ABSTRACT
The Prologue of this report presented a view of globalization as a process with positive as well as negative implications. It stressed that the distribution of the benefits and costs of globalization is neither even nor random. Building on these observations, Chapter 1 offers a review of trends that are a cause of alarm in cities worldwide. It provides evidence for widespread and growing poverty and pervasive patterns of worsening inequality, producing trends of heightened polarization with wealth and access to resources becoming more concentrated. It also describes several ways in which modern information and communication technologies (ICTs) tend to deepen existing economic and social divisions. However, while ICTs are an essential element of globalization, they do not predetermine its goals. Later parts of this report include a variety of examples showing how ICTs can also be used for more beneficial results. The trends of growing poverty and polarization form an essential perspective for gaining a better understanding of the implications of globalization for urban settlements, which is the subject of Chapter 2. It is in urban centres that global interests focus their activities and whence their influences on surrounding regions originate. Therefore, the second chapter examines implications of globalization more specifically for cities.
