Comparison of Global Cities - Essay Example

Comparison of Global Cities Executive Summary This paper is an attempt to explore and compare the three global cities of the world, namely, London, New York and Tokyo. Experts agree that these three cities rank in similar order in the list of global cities measured by five dimensions of business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience, and political engagements. New York outclasses all other cities in the world because it has an extremely diverse population and over the years, it has become the financial hub of the world. Wall Street, New York Stock Exchange, and the offices of Fortune 500 companies make it impossible for the business world to deny its importance. London has an edge when it comes to cultural heritage because it attracts the largest number of foreign visitors from the entire world on the same basis. Furthermore, there is no denial to the financial importance of the city since it is the heart of Europe and the entire world in terms of its financial and economic activities. United Kingdom is an important force in the world affairs and global political arena thus making allowing London and impeccable role in global politics. Tokyo could be called as the New York or London of Japan. Since the Second World War, the city has witnessed unprecedented economic growth, which continues even as of today. With offices of more than 50 Global 500 companies in Tokyo, Tokyo Stock Exchange is the third largest stock market in the world in terms of market capitalization. Tokyo lags behind when it comes to attracting tourists and increasing the diversity in the society by welcoming immigrants. One reason may be rooted in the fact that it is one of the most expensive cities in the world. Introduction It was in the year 1991 that renowned Sociologist from Netherlands, Saskia Sassen, used the term “global city” for the first time in her book “The Global Cities: New York, London and Tokyo” (Sassen, pp. 99). Despite the fact that there is no universally accepted and agreed definition of the term, Sassen differentiated the term from “mega city” and stressed that Global cities are those, which play an instrumental role in the controlling, running and supporting the global financial and world economic system. These cities are the epitome of globalization and urbanization. Furthermore, their interdependence on others cities of the world means that they react to the financial, economic, political and other happenings in the world and vice versa (Sassen, pp. 99). This paper is an attempt to explore New York, London, and Tokyo as the global cities in the world. The paper would make a brief attempt at comparing these cities based on the Global Cities Index 2011 and its criteria. Discussion Different experts and researchers have taken different approaches towards defining and ranking global cities. For example, “the Globalization and World Cities Research Network classifies global cities into alpha, beta and gamma cities” (World Bank 112-114). Alpha has four categories of Alpha++, alpha+, alpha, and alpha-. Beta has three categories of beta+, beta, and beta- and gamma has three similar categories. London and New York, according to this framework are alpha++ cities and Tokyo along with “Chicago, Dubai, Hong Kong, Paris, Shanghai, Singapore, and Sydney” (World Bank 112-114). Another framework in this regard is given by the experts of Institute for Urban Strategies at The Mori Memorial Foundation (Amen, Toly, McCarney, & Segbers, pp. 14-19) from Tokyo, Japan in the year 2010 based on 69 different indicators ranked New York, London and Tokyo as first, second and fourth respectively. However, this paper would focus more on the Global Cities Index of 2011, which is one of the most comprehensive yet concise frameworks of understanding the global cities and the factors behind the same. According to the Global Cities Index 2010, New York, London and Tokyo are the first, second and third global cities in the world respectively. New York and London, both these cities had their positions in the year 2008 as well, however, Tokyo was at number four in 2008, and it outclassed Paris to take the number three spot (Amen, Toly, McCarney, & Segbers, pp. 14-19). These rankings are the result of the scores that these cities get on 25 different metrics across five dimensions. These dimensions are of “business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience, and political engagement” (World Bank 112-114). Business activity refers to the level of exports and imports of the city, contribution to the GDP of the country and the region, number of headquarters of Fortune 500 companies, market capitalization, influence of stock exchanges in the city, number of billionaires, number of international conferences and others. Human Capital refers to the percentage of skilled workforce, diversity in that workforce, foreign born population, number of international universities, schools and institutions, quality of education and literacy rate. Information exchange refers to the connectedness of the city in terms of information. The level of international news in the local news and the interest of