GS 1 – Introduction to Global Studies
Professor: Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
Topic 6 – Global Cities
A – An Urban World
B – What are Global Cities?
C – The City of the 21st Century
Hofstra University, Department of Global Studies & Geography
A – AN URBAN WORLD
Urbanization
What is the nature and the causes or urbanization?
The Urban Explosion
What is the scale of contemporary urbanization?
Rural to Urban Migrations
Why people are moving to urban areas?
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
Urbanization
Demographic Process
• Growth of the proportion of the population living in cities.
• Urban population growth (natural increase or migration).
Infrastructure Process
• Expansion of urban infrastructures and land use.
Socioeconomic Process
• Creation of secondary, tertiary and quaternary sectors.
• Creates a society where values and lifestyles are urban.
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
Urbanization
■ Causes of urbanization
• Historical:
• “Civis”.
• Defense.
• Trade routes.
• Social:
• Increased social interactions.
• Institutions representing a society (government, religion & education).
• Economic:
• Linked with agricultural surpluses.
• Increased economic opportunities (the most successful cities tended to be
the most open to entrepreneurship).
• Access to labor.
• Specialization.
• Economies of scale and of agglomeration.
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
Historical Urban Location Factors
Discuss the historical factors behind the location of
cities.
Defense
River-meander site
Commerce
River-island site
Bridge-point site
Confluence site
Rapid or
waterfall
Peninsula site
(or offshore island)
Portage site
Sheltered harbor site
City
Head of navigation site
Fortifications
Road
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Cities through the Ages
Era
Antiquity (Rome)
Cities as the nexus of civilizations (monuments).
Development of urban infrastructure (pavement, aqueducts).
Middle Ages
(Avignon)
High density fortified cities.
Mostly city-states.
Little specialization.
Church (cathedral) as the core.
Industrial Revolution
(Manchester)
Cities within nation-states.
Industrialization.
Migration from rural areas.
Regional specialization (city as part of a national market).
Transport terminal (rail, port) often the core.
Post-Modern (Hong
Kong)
The global city.
Functional specialization (cities as elements of global value chains).
The commercial and financial district often the core.
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
The Urban Explosion
■ Causes of contemporary urban population growth
• Natural population increase:
• Births minus deaths.
• Demographic transition provided momentum.
• Migration from rural areas:
• Notably in countries with large rural populations.
• Immigration (international):
• Notably in Europe and North America.
• Concerns gateway cities.
• Reclassification of urban boundaries:
• Encompass other cities and towns.
• Encompass formerly rural areas.
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
Net International Migration by US Cities, 2012-2013
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
Net Domestic Migration by US Cities, 2012-2013
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
The Urban Explosion: Stages of Urbanization
Initial Stage
100
Transition Stage
Demographic transition
Rural to urban migration
Urban Population
80
60
40
20
0
Terminal Stage
Rural
Society
Developing
countries
Developed countries
Urban
Society
Least developed
countries
Urbanization
Time
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
The Urban Explosion
■ First Wave (1750-1950):
• Began in Europe and North America in the early 18th century.
• First demographic transition:
• Importance of natural population increase both in cities and rural areas.
• First industrialization:
• Incited the first significant rural to urban migrations.
• International migration:
• Important for gateway cities in North America.
• Produced the new urban industrial societies.
• Gradual process that involved a few hundred million people:
• Europe, North America, Australia and Japan; 75% to 80% urban.
• By the end of the first wave, the beginning of a new process;
suburbanization.
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
World’s Largest Cities, 1850
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
First Wave Urbanization: World’s Largest Cities, 1900
Liverpool
Xian
Glasgow
Boston
Calcutta (Kolkata)
Moscow
Birmingham
Philadelphia
Manchester
St. Petersburg
Tokyo
Vienna
Chicago
Berlin
Paris
New York
London
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Millions
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
Discuss the two major urbanization waves that
took place since the industrial revolution.
The Urban Explosion
Share of Global Population Urbanized
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1800
1900
1950
2007
■ Second Wave (19502050):
• Concern less developed
regions of the world.
• Rapid growth.
• Demographic impacts much
greater.
• Will account for 93% of the
2 billion increase in the
global urban population
between 2000 and 2030.
• Limited recourse to
migration.
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
Second Wave: World Urban Population, 1950-2005 with
Projections to 2020 (in billions)
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020
World
Developed countries
Developing countries
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
Rural to Urban Migrations
■ An enduring momentum
• Current velocity:
•
•
•
•
50 million new urbanites each year.
1 million new urbanites each week.
About 155,000 new urbanites each day.
About 75,000 rural poor migrate to cities each day.
• Migration:
• Makes a significant contribution to the growth of urban areas.
• Accounts for between 40% and 60% of annual urban population growth in
the developing world.
• Huge rural-to-urban migration potential in areas having a large rural
population.
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
Rural to Urban Migrations
■ Push-Pull considerations
• Both are affecting rural-urban migrations.
