Globalization and Urban Development

The main objective of this paper is to develop an integrated conceptual framework in which relationships among globalization, spatial allocation of resources and spatial impacts are constructed. The paper begins with debates on globalization and summarizes persistent problems of the world and new trends of globalization. Then it observes the historical transformation of industrial cities and investigates the factors affecting the spatial allocation of resources which create spatial impacts. The overall framework can be used as a basis to create and define research tasks about globalization and urban spatial development.

Globalization has two elements: economic globalization refers to the integration of global markets, while ideological globalization refers to the political ideas that underlie the spread of markets, trade, and democracy. Economic globalization is limited in its reach in the developing world: some cities have done well; some, despite not being globalized, have regional importance; and large regions and numerous cities have been bypassed. Ideological globalization, on the other hand, is far more widespread from an intellectual and a policy perspective. The tenets of ideological globalization are likely to work further to the relative detriment of the cities/regions in the global periphery. This is a “cumulative causation” argument that raises questions about the development prospects of peripheral regions.

This chapter explores the implications of India’s post-1991 liberalization and globalization on the national urban system. Globalization (and the macroeconomic policies associated with it) not only resulted in rapid economic growth but affected cities in different ways, primarily by the growth of foreign direct investment (FDI). The urban population distribution in India reflects the absence of primacy; in fact, the million-plus cities grew more slowly in the 1990s in an era of lower population growth. High-quality residential and office space has been developed on the urban outskirts, fostered by rapidly rising land prices. FDI has focused on a limited set of sectors (including knowledge-based industries), resulting in selective (not unskilled) migration and growth along urban corridors rather than within cities. The macroeconomic reforms and globalization have forced many policy changes at the city level: Private sector involvement in infrastructure development and management; allowing city access to capital markets; and setting up central government funding programs to promote urban structural change. The impacts of globalization on cities (as opposed to the macroeconomic reforms) can be exaggerated: The scale of FDI is low compared with other Asian countries, the direct impacts were geographically concentrated in six larger cities, globalization has not accelerated urban growth, only a few economic sectors have been impacted, and the most obvious changes have been in the built environment (e.g., new buildings) and spatial structure.

This chapter discusses trends in Korean urbanization during the era of increasing globalization. Much of the earlier globalization bypassed Korea except in the sense that its industrial growth was propelled forward by export expansion. More recently, however, Korea has had to face the impacts of globalization on the internal dynamics of the Korean economy and its cities: trade liberalization, market opening and foreign direct investment. This has resulted in severe adjustment problems in terms of economic structure (the transition to high-order services has probably been too slow) and the urban hierarchy (reinforcing the larger cities, especially the Seoul metropolitan region). There are opportunities and goals, e.g. to attract global events (in sports and culture) and to build up Seoul as the symbolic land bridge linking China and Japan. However, the government has not yet developed a viable trade-off between the dispersal policies aimed at achieving balanced regional development and the implicit spatial consequences (benefiting the larger cities) of accommodating globalization.

This paper examines how economic openness influences regional development in a developing country, with the Philippines as a case study. It first looks at the disparities in economic and social indicators across the country’s 14 regions and over time. Metro Manila continues to tower over the national economic landscape, although economic dispersal especially in adjacent regions appears to be expanding. The paper then analyzes the determinants of regional development, using five-year panel data. Trade openness appears to be beneficial to regional economic growth and, via growth, poverty reduction. However, it cannot by itself be expected to bring about more balanced regional development.

Indonesia has initiated an ambitious decentralization program since 1999 spurred on by the international donor community (earlier decentralization measures were more like “deconcentration” under strong central control). This paper examines the degree to which Laws 22/1999 and 25/1999 are working. Local government employment has been expanded (not fully offset by a decline in central government employment) and training has been provided. Many functions have been transferred to the local level, but this was not matched by adequate funding transfers. Those localities that fare best have revenues available from their own natural resources. The results, therefore, are very mixed, and it is much too early to determine whether decentralization is a success.

