpha

The city is a nexus of social interaction. Humans originating from various locations all tangle together in the city. Louis Mumford characterizes the city as “a theater of social action,” where “man's more purposive activities are focused and work out…into more significant culminations.” The social actions occurring in a city connect and gradually culminate into a something that contributes to the fabric of the city. The interactions between people are no longer discrete events in isolation. Instead they come together to contribute something to the city, whether in the form of politics, architecture, or entertainment. The city provides a theater or playground for social action, and subsequently becomes a stage where the results of the social actions can be clearly viewed.

Typically, the reason why most Immigrants to these jobs is, they don’t receive or know about the labor rights that the U.S. has. And those that do know, are still waiting for their green cards, which can take years, and even decades. Cheap labor is the only option they have, because immigrants aren’t able to unionize, mobilize, and don’t receive the same laws protecting U.S. citizens. Instead, businesses can capitalize on the misfortune of the immigrants, demanding more work, cheaper and faster production with little to no concern for the immigrants they

Edward Glaeser, an economics professor at Harvard, is a scholar of the economy of cities and their various problems and regularly writes about this in his famous blog of The New York Times Economix . In The Triumph of cities , it offers a valuable insight into the advantages of large cities and makes a thorough and rigorous analysis of the strategies of some successful cities that can serve as an example for the development of its strategic plan outlining.

TNCs dominate industrial production including manufacturing and services, therefore further dividing the gap between the rich and the poor, and being the main leader of globalisation as a consequence.

INTRODUCTION SENTENCE. Edward Glaeser is a Professor of Economics at Harvard University and a journalist for Bloomberg View, therefore he is well versed in the economics of cities, innovation, crime and more. In his widely known published book, "Triumph of the City: How our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier", he illustrates that cities have made civilization more successful with new technology and ideas. In the first chapter of his book, he explains how cities were created through sharing new ideas and technologies between intellectuals, especially when living within close proximities of other innovators, thereupon those within the innovative networks have built institutions to provide an education system to create more alike, and as a result of these key components, cities have helped and will continue to help the world thrive.

When a company wants to expand in a foreign country is looking for the best employees to hire, local or expatriates. The demand for skilled labor is high nowadays and almost everyone needs to be qualified even if he is a plumber or a doctor. In the case of the United States we have to deal with the phenomenon that usually in the local market there is a lack of highly qualified employees. There is an argument of whether immigration should be reconsidered and allowing skilled labor to work in the US. This is a controversial

History has witnessed the rise and fall of many powerful cities, starting with Ur and Babylon and continuing into present day with cities such as New York City. Two of these cities, ancient Athens and ancient Rome, stand out from other cities of their time due to their culture, politics, and influence, both on the world around them and on future civilizations. These strengths qualify them as world cities, and despite their eventual losses of power, their legacies live on.

In 1990s America, obtaining freedom from governmental control became a social preoccupation. Starting with liberalism’s demand for increased individual freedom, what began as a small movement eventually transformed into a culture-wide fight for social justice and economic growth to create a free market where, ideally, no government would be needed. Activists term this modern movement “neo-liberalism,” or global market liberalism (capitalism), which calls for free-trade policies. While adopting such a system for American cities has been advocated by many people for its economic benefits, it also necessarily creates new relations between the city government and the residents who live there, which in turn affects the urban environment and social relations within the city. The question is a persistent one in our place and time: to globalize, or not to globalize?

The theory of globalization today is a field of intensive debate as the efforts towards defining globalization most often highlight its individual aspects. According to Held and McGrew (1999), “globalisation is an idea whose time has come, yet it lacks precise definition”. Despite the ambiguity of the term “globalisation,” the use of the term, according to Held and McGrew, reflects increased interconnectedness in political, economic and cultural matters across the world creating a shared social space. Given this inter-connectedness, globalisation may be defined as: “a process which embodies a transformation in the spatial organisation of social relations and

Prior to discussing, evaluating and concluding my answer to this research question, I must define its terms. What is globalisation? What does it mean for a city to be globalised? What features of a city define whether it is globalised or not? Manfred. B Steger, in his book ‘Globalisation - A Very Short Introduction’, describes it as a ‘contested concept’, meaning that it is not simply defined. The word ‘globalisation’ itself is said to have only actually emerged in the 1960s, and so over these fifty years, its meaning has been ever changing and expanding, like geography as a subject itself. Manfred. B Steger simplifies it as ‘movement towards greater interdependence and integration’. Interdependence refers to the interconnections between countries all over the world; and so in an economic sense it is the exchange between the producer and consumer of manufactured goods. Integration is ‘providing equal economic opportunities’ A synonym for integration is in fact ‘homogenisation’, meaning ‘the process of people, products and places becoming the same’. Ih homogenisation is a subset of globalisation, then globalisation could be seen in terms of ‘loss of diversity, identity or the westernisation of society’. A simple Oxford dictionary definition of the noun ‘Globalisation’ is ‘the process by which businesses or other organisations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale.’

Mega Cities and World Cities have key differences that distinguish them, allowing us to identify what makes them unique, and the role they play in society, culturally and on the world stage. Where Mega Cities are purely defined by the population that lives within them, only cities that have a global and national significance qualify as a World City. World Cities are cities that are major centres of finance, politics, trade and culture that extend globally well beyond their local region. World Cities are the centre for the flow of money to and from their local regions into the global community. They attract the headquarters for multi-national companies. They also host national and international sports events, as well as being centres

Cities are places which have huge amount of gathering of people, collection of economic activities and complex infrastructure for people which all together are supported by transport systems.