• “Pull” of the cities may determine the destination.
• Migrants are pulled toward cities:
• Prospect of jobs and higher incomes.
• Most early urbanization was the result of pull considerations.
• Pushed out of rural areas:
• “Push” factors predominate as the motivation to move.
• Poverty, lack of land, declining agricultural work, war, and famine.
• Play more importance today than push considerations.
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
Push - Pull Factors for Urbanization in the Third World
Discuss rural to urban migrations in terms of
push and pull factors.
Rural
PUSH
Instability
Rural structures
Low employment
Demographic pressure
PULL
Urban
Employment market
Better services
Low barriers
Modernity
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
Rural to Urban Migrations
Factor
Condition
Issues
Instability / Disasters / Push
Wars / Famines
Creation of refugees.
Cities as safe heavens.
Expectation of jobs
Pull
Higher wages but higher living costs.
Large labor markets.
Economic survival Informal sector dominant.
Rural changes
Push
Demographic growth.
Land tenure (landless peasants).
Mechanization (surplus labor).
Transportation
Intervening
opportunities
Increased mobility and lower costs.
Construction of roads and rails.
Access to rural markets.
More and better
services
Pull
Better schools and health services.
Access to water and electricity.
Overcrowding and pollution.
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
B – WHAT ARE GLOBAL CITIES?
Megacities and Urban Regions
What forms large-scale urbanization takes?
Global Cities
What defines a global city?
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Globalization and Urbanization
Mercantile Era
Industrial Era
Contemporary Era
Technology
and Processes
New transport technology:
long distance ships, sextant,
etc.
Steam power;
Railroad;
Steamships;
Machine fabrication
New transport and
communication technologies;
Information-rich production
technologies
Supporting
Principles
Cartography (navigation);
New means of payment
(credit):
precious metals, financial
Innovations (accounting &
banking).
Economies of scale;
Vertical integration of production;
Factory systems; Assembly line
Labor unions;
Property rights;
Central banking; Currency;
Monetary policies;
Compulsory education.
Economies of scope ;
Trade liberalization;
Logistical innovations to
facilitate flows of goods,
services, capital,
and information.
Spatial
Structure
Division of labor brings
increasing urbanization;
Size of major cities increases.
Massive urbanization;
Average town size increases;
Structural issues (housing,
infrastructure, spatial
organization);
Social issues (unemployment,
health, welfare, education).
Urban regions competing
globally;
Relatively fast economic
changes causing local
dislocations;
Rise of large urban regions
around major cities connected
to the global economy.
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Megacities and Urban Regions
■ Concentration
• An increasing share of the global population lives in megacities:
• Cities of over one million.
• Uncommon in the past to have megacities.
• Difficult to sustain internally and to supply (food, water, energy and
wastes).
• First modern megacity, Beijing 1770.
• From metropolitan areas to urban regions:
• Contiguity.
• Connectiveness.
• Interaction.
■ Technology and urban form
• Important historical role of technology (particularly transportation)
shaping the shape and the dynamics of cities.
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
One Hour Commuting According to Different Urban Transportation
Modes
Explain how transportation influence
the structure of cities
Streetcar line
Freeway
Walking
10 km
Streetcar
Cycling
Automobile
Automobile with freeways
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Cities and Connectivity
Function
Main Mode
Nexus
Trade
Water transport (maritime and
fluvial).
Waterfront. Heavy industries. Intermodal
terminals.
Production
Railway
Central stations. Rail terminals and
railyards.
Mobility
Highways
Shopping districts. Distribution clusters.
Command
Telecommunications
Financial districts. High technology
clusters.
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Metropolitan Areas of More than 10 Million Inhabitants, 2010
Paris
Istanbul
Moskva (Moscow)
Lagos
Al-Qahirah (Cairo)
Osaka-Kobe
Manila
Rio de Janeiro
Beijing
Los Angeles
Buenos Aires
Karachi
Dhaka
Kolkata (Calcutta)
Shanghai
New York
Mexico City
Mumbai (Bombay)
São Paulo
Delhi
Tokyo
10.49
10.52
10.55
10.58
11.00
11.34
11.63
11.95
12.39
12.76
13.07
13.12
14.65
15.55
16.58
1950
1975
2010
19.43
19.46
20.04
20.26
22.16
36.67
0
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5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
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World’s Largest Cities
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World’s Largest Urban Regions
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Criteria to be a World City; Many Wannabees
Business activity
The economic weight of the city; headquarters of major multinational corporations,
locations of top business services firms, the value of capital (stock) markets, the
number of international conferences, and the flow of goods through ports and
airports.
Human capital
Capacity to attract and train talent; size of foreign-born population, quality of
universities, number of international schools, international student population, and
number of residents with university degrees.
Information exchange
The effectiveness of information flows; accessibility to major TV news channels,
internet presence, number of international news bureaus, level of censorship and
broadband subscriber rate.
