ABSTRACT
The main objective of this chapter is to discuss the debates of optimistic and pessimistic viewers of globalization and describe the contemporary debates on how the global urban culture has been changing and assimilating into a single global culture, technology drives economic growth and urban development, and globalization leads to diverse urban cultures and ethnic spaces. Contemporary literature from a wide variety of sources was reviewed to write this chapter. The chapter sketches the changes that have been taking place in global urban culture due to globalization, drawing instances from the various urban areas of the world, such as Bangladesh, India, Tehran, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Istanbul, the Arab world, and some other countries and communities. The chapter shows, due to globalization, how: the global culture has been shrouding and assimilating into a single global culture, losing traditional cultures and cultural boundaries, e.g., food, clothing, religion, traditional arts, lifestyle, theatre and cinema, architectural patterns, joint-family system, etc.; culture is used as the means of urban development, e.g., global branding of city culture, preservation of cultural heritage, selling of creative works at the global market, cultural redevelopment, tourism, etc.; technology-driven economic growth and the cultural change, e.g., international trade and business, growing trans-national communications, cross-border alliances, the emergence of e-commerce companies, modes of wireless communication and the flow of information; and the diverse urban ethnic spaces emerge in urban areas with multicultural practices, e.g., migrant diasporas, ghetto groups, higher education students, and cultural conferences.
