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World Cities

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WORLD CITIES

AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
WORLD CITIES
• World cities are cities which have many connections to, and considerable influence
over, other parts of the world; they are the most important centres in global economic
and cultural networks.
• One of the most common measures used to rank world cities is to count the number of
head offices of MNCs that the city possesses.
• World cities also contain many top level firms in the fields of insurance, law, property
investment, accountancy etc.
• Location of high quality universities and research institutions – supply the MNCs with
skilled employees and new technologies.
• Contain a large proportion of the most highly qualified people on the planet – highly
paid.
• Best facilities ranging from medicine and hospitals through to luxury shopping,
entertainment and media.
• Major cultural experiences including world class museums, theatres, sports stadiums and
fashion hubs
CHARACTERISTICS

• Although what constitutes a world city is still subject to debate, standard characteristics
of world cities are:

• A variety of international financial services, notably in finance, insurance, real estate,


banking, accountancy, and marketing

• Headquarters of several multinational corporations


• The existence of financial headquarters, a stock exchange and major financial institutions

• Domination of the trade and economy of a large surrounding area

• Major manufacturing centres with port and container facilities

• Considerable decision-making power on a daily basis and at a global level


CHARACTERISTICS CONT…

• Centres of new ideas and innovation in business, economics, culture and politics

• Centres of media and communications for global networks

• Dominance of the national region with great international significance

• High percentage of residents employed in the services sector and information sector

• High-quality educational institutions, including renowned universities, international


student attendance and research facilities

• Multi-functional infrastructure offering some of the best legal, medical and


entertainment facilities in the country
CLASSIFICATION OF WORLD CITIES:

• In 2012 the Globalisation and World Cities Research Network classified world cities according to their
connections with the global economy.

• alpha++ cities In all analyses, London and New York stand out as clearly more integrated than all other cities
and constitute their own high level of integration
• alpha+ cities Other highly integrated cities that complement London and New York , largely filling in advanced
service needs for the global economy, especially in Asia. Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore
are all alpha+ cities
• alpha & alpha- cities Very important world cities that link major economic regions and states into the world
economy
• All beta level cities These are important world cities that are instrumental in linking their region or state into
the world economy
• All gamma level cities These can be world cities linking smaller regions or states into the world economy, or
important world cities whose major global capacity is not in advanced producer services
• Cities with sufficiency of services These are cities that are not world cities as defined here but they have
sufficient services so as not to be overtly dependent on world cities. Two specialised categories of city are
common at this level of integration: smaller capital cities, and traditional centres of manufacturing regions

• WHERE DO YOU THINK THE CITIES IN AUSTRALIA ARE RANKED?


WORLD CITIES
• World cities are the Rank Description Examples
most likely points
A++ cities Vastly more integrated with the London/NYC
of origin and
global economy
diffusion for new
ideas, new fashions A+ cities Complement A++ cities by Tokyo, Hong
and information. filling advance niches for the Kong,
global economy Beijing,
Shanghai etc.
A/A- cities Link major economic regions Melbourne
into the world economy
B cities Link moderate economic regions Brisbane,
into the world economy Perth
C cities Cities that link smaller economic Adelaide
regions into the world economy
Sufficiency Have a sufficient degree of Canberra
level cities services so as not to be
obviously dependent on world
cities
WORLD CITIES
WORLD CITIES – SPATIAL
DISTRIBUTION
• Most of the world cities are located within the more
developed regions (MEDC’s) of the world.
• A high concentration are situated in the Northern
Hemisphere within Europe, Asia and North America.
• A few cities exist outside the ‘global core’ e.g. Sydney –
these cities connect other developed economies with the
rest of the world.
• There are no world cities on the African continent.
WORLD CITIES

It is not their population size that makes these cities a ‘world city’; it is
the worldwide extent of their power and influence, or because their
networks and interconnections are truly global.
• Complete the World
Cities worksheet,
using your laptop and
TASK page 211 and 212 of
your WA ATAR
Geography Textbook
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

• In the European imperialist era, the mother countries (cores) tended to


exploit their colonies (peripheries).
• The colonies (e.g. within Africa) had large reserves of desirable raw
materials (e.g. minerals) and lower production costs (cheap labour).
• Initially, manufacturing (factories) were set up in the mother countries.
People became more skilled/wealthier. Final products (goods) were
more valuable than the raw materials.
• Therefore the mother countries became richer and more economically
developed while colonies remained poorer and less advanced.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
• Colonial populations desired independence due
to being economically exploited.
• E.g. Mahatma Gandhi’s leadership of the
Indian independence movement:
• He boycotted manufactured British goods esp.
textiles by the Indian pop.
• He argued for the production of cotton by Indians
on domestic spinning wheels to break what he saw
as the unfair interconnection between farms of India
and the cotton mills of England.
• The imperialist system has led to the most
important world cities being located in the
richest and most technologically advanced
countries.
• Countries on the global economic periphery are
located in Africa, Latin America and parts of
Asia.
STAGES OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Rostow’s growth model