readers regarding the same, number of international news centers, amount of censorship and others. Cultural experience refers to the number of world heritage sites, sporting, art and literature related event that the country holds, number of sister city relationships, number of museums, art galleries, theaters, operas and others. Lastly, political engagements as the name suggest refers to the number of embassies, consulates, international organizations, think tanks and the general influence of the city in policymaking and dialogue in the international political scenario and world affairs (World Bank 112-114). New York New York City is “not only the most populous city of the United States but at the same time, it is also one of the most densely populated cities in the world” (Casino, Thomas & Cloke, pp. 69-72). All experts agree that the city is the most “global city” of all by all means. In addition, New York is also known as “The Capital of the World”, “The Big Apple” and “The City that Never Sleeps”, New York is the symbol of the globalization, power, strength, democracy and Americanization of the United States (Casino, Thomas & Cloke, pp. 69-72). From “Times Square to Wall Street, from Statue of Liberty to Radio City Music Hall, from Empire State building to Grand Central Terminal. From Rockefeller Center to American Museum of Natural History, from Central Park to Museum of Modern Art, from Madison Square Garden to the Fifth Avenue” (Agnew & Duncan, pp. 109-110) and others, the city has skyscrapers and buildings that are unmatchable. When it comes to business, the city is the home for the headquarters of some of the biggest and influential companies of the United States and the entire world such as “JP Morgan and Chase, Citigroup, Pfizer, Morgan Stanley, American International Group, American Express, Colgate, Goldman Sachs Group and others” (Agnew & Duncan, pp. 109-110). The New York City contributes to over 1.28 trillion US dollars to the total GDP of the country, which is largest contribution by any city in United States and the second largest in the entire world. New York is also the most Googled location by interest users from all around the world. New York also takes great pride in the fact that that city is the home to people who speak 800 different languages and belong with various different ethnic and religious backgrounds. Over the years, millions of immigrants have come to New York and the now the native White Americans no longer form the dominant majority in the city. South Asians, South East Asians, Central Americans, South Americans, Africans, Middle Eastern people, European, and people from every nationality are present in New York in form of small communities. For example, New York is second biggest home for Jews after their homeland Israel. The city also lists prominent universities such as Columbia University, New York University and Rockefeller University, which are amongst the 100 best universities of the world. Figure 1 The City of Lights with its skyscrapers at night London Like other global cities, over the years, London has become more and more culturally diverse, and as of 2010, less than 69 percent of the London population is White (British White, Irish White and others). People from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Jamaica, Nigeria, Ireland, China, Greek, Ghana, Turkey, Korea, Kenya, Sir Lanka, South Africa, United States, Australia, Germany, and others have created their own small communities within London. Not only these people add to the cultural diversities of London but also at the same time, they bring several different colors of globalization to the city (Casino, Thomas & Cloke, pp. 69-72). “One Canada Square, Heron Square, Crystal Palace Transmitter, 8 Canada Square, 25 Canada Square, Tower 42, 30th St Mary Axe, BT Tower” (World Bank 112-114) and others are a few notable skyscrapers in London not only appear in the list of the tallest buildings in United Kingdom also in the entire Europe. Furthermore, London is the fifth largest city of the world in terms of GDP. In particular, “British Museum, National Gallery, Tate Modern, Natural History Museum, London Eye, Science Museum, Tower of London, National Maritime Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum and Madame Tussauds” (Bodley, pp. 85-89) have remained in the spotlights of tourists in London for decades.  When it comes to art, class, and architecture, London takes great pride to have buildings such as “Canary Wharf, St Paul’s Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Wembley Stadium, Buckingham Palace, London City Hall, the British Museum, London Eye, Tower 42, and Millennium Dome” (Bodley, pp. 85-89) and others, which are considered as architectural masterpieces. This also explains why the city attracts the most number of tourists from all over the world. Furthermore, the presence of BBC has ensured that London become the hub of journalism, news reporting and information. Moreover, London takes the credit for the presence of renowned and distinguished educational institutions such as “London School of Economics, Kings College of London, Imperial College London, University College