Transcript Urban winds David Redfern

World cities
David Redfern
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What is a world city?
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Where are the world cities?
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How can world cities be identified?
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How could the importance of world cities change over time?
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What this presentation covers
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World cities
World cities
World cities and mega cities
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Mega cities and world cities both have large populations, but they have different
functions.
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Megacities have regional or national influence. World cities have a global role:
they are the command and control centres of the international economy.
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World cities dominate the global urban hierarchy.
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Unlike mega cities world cities are mainly located in the developed world.
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The two top-ranking world cities are London and New York, with several others
such as Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore below them.
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On what criteria are these cities judged to be world cities?
World cities
What is a world city?
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World cities are business centres and the preferred headquarter locations of
major TNCs.
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They are global service centres, specialising in advanced producer services such
as finance, banking, accounting, management consultancy, law and advertising.
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In order to deliver these services to global markets, world cities are major
telecom, information and transport hubs.
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They are magnets for educated, skilled workers, and home to world-class
universities.
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World cities often have a political and cultural dimension. They house foreign
embassies, consulates and international organisations, host international
sporting events, and support a wide range of performing arts venues, museums
and galleries.
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World cities
World cities
Where are the world cities?
Take a look at the diagram on the next slide.
What makes the world cities shown on the diagram so important on a global scale?
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The slides that follow identify some criteria.
World cities
Where are the world cities?
World cities
The top ten global financial centres
Rank
Centre
GFCI 11 rating
1
London
781
2
NYC
772
3
Hong Kong
754
4
Singapore
729
5
Tokyo
693
6
Zurich
689
7
Chicago
688
8
Shanghai
687
9
Seoul
686
10
Toronto
685
Source: The Global Financial Centres Index 11, March 2012
World cities
The financial centres likely to become more significant
Rank
Centre
No of mentions by
investors
1
Singapore
42
2
Shanghai
35
3
Hong Kong
33
4
Toronto
20
5
São Paulo
15
6=
Luxembourg
14
6=
Almaty
14
8=
Beijing
11
8=
Moscow
11
8=
Mumbai
11
Source: The Global Financial Centres Index 11, March 2012 (based on conversations with investment
bankers)
World cities
The financial centres where new offices will be opened
Rank
Centre
No of mentions by investors
1
Singapore
17
2
Hong Kong
14
3
London
11
4
Shanghai
8
5
Dubai
6
6
Beijing
5
6=
Mumbai
5
6=
New York
5
9
Luxembourg
4
10
Calgary
3
Source: The Global Financial Centres Index 11, March 2012 (based on conversations with investment bankers)
Which
continent is
this city on?
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World cities
World cities
Fashion rankings based on views of designers
2011
2010
2009
2008
1
3
5
5
London
2
1
2
1
NYC
3
4
3
3
Paris
4
6
1
4
Milan
5
5
6
6
Los Angeles
6
2
7
11
Hong Kong
7
9
14
25
Barcelona
8
15
20
14
Singapore
9
14
12
10
Tokyo
10
18
19
9
Berlin
Source: Global Language Monitor
City
World cities
Measuring interconnectivity
Another way to identify a world city is to measure the degree of interconnectivity
between it and other such cities, for example the interactions between them. This
is called the global network connectivity (GNC). Here is one view…
‘But while the concentration of fibre optic grids, prestigious architecture and
bespoke office towers in central London, essential to support intense, near
instantaneous inter-city global interaction and trading seems relatively ‘fixed',
business knowledge and finance can no longer be regarded as assets that are tied
to one locality.
Interconnectivities between global cities are creating a different sort of place. Seen
as a global service centre, a networked node for world business flows, London is
this new kind of fluid place, part of a transitional, global space. The concept of
world city network thus depicts new pathways of power involving many cities
world-wide, associated with the unfolding economic geography of capitalism.’
Source: GaWC Research Bulletin 328 (2009)
World cities
Global network connectivity (GNC)
Rank
City
1
London
2
New York
99
3
Hong Kong
82
4
Paris
77
5
Singapore
74
6
Sydney
73
7
Tokyo
72
8
Shanghai
70
9
Beijing
70
10
Milan
68
Source: GaWC Research Bulletin 328 (2009)
Globalisation index
100
World cities
Websites and research
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Research world city growth by accessing the UN Department of Economic and
Social Affairs website: http://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/index.htm.
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Read the GaWC (Globalisation and World Cities) Research Unit (based at
Loughborough University) bulletin no.328 on ‘London – the pre-eminent world
city’ at http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/rb/rb328.html.
The GaWC is a leading academic ‘think-tank’ on globalisation and world cities.
You could investigate the importance of telecoms connectivity to the functioning
of London as a world city.
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