Perceptions differ on the positive impact globalization has on the economic environment of the developed and developing world. This paper identifies elements of the African economic make-up that could hinder or assist in the reconnection of the region into the global economic society. It then discusses structural changes that have occurred in South Africa’s economic and demographic profile over the past two decades to demonstrate how different sections of the country’s population have reacted to threats and opportunities posed by changing local, regional and global circumstances in recent years. Particular emphasis is placed in the latter part of the paper on the dominant role that the Greater Johannesburg urban agglomeration plays nationally and internationally and the way in which changing agglomeration forces have influenced the relocation of multinationals in the metropolitan region.

This paper explores whether the Rio/São Paulo Extended Metropolitan Region, an area with 36 million and accounting for one-third of Brazil’s GNP, can successfully integrate into the global economy. Analysis of private investment projects in different sub-regions over the period 1995–2002 suggests that most of the investments are in high-tech or average technology rather than in low technology projects. Decentralization into the Paraiba Valley appears to be taking place rapidly. However, in the region as a whole, severe imbalances between the Rio and the São Paulo remain, and these are an obstacle to the region’s attempt to climb up the global urban hierarchy rankings.

This article considers the effects of globalization on Mexico City, as well as whether this urban area, one of the largest in the world, can be considered a “global city.” We base our arguments on a number of scales of analysis suggested in the literature on these topics. At the international scale, we look at the increased concentration of corporate headquarters and air traffic flows in the city. In terms of its role in the national urban system, we argue that while domestic migration patterns have shifted toward other destinations, the majority of domestically produced merchandise continues to find its way to the capital. At the metropolitan scale, our analysis suggests increasing spatial segregation, as well as longer commutes. At the intraurban level, we find that the sectoral composition of jobs has shifted toward commercial and service sectors, the informal sector has expanded, the labor force is polarizing, and that high-level service sector growth is spatially concentrated. In view of these findings, we suggest that the effects of globalization on Mexico City are mixed, as it consolidates its position as a second-tier global city. We also argue that, in spite of welcome steps toward democratization, pre-existing income inequalities in the country have accentuated the socioeconomic polarization predicted by the literature on global cities and globalization, giving rise to a megacity with two very distinct sides.

Although Colombia has been identified as one of the globalized countries in the developing world, it does not stand out among the countries of Latin America. However, the economy performed better after 1990 when liberalization reforms were introduced. Employment and economic growth were particularly strong, especially between 1993 and 1997, but then the economy collapsed. Bogota followed this cycle, but has disadvantages from the perspective of exploiting the opportunities of globalization: An interior location, a weak manufacturing base and negligible exports, and a tarnished reputation associated with the drug trade that discourages foreign direct investment and tourism. On the other hand, the city has been well managed under a series of mayors, although this is unlikely to have any major payoff in terms of globalization benefits.

In some respects, Los Angeles is the most global city in the world. It does not have the highest foreign-born population share (although it is close), but it has the most varied. Hollywood, and everything that it means, probably has the most dominant global cultural penetration. The twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach vie for supremacy with Hong Kong and Singapore. On the other hand, not one Fortune 500 company is headquartered there; in terms of the “world city hypothesis” criteria, it fails miserably. How can we explain this paradox? According to Kevin Starr (the premier historian of California), Los Angeles is on the frontier of global urban life. Or, if we believe the views of Ed Soja, Allen Scott, Mike Davis and others, it is dysfunctional, with a bifurcated income distribution that is a direct result of globalization. The paper will explore some of these issues.

St. Petersburg has not been successful in overcoming a large number of social and economic obstacles inherited from its Soviet past. St. Petersburg is missing an important set of pre-conditions that are critical to attain a level of global interaction required to be considered for secondary city status in a semi-peripheral country. Only the city’s cultural activities appear to qualify the city for world city status. As long as Russia itself remains “stuck in transition,” world city status for St. Petersburg will remain elusive.