London, London Business School, and others” (Bodley, pp. 85-89). London is not only diverse in terms of ethnicity but also in terms of religion as well. Despite the fact that the majority of the people in London (over 58 percent) belong to Christianity, the rest of the population practices many religions. These include, in descending order, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and others (Sassen, pp. 12-13). Furthermore, a significant percentage of people from London, almost 16 percent do not associate themselves with any religion. From “Neasden Temple to Radha Krishna Temple in Soho, from London Central Mosque to Baitul Futuh Mosque, from Archbishop of Canterbury’s to famous St Pauls Cathedral, from Westminster Cathedral to the Archbishop of Westminster” (Bodley, pp. 85-89) and others, London is home to many well-known religious sites. Figure 2 Night view of London Tokyo Asia and especially Japan does not envy London and New York because they have Tokyo, a city which occupies almost similar position in the commanding the world economy as those two cities in Europe and America respectively. According to the official statistics, Tokyo is the largest metropolitan economy of the world and Tokyo Stock Exchange is of great importance of the business community (Agnew & Duncan, pp. 109-110). Not only the city has offices of more than 50 Global 500 companies in Tokyo but also at the same time, Tokyo Stock Exchange is the third largest stock market in the world in terms of market capitalization. Despite the fact that the Tsunami and nuclear crisis of 2011 did not affect the city that much but its ripples were visible in all the financial markets all around the world. The city contributed over 1.478 trillion US dollars to the economy of Japan making it the largest city in the world in terms of GDP contribution (Casino, Thomas & Cloke, pp. 69-72). University of Tokyo, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Keio University, and Waseda University are some of the world’s most prestigious universities in the region, which are present in Tokyo. Furthermore, over the years, diverse sports and arts activities in Tokyo are also attracting the visitors from all around the world (Amen et al, pp. 14-19). When it comes to culture and cultural heritage, the names of “Tokyo National Museum, National Museum of Western Art, National Museum of Science, Ueno Zoo, Nezu Art Museum, Edo-Tokyo Museum, National Museum of Modern Art” (Amen et al, pp. 14-19) and others ensure that, the visitors who are art lovers are not disappointed. New York City is a sister City of Tokyo and London has a partnership agreement with the city. Furthermore, global cities like Paris, Rome, Beijing, Berlin, Cairo, Jakarta and others are also sister cities of Tokyo (Amen et al, pp. 14-19). Figure 3 Night view of Tokyo Conclusion The debate of global cities is never ending. As mentioned earlier, even as of today, experts have not been able to agree on a single definition of a global city. Furthermore, it is rather complicated to assign a quantitative value to each of the factors that characterize a city as a global city. Quite understandably, with the rapid pace of globalization, it is highly likely that these cities will witness a few serious contenders for the top spots in the global cities lists. In fact, cities like Dubai, Singapore, Paris, Los Angeles, Brussels, Shanghai, New Delhi, Boston, Hong Kong and others are quickly moving on the path of globalization. Considering the rapid pace with which many of East Asian countries are growing and their current performance during the financial recession suggests that in the coming years these countries will appear at the top of the list with greater number (Sassen, pp. 12-13). For now, there appears to be consensus that New York is the most globalized city in the world. This is mainly because of the huge financial activity that takes places in the city, presence of United Nations and its diversity that is a result of centuries of immigration in the city. London takes the second spot, for its being the most attractive spot of tourists, information center, cultural heritage, and presence of renowned universities. Tokyo, on the other hand, fails to achieve the same level of diversity as London and New York but makes up for the same with its strong business activity and cultural heritages (Bodley, pp. 85-89). Works Cited Agnew, John A., & Duncan, James S. The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Human Geography. John Wiley & Sons, 2011. Amen, Mark, Toly, Noah J., McCarney, Patricia L., & Segbers, Klaus. Cities and Global Governance: New Sites for International Relations. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2011. Bodley, John H. Cultural Anthropology: Tribes, States, and the Global System. Rowman Altamira, 2011. Casino, Vincent J. Del., Thomas, Mary E., & Cloke, Paul. A Companion to Social Geography. John Wiley & Sons, 2011. Sassen, Saskia. Global networks, linked cities. Routledge, 2002. Sassen, Saskia. The global city: New York, London, Tokyo. Princeton University Press, 2001. World Bank. World Development Indicators 2011. World Bank Publications, 2011. Read More