Social Polarization And Economic Changes In The Global Cities - Coursework Example

Social polarization and economic changes in the global cities Introduction Polarization refers to the creation of two extremities. From this point of reference, it is possible to indicate that in social polarization is the creation or widening of the gap that exists between different social groups. In the context of the global cities, it is possible to indicate that social polarization refers to the widening of the gap existing between different groups, in terms of their social as well as economic circumstances and the opportunities they have (Fyfe and Kenny, 2005, 74). Even though the understanding of some of the changes in the social structures in global cities is a straightforward concept, it is necessary to refer to the economic base of the cities and the part they play in the nationwide as well as international economy. This consideration informs the understanding of the changing structure of the existing social segregation and the housing market in the global cities. According to Friedman and Wolff on the role of global cites in the creation of social polarization, capitalistic institutions have progressively freed themselves from some of the national constrains in order to organize global production as well as markets. This is particularly applicable to some of the transnational organizations. They identify world cities as different localities in the global system, which are at the apex the hierarchy in the urban centers and are in control of some urban regions referred to as world cities. The articulation of the world economy through urban structures results from the surfacing of the global world economy, which is controlled by core areas. These core areas are industrialized regions that contain a majority of the existing corporate headquarters, and are considered as some of the major markets in the world production. The global cities serve as administrative headquarters, the centers for controlling different ideological conceptualizations and they serve as global financial centers. Without them, the different systems of economic relations in the world context will be unimaginable. Consequently, there is a prospect of arguing that the integration of the world system is likely to have an effect on the social, economic and the political structure of the world cities. Economically, there is a possibility of identifying that profound economic changes in the global cities have led to the changing structures in the world economy as well as the labor markets in different cities in the western world. This paper looks into some of the implications that result from the changing occupational, industrial and earning structure in New York and London. The implications refer to the residential segregation, gentrification and the housing market in the country. From this understanding, the paper will offer support to the argument of an existing link between the greater inequalities in the global cities, their economic structure, income structure, and the organization of the existing residential spaces in the cities. The paper brings forth the argument that the global cities exhibits changes from the industrial means of production to a post-industrial orientation that has led to the growth of the earnings, consequently leading to significant income inequalities between the working class. From the income inequalities, there is a possibility of taking note of the expanding middle class, which use the purchasing power at their disposition to outbid some of the other existing groups in the working market. Contrary to this, the purchasing power of the middle class has empowered them to expand into some of the areas in the inner city, previously inhabited by the working class. Consequently, the minority ethnic groups and the working class population have been forced to move to high-rise areas, where the population densities are high. For this reason, it is possible to establish the actuality that the middle class are moving into the inner cities, thereby leading to some changes in London’s social geography. On the other hand, the migratory changes that were taking place in new York are subject to the occupational changes, which is a factor that causes the social polarization in the region (Pratschke and Morlicchio 2010, 4). Linkages between the rise in the global cities and social polarization A number of studies indicate that there is an increasing integration between globalization and the world economy. One of the primary factors about the global cities is the fact that the incipient shifts in the employment structures have impacts on their economies as well as the social composition of the inhabitants in the cities (Friedman and Wolff 1982, 320). The global city dynamism results from the growth of high-level business clusters, employs a large number of professionals, including the ancillary staff. The primary clusters are allied to other employment growth poles, which are inclusive of the personal services and other amenities that cater for the new elite, such as real estate, security, hotels, and luxury boutiques among other services. Other sectors that are growing due to the changes include some of the government services and the tourism industry. The occupational and sectoral trends have negative impacts in terms of income distribution and social equality. According to Sassen (1991), there is a growing inequality in the capabilities of different sectors of the economy in making profits, and the earning abilities of different types of laborers. On the other hand, some of the polarization tendencies are embedded in the service industry organization and the employment relations. The other dynamic process that summarizes the theory of social polarization is the marginality in the urban centers, which results from the growth rather than abandonment (Sasses, 1991, 3). Economic changes Through time, the economic disposition in the two cities has been able to shift from manufacturing to business services and finance. This is characteristic similar to most of the global cities. This is an attribution to the fact that most of the people who were working in the manufacturing sector are now employed to some of the manufacturing companies that produce elsewhere. The parallel result is that manufacturing employment in the country has been on the decline, consequently leading to the expansion of employment opportunities in the service industries. Similar to most of the other global cities, London and New York cities have grown to be a center of employment on the service sector, particularly in the finance, banking, business services, and insurance. Despite the fact that it is feasible to determine that, the employment growth in the financial sector in London and New York in the 1990s was lower than in the previous decade, it is possible to indicate that the financial sector has still been the driving force two cities’ economy in the same period. On the other hand, employment in the business services and finance sector accounted for about 18 percent of the jobs in London (Cox and Watt 2002, 42). Because of the employment changes, it is possible to indicate that there has been a remarkable shift in the economy of the two cities. Due to the changes, there is a possibility of determining that the social structure has also gone through some shifts, thereby leading to the development of social polarization. The shifts in the occupational structure The changes in the industrial structure have had a great effect on the occupational structure of the cities. From the changes, the financial and business services led to the replacement of the manufacturing industry and a consequential replacement of the traditional manual labor by some of the service sector jobs. Even though the Friedman and Wolff argue that, the occupational changes led to the social polarization of the city, Hamnett (1996, 661) argues that the socio-occupational structure changes are not enough evidence to determine the shift in social polarization. However, these occupational changes reveal that the long-term professional growth is