Neo-Liberalism and the Future of Cities - Essay Example

114925 NEO LIBERALISM Neo Liberalism is a comparatively recent term used for global market liberalism of capitalism, and for free-trade policies.It is also interchangeable with globalisation in countries of South America. It is defined as a set of economic policies that have become widespread in the last 25 years or so. Today, neo liberalism has dominated the foreign policies of the world and changed the diplomatic relationships between countries. Due to its compulsion, countries have altered their external and internal courses both to an unrecognisable extent. It is not possible to say that neo liberalism has brought only good harvest. There are many problems that it has introduced, but has been unable to provide answers. There had been mixed reactions as some of the happenings had been good and some of them were unpleasant. Dictatorships had been giving way to liberalism and this is definitely a positive step in the right direction. How long it might last, one cannot answer today. There exists another fear that Neo liberalism could widen the gap between the poor and rich. It is felt that World Bank, Inter American Development Bank and International Monetary Fund like powerful monetary institutions have imposed a situation of reducing profit rates felicitating the corporate few who are in bad business ventures, to revive their economic position. Marxist Geographer David Harvey (Socialist Review) says: "Neo-liberalism is a response to a dual crisis that emerged in the mid-1970s for the ruling class. On the one hand capitalists faced a 'crisis of accumulation' - the capitalist system was stagnating and profits had fallen from the rates achieved immediately after the Second World War. Secondly, a rising tide of workers' struggle in the 1960s and 1970s posed a threat to the political power of the ruling elite" http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/article.phparticlenumber=9655 It is difficult to guess if Neo liberalism would bring the same future to all cities, or the result would be diverse in accordance with the city. But we can make very clear assumptions that it would definitely make the cities look and feel alike. There is a suggestion that the growth of cities is connected with the growth rate of national economy and most of the economic activities are focussed in the cities. "Indeed by the end of the 1980s the World Bank claimed that over half of all GDP in the greater majority of developing countries could be traced to urban areas", (Allen, 1999, p.248). The link between cities, particularly the cities in the developing countries, is a new one. As there had never been anything sweeping the earth the way globalisation did, it is understandable. No doubt, at one time, Imperialism ruled the world, but compared to the all-pervasive nature of neo-liberalism, effects of Imperialism were remote, and were limited to the particular colonies, even though there was a great impact on world trade and business. It lacked the power and all-grabbing tendencies of today's financial and marketing institutions. "The ideological persuasion exerted increasingly by these and other institutions mirrors the types of influence at work at the level of the global economy" (Allen, p.248). It has made the Governments to take a different view of their cities and attend to all needs of the cities mainly with the intention of fitting them into the global network, so that they could be showcased as their trophies and achievements of Neo liberalism. Some thinkers, economists and sociologists are of the opinion that cities should be limited and their unbridled growth should be curbed. They say this without taking into consideration the importance of cities in history or their current position as significant players economically, socially and politically. Another assumption is that the role of markets and economic institutions and their reforms are compatible with the city life of the inhabitants. Persisting doubt is if macroeconomic policies and regulations would be sufficient for the growth of the cities. Eventually, some of these assumptions might prove wrong. On the point that urban poverty has to be eradicated, all economists agree. They also agree that it should be done within the framework of neo liberalism and the connected policies. The developing countries, most of which, at one time, had rich history and culture, almost all of them were subjected to colonial rule and imperialism. The cities in these countries had almost an identical look to other cities within the country. But it is difficult to say that they resembled cities of alien countries, as culture, social fabric, economic background and religion are different, almost from country to country. During the colonial rule, the cities, to a very small extent, attained an identical look, that of the ruling west. This does not mean that the historical look of the cities was altered. Instead the heritage of cities stayed in its place, while the western look developed in cantonment areas, where British armies were housed, or in the commercial area, where imperialists ran businesses, offices, cinema houses, etc. This resulted in a quite obvious division of the cities, one looking ancient and another with a modern, upcoming outlook. Old Delhi of Moguls remained in the background when New Delhi got developed adjacent to it and the same goes to the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, both in India. Instead of one replacing the other, they lived next to one another. Other countries did not have the Egyptian way of building one city over another and Egyptians were facilitated to do so, because of the sandy nature of their geography. With shaking off the colonial yoke, the cities looked definitely more homogenised and less western and the division mark got blurred. Now, Neo Liberalism has brought in the global era, with modern, educated, and urban gangs moving around, almost looking amazingly similar, identically dressed, speaking Americanised English. Under neo liberalism, architecture will not have any regional style belonging to the particular country's heritage; instead, it would copy the western modern buildings more, even though considering the weather of these countries, they might be uncomfortable. But they are usually tempted to have the closed buildings of West with controlled and conditioned internal weather. Vast populations and vaster rural regions are excluded from Neo Liberalism and cities will have a totally different look compared to the rural areas. The gap between the two will not close easily. "It is a context shaped increasingly by a particular form of economic connection, one informed not only by the conventions of new-liberalism but also by the