- Economist who takes a historical approach in suggesting that
developed countries have tended to pass through 5 stages to reach
their current degree of economic development.
- Model describes the industrial development of national economies
and societies from typically subsistence agriculture to high
technology industrialist industry.
STAGES OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Rostow’s Growth Model Stages
Traditional Low growth, slow rate of change, most people are dependent on low technology
Society agriculture, local networks, society is dominated by religious or military elites
E.g. Medieval Europe (1000-1400s) or some primitive tribes today
Preconditions Economic growth and social change accelerate, new scientific discoveries, contact
for take-off with the wider world increases
E.g. Western Europe in the Age of Discovery (1400s-1600s), SubSaharan Africa
today
Take-off Economic growth and social change are rapid, technical discoveries and growing
external trade, activities become industrialised, people move from rural areas to
towns for work
E.g. Western Europe during the Industrial Revolution (1800s), China from 1950’s

Drive to Economic growth and social change rapid but slowing, advanced technologies
Maturity applied, international trade is growing, raw materials obtained from colonial
possessions
E.g. Western Europe in late 19th and early 20th centuries, South Korea or Hong Kong
today
High Mass Rate of economic growth and social change slows, most people are educated,
Consumption wealthy, urban dwellers, country is strongly linked into global trading systems
E.g. Britain, Germany or Australia today
STAGES OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc-IwHZD8Vo
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

• These stages can be seen in the economic development of Great


Britain between 1600-1900s, post civil-war USA (1865 – to 1945)
and post WWII Japan.
• Rostow’s model has been criticised for being too ‘Western’ in it’s
outlook (a description of what happened in Europe)
• It’s also argued that these countries could only develop in this way
because they exploited their colonies
• In the late 20th and early 21st centuries a different transformation is
occurring in Asia, South America and to some degree Africa.
ASIAN TIGERS

• Significant changes have occurred in the


so called ‘Asian Tigers’ of South Korea,
Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore
• They all grew rapidly and built up
global trade and export links
• They all developed their infrastructure,
education systems and became more
urban (urban dwellers tend to be
wealthier, better educated and more
globally connected)
• More recently, a wider range of
countries are beginning to go through
these changes called ‘tiger cubs’- Crazy Rich Asians? Not a complete work of fiction. 1 in 34
people in Singapore are millionaires. That makes it the sixth
Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, most millionaire-dense country in the world and the top across
Philippines, and Vietnam Asia.
ASIAN TIGERS
• Their paths to development differ;
• Some are democracies, some are communist, some are absolute monarchies,
some have been under military dictatorship
• Some are rich in natural resources
• Some are small nations that import their labour from other countries
• A common factor in their growth is that they had to develop their global
networks and interconnections
• Some use their good natural harbours and strategic locations as major hubs
e.g. Hong Kong, Singapore
• Some use their profits to establish hubs for major global airlines e.g. Emirates,
Qatar etc.
• Others use their natural and cultural assets to develop international tourism
industries e.g. Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam.
AND NOW THE EMERGENCE
OF….

• BRICS- the new international grouping


• Brazil
• Russia
• India
• China
• South Africa (not included in some textbooks)
They contain 40% of the world’s population and are changing and
growing rapidly. Thus, they are emerging as new global economic
powers.
BRICs – strengths and weaknesses
Task:
1. Use the fact sheets on
each countries
economy, politics,
demographics and
military to analyse
their strengths and
weaknesses by filling
in your table.
2. Answer the question
below in your books.

Question:
Using the fact sheets and your completed table, outline which of the BRIC
nations has the main advantage over the others. Explain why using data to
support your answer.
GLOBAL SHIFT

• A large and increasing number of developing countries are now


becoming richer, more urbanised, more educated and more
interconnected with the wider world.
• A ‘global shift’ of some measures of economic power from the
slower growing ‘core’ countries in North America, Western Europe
and Japan to the developing nations of Asia is certainly occurring.
IMPLICATIONS?
• More and more of a corporation’s
employees may be in the developing
world as they outsource their ‘production
line’ but the profits return to the
shareholders and the big decisions are
made by board members which are
located in the global ‘core’
• ‘Western’ fashion, music, entertainment
has diffused around the world but the
same cannot be said about other cultures
fashion, music and entertainment
(exceptions exist e.g. K-Pop and anime)
• English dominates as the ‘world language’
even though Mandarin (Chinese) has
more native speakers
• What are the implications of these changes?
GLOBAL SHIFT
• Therefore, even though the economies and populations in LEDCs are
growing faster than those in developed countries, the head offices of
almost all the world’s largest MNCs remain in the developed countries.
• Therefore, the profits made and stakeholder decisions are still occurring
in the global ‘core’.
• The economic shifts are occurring from the West towards Asia and
the rest of the developing world, but this is not occurring in cultural
terms e.g. English becoming even more of a world language, Western
fashion (jeans) and entertainment (Hollywood movies, American TV
etc.).

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