Cultural influence
The cultural weight of the city; number of major sporting events, number of
museums, performing-arts venues, culinary establishments, number of
international travelers and number of sister-city relationships.
Political engagement
The level of influence on global politics; number of embassies and consulates,
major think tanks, international organizations and local institutions with
international reach, and the number of political conferences.
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
World Cities, 2012
What makes a city a world city?
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C – THE CITY OF THE 21ST CENTURY
The City as a Cultural and Technological Nexus
How the high technology sector is shaping cities?
The Other City: Shantytowns
Are shantytowns an economic or demographic failure?
Global Cities in the 21st Century
What will shape world city development in the coming years?
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
The City as a Cultural and Technological Nexus
■ Cultural Nexus
• Foci of human and material resources of civilizations.
• Cities are where culture is created, filtered and diffused:
• Source of capital accumulation.
• Change in scale:
• Cultures used to be bound to regions or nations.
• Global communication networks propelled cultural centers.
• Exchange of ideas; network of global cities.
• Pool of talents:
• Artists, architects, philosophers, scientists and writers.
• Attractiveness of some cities.
• Patrons, community of artists, universities, clients, and a skilled workforce.
• Shifts in centers of culture:
• Linked with the economic and political fate of the nation.
• E.g. Moscow.
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
The City as a Cultural and Technological Nexus
■ Global cities are innovation nexuses
• Wealth and capital accumulation linked with innovation
capabilities; favors urban growth.
• The creation of a cluster of innovators, investors, designers and
manufacturers.
• Innovations come in waves:
• Linked with innovations (e.g. labor, resources).
• From industrial cities, the manufacturing cities to high technology cities.
• The fate of several global cities changed (e.g. Detroit).
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
The City as a Cultural and Technological Nexus
■ Valuation and debasement
• The technopole model (valuation):
•
•
•
•
•
•
High technology service and manufacturing cluster.
R&D facilities to carry out research.
Vicinity to university institutions.
Pool of corporations, entrepreneurs and capital.
Available land.
Ex: “Silicon Valley”.
• The off-shoring model (debasement):
•
•
•
•
•
•
Technology also debase some process.
Some activities have been relocated to low costs areas.
Back-office operations (payroll).
Call centers.
Data processing.
Ex: Omaha, NE (taxes advantages) and Bangalore, India.
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
Shantytowns
■ Context
• Some cities are growing without much capital accumulation.
• Difficulty to access housing:
•
•
•
•
Economic costs.
Availability.
100 million people are homeless.
928 million live in precarious housing conditions (slums).
• Shantytowns; informal habitat or squatter housing:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Slums (North America and Europe).
Favelas (Brazil).
Pueblos jovenes (Young towns).
Asentamiento irregulares (Irregular settlements).
Villas miserias (Miserable villages, Argentina).
Jughi Jopri (India).
Gecekondu (Turkey).
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
Shantytowns
■ Definition
• Dwellings are built by the current or original occupant:
•
•
•
•
Rudimentary construction materials.
Did not receive a construction permit.
Do not follow norms in terms of housing and sanitation.
Located in marginal (sometimes unsafe) sites.
• Inhabitants have no legal title to the land:
•
•
•
•
Most are located in areas being declared inhabitable.
Own by the municipality.
Abandoned private land.
Exploiting a legal vacuum of land ownership.
• Lack of urban services:
• Generally not well serviced by public utilities.
• Water supply, sanitation, roads, drainage, solid waste management, street
lighting, public transportation and sewage.
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
Shantytowns
■ Habitat
• Informal settlements:
• Perhaps the most visible sign of widespread poverty.
• About 25% of the surface of cities in developing countries is covered by
shantytowns.
• 30-60% of the urban population.
• Emerged in all Third World cities:
• Following the demographic explosion.
• Now the norm more than the exception.
• Inability of the private and public sector:
• Provide low price housing for the majority of the population.
• The private sector seeks to maximize revenue.
• The State more concerned about providing housing for its public servants
and its middle class.
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
Share of the Urban Population Living in Shantytowns (2001)
0-10%
10-20%
20-30%
30-40%
40-50%
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%
80-90%
90-100%
No data
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
Global Cities in the 21st Century
■ The “learning city”
• Local identities (e.g. landmarks) creating a unique urban
environment.
• Regional resources (labor).
• Global reach (transport and telecommunications).
• Suitable urban environment, employment, food, housing and
transportation:
• Welfare of the future urban population.
• Welfare of its surrounding areas.
• Mitigation:
• Limited environmental impacts.
• Conservation of resources such as water, land and energy and the
capability of handling change.
• Should provide a place of opportunity and not be an agent of segregation.
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
Towards Sustainable Cities?
Water, materials and waste
Energy and air quality
Transportation and telecommunications
Livability
Land, green spaces and biodiversity
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
Sustainable Cities
Future global urbanization is likely to be more sustainable.
What does the concept of urban sustainability implies?
© Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue