Seminar Six - Global City

Richard spoke on Global Cities, and started by considering how we might define a global city.  A global city was not necessarily defined by the fact that it had global trade networks, as was the case for many cities linked by the silk road from China through the middle east to Europe well before motorised transportation.  A global city in the modern context is defined by the intensity with which it interacts with other cities on a world scale.  This has been made possible by policy liberalisation to labor, immigration, economic policy through deregulation and loosening control structures.

The first driver for the creation of global cities was policy, the second driver is technology, being transport technology being cars, jets, trains and transport infrastructure to facilitate their movement between cities and information technology, allowing the high speed exchange of knowledge, information, and money.

Digital  technology impacts on how we plan and design out cities.  Cities are places of transportation, services, goods and emotion and collective lifestyles.  Early planning theorists argued that cities would become less and less important as distances became overcome by new means of communication and travel, however Technology can't replace human interaction.  Cities have become more and more important in the new paradigm as a place of connection and collaboration.  Look at the top global consultancies found in Melbourne and Sydney.  why are they located in CBD's? It is because agglomeration leads to innovation, competition and collaboration.

Global market actors are transnational companies (TNCs), and they chose to be located in central areas.  In the global economy cities compete for global talent.  They are command and control centers.  The integrated global economy requires cities for expertise and specilised services.  Cities are connected by the activities of firms and the movement of people connected with those firms.

Recognising the implications of global cities on the planning context gives urban planners an opportunity to ensure that the city environment is one which will be a viable place of operation for transnational companies.   City with specific attributes, such as low pollution, low commuting distances, low crime, quality cultural and entertainment facilities, reasonable costs of living and abundant choice of lifestyle pursuits, all together measured as quality of life, can attract the knowledge capital (the high caliber people) needed by these companies to function properly.  Assuming a city has reached sufficient critical mass to support entertainment and educational institutions, planning is the best lever to ensure the inhabitants of a city enjoy, and continue to enjoy, a high quality of life.