ABSTRACT
Globalization is commonly explained as a series of international business linkages, a quickening time-space compression and shrinking of the planet, and worldwide economic restructuring that delinks manufacturing from decision-making. We should also remember that globalization is far from a new phenomenon, and can be seen in cross-continental empires throughout history: from Rome’s reach across Europe, North Africa, and western Asia, to the global colonizing experiences of Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal. In contemporary practice, we see cities assuming different structural roles as the global economy restructures. Building from multiple global network theories that now exist (see various selections in The City Reader, fifth edition. Richard T. LeGates and Frederic Stout, eds, Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 2011; by the following selection authors: Saskia Sassen, Manuel Castells, Brenner/Keil, or Beaverstock/Smith/Taylor), some cities will retain their roles as command and control centers (e.g., Tokyo or New York) whereas others will become finance and banking centers (e.g., London or Hong Kong). At the other end of the economic ladder, cities will continue to supply affordable labor pools (e.g., Manila or Bangalore), continue as extraction and production centers (e.g., Johannesburg or Guangzhou), or struggle under the weight of their urban poor, who are often living in slum conditions (e.g., Lagos or Mumbai). To ensure increased accumulation and some degree of economic resiliency, it becomes a common urban strategy to compete for a more advantageous position in this global hierarchy and diversify one’s economic base. Thus, beyond single function strategies, we see cities transforming themselves to keep up, speed up, and wise up. However, all this restructuring results in unexpected interurban contestations between classes – as people jostle for space, get displaced, seek political access, and colonize new areas within the city. A concern for urbanists, regardless of global location, is the increasing economic polarization (wealth gap) that descends upon urban areas everywhere with respect to the triumph of neo-liberal economic attitudes.
