A global city, characterized by its economic power and cultural influence, serves as a pivotal hub in the global economy, with examples including New York, London, and Tokyo. Despite their advantages, these cities often exhibit significant inequality and can attract both talent and poverty, highlighting the disparities within urban environments. The study of global cities is essential to understanding the spatial dynamics of globalization, which impacts both social structures and environmental sustainability.

1. GE 3 – THE
CONTEMPORARY
WORLD
Ms. Andrea Dianne E. Cabrera, LPT

2. LESSON 3:
GLOBAL CITY

3. GLOBAL CITY - also known as a power
city, world city, alpha city, or world
center, is a city that serves as a
primary node in the global economic
network.
GLOBAL CITY an urban center that
enjoys significant competitive
advantages and that serves as a hub
within a globalized economic system.

4. GLOBAL CITY
• Sociologist “Saskia Sassen”
popularized the term “global city”
in the 1990’s.
• She initially identified three global
cities: New York, London and
Tokyo, Japan
• New York has the New York Stock
Exchange (NYSE) London has the
Financial Times Stock Exchange
(FSTE) and Tokyo has the Nikkei.

5. GLOBAL CITY
• Recent commentators have expanded the criteria
that Sassen used to determine what constitutes a
global city.
• Movie-making Mecca Los Angeles can now rival the
Big Apple’s cultural influence.
• San Francisco must now factor in as another global
city because it is the home of the most powerful
internet companies- Facebook, Twitter, and Google.
• The growth of the Chinese economy has turned cities
like Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou into centers of
trade and finance.

6. INDICATORS OF GLOBALITY
1. The foremost characteristics of a global city is economic power.
2. Economic power largely determines which cities are global.
3. Economic opportunities in a global city make it attractive to
talents from across the world.
4. To measure the economic competitiveness of a city, the
Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has added other criteria like
market size, purchasing power of citizens, size of the middle
class, and potential for growth.
5. The “tiny” Singapore is considered as Asia’s most competitive
city because of its strong market, efficient and incorruptible
government and livability.

7. INDICATORS OF GLOBALITY
6. Global cities are also centers of authority. Washington D.C may not
be as wealthy as New York, but is the seat of American state power.
7. Compared with Sydney and Melbourne, Canberra is a sleepy town
and not attractive to tourists. But as Australia’s political capital, it is
home to the country’s top politicians, bureaucrats, and policy
advisors.
8. The cities that house major international organization may also be
considered centers of political influence.
 United Nations (UN) headquarters – New York
 European Union (EU) headquarters – Brussels, Belgium
 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) headquarters –
Jakarta, Indonesia
 European Central Bank (ECB) – Frankfurt, Germany

8. Harvard University
Boston
Australia

9. LOS ANGELES – the center of the American film industry.
Copenhagen, Denmark – is now considered as one of
the culinary capitals of the worlds, with its top
restaurants incommensurate with its size.
Manchester, England – many prominent post-punk and
new wave bands – Joy Division, the Smiths, and the
Happy Mondays – hailed from this city.
Singapore houses some of the region’s top television
stations and news organizations (MTV Southeast Asia
and Channel News Asia)
Its various art galleries and cinemas also show paintings
from artist and filmmakers from Philippines and Thailand.

10. Today, global cities become culturally diverse
Manila is not very
global because of the
death of foreign
residents
But Singapore is,
because it has a
foreign population
of 38%

11. Why do we need to study
Global Cities?
Globalization is spatial which means:
1.Globalization is spatial because it occurs
in physical spaces. More people are
driven out of city centers to make way for
the new developments.
2.Globalization is spatial because what
makes it moves is the fact it is based in
places.

12. The Challenges of Global Cities
 Global cities also have their undersides. They can
be sites of great inequality and poverty as well as
tremendous violence.
 Global cities create winners and losers.
 Denser settlement patterns yield energy savings;
apartment building for example, are more efficient
to heat and cool than detached suburban house.
 In cities with extensive public transportation
systems, people tend to drive less and thereby cut
carbon emissions.

13. The Challenges of Global Cities
Not all cities are as dense as New York or Tokyo. Some
cities like Los Angeles are urban sprawls, with massive
freeways that force residents to spend money on cars
and gas.
Urban areas consume most of the world’s energy.
Cities only cover 2% of the world’s landmass, but they
consume 78% of global energy. Therefore, if carbon
emissions must be cut to prevent global warming, this
massive energy consumption in cities must be curbed.

14. VERTICAL FARMS

15. The Challenges of Global Cities
The major terror attacks of recent years have
also targeted cities. Cities, especially those
with global influence are obvious targets for
terrorists.
9/11 attack – World Trade Center, New York
November 2015 attacks in Paris by Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)

17. The Global City and the Poor
 Massive inequality was very pronounced in cities, particularly those
in Scandinavia, have found ways to mitigate inequality through
state-led social redistribution programs. Yet, many cities, particularly
those in the developing countries, are sites of contradiction.
 In places like Mumbai, Jakarta, and Manila, it is common to find
gleaming buildings alongside massive shantytowns.
 In the outskirts of New York and San Francisco are poor urban
enclaves occupied by African-Americans and immigrant families
who are often denied opportunities at a better life.
Gentrification – a phenomenon of driving out the poor in favor of
never, wealthier residents.
 In Australia cities, poor aboriginal Australians have been most
acutely affected by gentrification.

18. The Global City and the Poor
 In France, poor Muslim migrants are forced out of
Paris and have clustered around ethnic enclaves
known as banlieue.
 In most of the world’s global cities, the middle class
is also thinning out. Globalization creates high-
income jobs that are concentrated in global cities.
 In places like New York, there are high rolling
American investment bankers whose children are
raised by Filipina maids.

19. CONCLUSION
Global Cities are sites and mediums of
globalization. They are material representations of
the phenomenon. Through them, we see the best
of globalization, they are places that create
exciting fusions of culture and ideas. They are also
places that generate tremendous wealth.
However, they remain sites of great inequality,
where global servants serve global entrepreneurs.