Japanese policy makers have, since their contact with the colonial powers in the mid 19th century, been acutely aware of the pressures and challenges of national survival in a globalizing world. In this sense, the Japanese experience of modernity has been deeply intertwined with, and is in important ways inseparable from the ongoing processes of globalization during the last century and a half. While their main response was to foster the growth of Japanese industrial, military and diplomatic power, one consistent theme has been the development of the capital city Tokyo as emblem of Japan as a civilized nation, location of national institutions, and center of economic power. This project, however, has long been an arena of considerable conflict between city builders and the residents of central Tokyo. The most recent conflict over the control of urban space in Japan’s premier world city emerged in the last few years when major developers lobbied successfully for massive increases in allowable building volumes and heights in special regeneration areas, arguing that without further deregulation Tokyo would lose its competitive position in relation to Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore. This paper argues that in Japan an important feature of globalization and international competitive pressures has been their use by urban actors in disputes over the control of urban space, and examines this use of globalization debates in the competition between economic space and life space in Tokyo.

One of the important issues related to world cities studies is the lack of systematic measurement of the formation of world cities. Such a measurement technique would be a useful tool for cities aspiring to attain world city status, especially those cities in Pacific Asia, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, and Shanghai. This paper approaches this task by devising a measurement methodology based on quantifiable indicators to generate a World City Index and then uses Shanghai as a case study to test how the city stands compared to 32 current and potential world cities.

Karachi is a mega-city and the only seaport of a populous country. It contains a concentration of Pakistan’s financial and industrial sectors. However, it does not have any of the advanced productive service functions associated with a world city; neither does it show any evidence of developing them. Several scholars have suggested that the various forms of globalization — trade liberalization, development assistance, global communications, economic migration, and international terror/organized crime — have had negative impacts on the economics and livability of Karachi. By critiquing the writings of the city’s intellectuals, polling the intentions of investors, and observing the actual practices of its traditional and non-traditional administrators, this paper seeks to triangulate perceptions of what has thwarted development. Flawed governance and national policies emerge as the root causes. The lack of mechanisms for business disputes resolution, low levels of education and awareness, and unstable energy supplies are the main operational obstacles to investment in Karachi. The uncertain law and order is a pervasive background factor. Should these issues be addressed simultaneously or would a strategic intervention suffice for progressive change?

This paper examines comparatively the impact of information technology on urban spatial structure in the Chicago and Seoul metropolitan regions in an attempt to measure the potential influence of IT on urban form and structure. We analyzed the metropolitan areas to understand ways in which the information technology has influenced the distribution of urban economic activities: concentration or dispersion by examining two aspects of impacts: an attraction effect on a zone (level of activity) and a spillover effect on surrounding areas (distributional effects).

This article argues that urban environmental transitions (McGranahan et al. 2001) are experienced differently by cities, such as New York and Tokyo. While New York has experienced shifts in its environmental burdens over long periods of time and in sequential order, Tokyo, which developed rapidly under the forces of globalization, has experienced shifts in environmental burdens over shorter periods and simultaneously. Starting from the viewpoint that associates long waves of development with the Western experience, the paper demonstrates that there were different transitions among sets of environmental conditions within the United States in general and New York City in particular. Then, the focus turns to the contemporary urban development of Japan and Tokyo. David Harvey’s (1989) notion of “time-space compression,” helps to explain the compressed and telescoped transitions.

This paper uses the introduction of a mass rapid transit system into the existing urban form of the city of Bangkok as a metaphor to explore issues of globalization and urban form. The aspirations of Bangkok to become one of the world cities in the global economy were clear prior to the economic crisis of the 1990s. The Bangkok mass transit system — the Skytrain — was initiated in 1992 and opened in 1999 in response to major problems of traffic congestion and pollution, and the expansion of central business districts. The Skytrain is promoted as a symbol of modernity, comparable to the best in the world. It was built over existing streets some 3–4 stories above ground level. At this level there are direct pedestrian links from the stations into some of Bangkok’s prestigious shopping malls and hotels, and links to commercial areas. On the streets beneath this massive structure, the vibrant chaos of Thailand exists, seemingly untouched by the world above. The streets are jammed with traffic, the footways with street traders and food stalls, and the night markets teem with people. Those, the majority, who find the Skytrain too expensive, ride in cheap buses, and on motorcycles, polluting the streets with fumes and noise. Two separate patterns of use, almost different “worlds” exist, one above and the other below the transit lines. The paper argues that both the local and global co-exist, and that globalization may not always be the winner.