consistent, meaning that there is a proportionate decline in the proportions of skilled, non-skilled and unskilled labor. Conversely, there is an indication of a possible stability in the non-manual labor group. The trends indicate that there is a growth in the occupational professionalism of labor in the country (Hamnett 1996, 663) By analyzing the trend in occupational changes, an individual might be able to argue that the trends lead to the development of occupational class structures in the global cities. Through the development of the class structures, one can be able to derive an explanation that the findings are not indicative of social polarization on the occupational front. This argument takes into consideration the fact that the growing professionalization of labor is possibly occurring in all occupations and for this reason, changes in the social structure might not be recognizable. Critics to the argument that the existing occupational class structures in the global cities determine the social polarization in the region refer to the labor force statistics to discredit the argument. The critics argue that the statistics are not indicative of the true nature of some of the labor force changes. One of the reasons that give support to the argument that the changes in the occupational structures are not necessarily reasons for determining social polarization in the global cities is the fact that unskilled labor is undocumented. Cox and Watt (2002, 43) argue that official statistics do not have documented evidence that give the number of unskilled laborers working in the informal economy. The authors argue that the upward occupational moves in some of the job descriptions conceal the true nature of the jobs. According to Cox and Watt (2002), these jobs are being deskilled. By assessing this argument, there is a possibility of arguing that the lack of comprehensive evidence on the occupational characteristics is a valid indication that the changing occupational structure does not prove social polarization. Alternatively, some of the critics ignore the argument that some of the major economic changes have led to the dispensation of the less skilled manual laborers, who work in both the service and manufacturing sectors. For instance, quite a large number of the less skilled individuals working in the service sector in Britain such as the bus conductors, porters and railway guards have been lost in public transport and on the railways. These losses might have more than the offsetting of growth in the low skilled service sector jobs. The argument takes not of the fact that a polarization consideration means the expansion of the bottom groups and the middle class, but there are signs that the middle class in the global city societies are becoming numerically stronger. Consequently, the skilled manual groups are stabilizing and the proportion of the non-skilled laborers is slowly decreasing. For this reason, the changing occupational structure might not entirely give support to the idea of social polarization, in reference to the functions of global cities in the world economy. Incomes The polarization thesis by Sassen is an extension from occupational change to income and earnings in the service sector. The earnings in the manufacturing sector were more bipolar and were characterized by quite a large number of jobs attracting middle pay. Conversely, trends towards occupations in the service sector were characteristically concerned with the expansion of highly skilled and high paying opportunities and the expansion of low skilled jobs that were paying dismally (Sassen, 1991, 4). Sassen argues that in opposition to the older industries that are on the decline, the major growth industries are showing a great incidence of opportunities at the high as well as low paying ends of that scale. Through time, it is possible to establish that there have been major increases in individual as well as household incomes. One thing that has led to the expansion of the inequalities is the large increases in incomes of the individuals that are at the top of the scale, and not the decreased earnings of the individuals at the bottom of the end of the income distribution. This has caused an enlargement of the gap between the top and the bottom end of the income distribution. Due to the faster growth in incomes of people at the top end of the income distribution, it is possible to indicate that there has been an upward shift of the income mean of the individual and household earnings (Glass 1989, 175). Housing market gentrification By assessing the housing market in London since the 1970’s, it is possible to identify that the income and occupational changes have led to dramatic changes in the market. In inner London, it is possible to identify the increase in the growth of home ownership as well as the widespread gentrification. This is because of the growing number of professionals as well as managerial workers, who represent the middle class, and they have the ability to buy houses in the existing middle class areas. The social changes that emanate from the housing gentrification are unsurprising. In a housing market that is competitive, price is the only determinant to the access (Glass 1989, 178). This means that the expanding middle class is associated with rolling back a majority of the less skilled workforce, the ethnic minorities, the poor and the unemployed individuals. Similar to the anticipations by Ruth Glass (1989), the less skilled individuals at the bottom of the income or earning scale remain in the growing association sectors or in some of the authority estates in inner London (Glass 1989, 178). Ruth indicates that despite the dinginess or unfashionable situation of some of the houses in London, it is highly likely that the houses will be expensive, which is an illustration that only the financially fit individuals will be able to survive accordingly. The housing changes in New York are also comparable to the changes in London, with the prices of property increasing constantly, making it difficult for poor people to afford. Conclusion An analysis of the economic disposition of the global cities in the world economy indicates that changes in production from manufacturing based activities to the business services and financial sector has an effect on the social polarization in society. Some of the changes brought about by the shift in production include effects on the occupational orientations of workers, income and earning shifts and housing gentrification. The changes have led to the increment of the gap existing between the middle class and the poor populations, which is a factor that has led to the creation of a socially polarized society. However, lack of enough evidence in reference to London on the effects of occupational changes to social polarization is a factor that might discredit the argument. Bibliography Beachler, B. K. (2005). Mind the gap: economic & social polarization & the prospects for labor revitalization in London. Thesis (M.S.)--Cornell University, May 2005. Cox R. and Watt, P. (2002). Globalization, polarization and the informal sector: the case of paid domestic workers in London, Area, 34, 1, pp. 39-47. Friedmann, J., and Wolff, G. (1982). World city formation: an agenda for research and action, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 6, 3, pp. 309-344. Fyfe, N. R., & Kenny, J. T. (2005). The urban geography reader. Psychology Press. Glass R. (1964). Introduction to London: Aspects of Change, Centre for Urban Studies, London (reprinted in Glass R., 1989, Cliches of Urban Doom, Oxford, Blackwell). Hamnett C. and D. Cross. (1998). Social polarization and inequality in London: the earnings evidence, 1979-1995, Environment and Planning C, 16, pp. 659-680. Oloughlin, J. V. (1996). Social polarization in post-industrial metropolises. Berlin [u.a.], de Gruyter. Pratschke, J. & Morlicchio, E. (2010). Social polarization, the labor market and economic restructuring in Europe: an urban perspective. University of Salerno. Sassen S. (1991). Global Cities: New York, London and Tokyo. New York: Princeton University Press. Read More