private-sector flows of money and finance that have come to play a dominant role," (p.230). It is also assumed that these new forces of new economy and highly sophisticated information technology will 'roam the world' and cities will have skyscrapers, office blocks, created parks, planned green belts, factories, technological units, shopping malls and business centres. Most of the cities will have the same amenities at different stages of modernisation and completion. All of them will connect with the Neo-liberalism in one way or other. There seems to be a great need to resist such blurring of dissimilarities in the urban areas of all countries. But the sense of freedom created by the new economic trend cannot be ignored. "Neo-liberalism aims to give universal legitimacy to an idea of freedom based on the individual and the private sector, an idea which dates back to eighteenth-century liberal ideology," (p.236). The similar free operation of markets with identical governmental interventions, backed by the power of the same international financial institutions like World Bank and International Monetary Fund will bring a certain similarity to all the cities of the world. Today, neo-liberalism has formed a firm link between developed and underdeveloped countries. All the economies are going through the same adjustments like stabilization, structural adjustments and export-led growth and this kind of identical necessities and ultimate goals also lead to identical urban thinking, planning, living, visualising, and structural landmarks with similar geography. It is impossible for the cities to escape from this influence of uniformity as it sets afloat a dominant dynamics with identical economic rhythms. "how cities and regions have increasingly become both the objects of, and players in the governance of the global economy," (p. 274). Michel Foucault coined the word 'governmentality' for the ongoing activity of governance-as-activity. The market liberalism has resulted in identical forces like "legal, architectural, professional, administrative, financial, judgemental and techniques like 'notation, computation, calculation, estimation, evaluation' and devices like surveys and charts, systems of training, building forms that regulate decisions and actions." (Based on p.276). Neo Liberal Governmentalities are the main characteristics of global cities and they are more or less identical. There is a strong thread of connection between all these cities, an identical thread of resources, requirements, accomplishments and supply and hence, naturally the neo-liberal future across these cities will be similar. All national governments are involved in promoting neo-liberalism and competing with other nations in taking full advantage of the new trend. There is no denial that identical powers and similar forces are cropping up in all the cities of the world. Decisions, ways of working, planning and execution of those plans have become more or less the same for all governments. National governments have also given some of their financial and economic powers to public and private sectors, because with the globalisation, private sector became important and continuous privatisation has dominated all the countries. "The most visible of these have been the waves of privatization that have washed across the world. But other economic functions have also gone private, especially in the financial sphere," (p. 278). Neo-liberal Governmentality is completely of geographic nature. The recent and ongoing economic improvement of all countries would encourage the governments to develop other areas, which had been neglected due to lack of funds. So the process of rural area centres changing into mini townships, mini townships into major towns, major towns into smaller cities, smaller cities into bigger cities, and bigger cities into mega cities is going on all over the world. Where there had been stagnant growth till now, transformation is quick and gratifying. We must realise that many governments have given more power to the banks and other financial institutions and a 'new layer of global governance' has come into existence. In every region, a kind of uniformity is forming, which is killing cultures, diversities and homebred customs. This is looking more and more like another variety of communism, with its identical institutions and similar atmosphere everywhere. One cannot say that it is a great sight; but it's happening might become unavoidable. To some extent, historical cities with historical monuments might look slightly diverse. Also cities with particular agenda of their own that could remain untouched by globalisation, like traditional artefacts, manufacturing culturally distinct items that cannot be copied easily, will not resemble the other neo geographic cities. City transformation has come under the mercy of neo liberalism recently. Usually the problems of the cities could be found in the particular city itself. But under Neo Liberalism, problems will not have a root in the city. When the much wider network of cities is cured, only then the cities could be rid of their ailments. These are not confined to the particular city any more. The problems themselves will have a similarity. They will all remain part of the larger fabric. "Cities are both the spaces upon which neo-liberal practices of governentality and industry operate, and the spaces through which they operate. They are both hunter and hunted, in other words" (p.278). International regimes, international financial control, and international guidance are the dominating forces today and they rule over all the cities in the world. "It is important to point out that, so far as the world of international commercial law is concerned, there is still a strong linkage to the nation state; commercial law is simply trying to do the job of governance that states should be able to do," (p.280). City leaders and privatisation could bring some diversity into the cities in spite of the Neo Liberalism. Due to privatisation, the main actors who head the manufacturing and financial concerns, with the help of city leaders, can take actions to give at least a different outlook to the city and this might be totally different from the identical look of neo liberalism. City networking is also making a contribution to the identical growth of the cities. The powerful 'ungrounded empires' or 'the phantom states' are here to stay and they will not vanish in a hurry. BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. Allen, John, Massey, Doreen and Pryke, Michael (1999), ed., Unsettling Cities Movement/Settlement, Routledge, London. ONLINE SOURCES: 1. http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/article.phparticlenumber=9655 Accessed on 4.4.2006. Read More