Sassen - The Global City - Introducing a Concept

7/27/2019 Sassen - The Global City - Introducing a Concept

1/18

T h e G l o b a l C i t y : i n t r o d u c i n g a C o n c e p tSASKIA SASSENProfessor of SociologyUniversity of Chicago

E A C H P H A S E IN T H E L O N G his to ry o f the wor ld economy ra i ses spec i f i c ques t ions aboutthe pa r t icu la r con d i t ion s tha t make it pos s ib le . O n e of t he key proper t i e s o f th e cur re n tphase is the ascen danc e of info rm at ion techn olog ies and the associa ted increase in themobi l i ty and l iqu id i ty o f cap i ta l . There have long been c ros s -borde r economic p ro-cessesflows of capi ta l , labor , go od s , raw mater ia ls , tour is ts . Bu t to a large exten t the setoo k p lace w i th in the in te r - s ta te system, where the key a r ti cu la to rs were na t iona l s t a te s .The in te rna t iona l economic sys tem was ensconced la rge ly in th i s in te r - s ta te sys tem.Th is has cha ng ed ra ther dram at ica l ly over the las t deca de as a resul t of pr ivat iza t ion, 27deregu la t ion , the open ing up of na t iona l economies to fo re ign f i rms , and the g rowingpar t i c ipa t ion o f na t iona l economic ac to rs in g loba l marke t s .

I t is in this co ntex t th a t we see a re-scal ing of w ha t are the s t ra tegic terr i tor ies tha ta r t i cu la te the new sys tem. Wi th the pa r t i a l unbundl ing o r a t l eas t weaken ing of thena t iona l a s a spa t ia l un i t d ue to p r iva t i za t ion a nd d e regu la t ion and th e a s soc ia teds t reng then in g of g loba l iza t ion co me con di t ion s fo r the a scendance o f o the r spa ti a luni ts or sca les . Among these are the sub-nat ional , notably c i t ies and regions ; cross-borde r reg ions encompass ing two or more sub-na t iona l en t i t i e s ; and supra -na t iona lent i t ies , i.e . g lobal digi ta lized m arke ts and free t rade blocs . T h e dy nam ics and processesthat ge t te rrr i tor ia l ized a t these diverse sca les can in pr inciple be regional , na t ional org loba l .

I locate the emergence of global c i t ies in this context and agains t th is range ofins tant ia t ions of s t ra tegic sca les and spat ia l uni ts . ' In the case of global c i t ies , the dy-namics and processes tha t ge t te rr i tor ia l ized are global .


2/18

SASKL\ SASSENELEMENTS IN A NE W CONCEPTUAL ARCHITECTURE

T he global izat ion of econo m ic act iv ity entai ls a new type of organizat ional s t ructure .To capture th is theoret ical ly and empirical ly requires , correspondingly , a new type ofconceptual architecture.^ Constructs such as the global city and the global-city regionare, in my reading, im po rtan t e lements in th is new conceptual arch i tecture . T he act iv-i ty of naming these elements is part of the conceptual work . There are o ther c loselyl inked terms wh ich co uld conceivably have been used: wo rld cities,"* "supervilles,"^ in-format ional c ity . T hu s , choosing h ow to nam e a configurat ion has its ow n substant iverationality.

W he n I f irst chose to use g lobal c i ty /T d id so kno win gly it was an at tem pt tona m e a difference: the specificity oFth e global as i t gets stru ctu red in the co nte m po rar yperiod. I did not chose the obvious alternative, world city, because i t had precisely theopp osi te a t t r ibu te: i t referred to a type of c i ty w hich we have seen over the cen tur ies / inearlier periods in Asia^ and in European colonial centers.^ In this regard, it can be saidtha t m ost of today's ma jor global cities are also w orld cit ies, bu t th at there m ay well besom e global cities today t ha t are not w orld cit ies in the full , rich sense of that ter m . Th isis part ly an empirical quest ion; further , as the g lobal economy expands and incorpo-rates additional cit ies into the various networks, i t is quite possible that the answer tothat part icular quest ion wil l vary. T hu s , the fact that M iam i has developed global c i tyfunct ions beg inning in the la te 1980s does not m ake i t a w orld ci ty in tha t o lder senseo f t h e t e rm . ' "T H E G L O BA L C I T Y M O D E L : O R G A N IZ IN G H Y P O T H ES ES

T her e are seven hypotheses through w hich I organized the data and the theorizat ion ofthe global city m ode l. I will discuss each of these briefly as a way of pro du cin g a m oreprecise representat ion .

First , the geographic dispersal of economic activit ies that marks globalization,alon g w ith the sim ultan eou s integra tion of such geographically dispersed activit ies, is akey factor feeding the grow th and im portan ce of central corporate func t ions . T he m oredispersed a f irm's opera t ions across d ifferent coun tr ies , the m ore com plex an d s t ra tegici ts central func t ions that is , the wo rk of m anag ing, coordin at ing , serv icing , f inancinga f irm's ne two rk of ope rat ions .

Second, these central funct ions become so complex that increas ingly the head-


3/18

The Global City: Introducing a Conceptkey s ite for the pro duc t ion of these central headq uarter funct ions was the head quartersof a firm, today there is a second key site: the specialized service firms contracted byheadquarters to produce some of these central funct ions or components of them. Thisis especially the case w ith firms involved in global markets and no n-r ou tine ope ratio ns.But increasingly the headquarters of all large firms are buying more of such inputsra ther than p roduc ing them in -house .

Third , those special ized service f i rms engaged in the most complex and g lobal-ized ma rkets are subject to agglome rat ion econ om ies . T he c om plexi ty o ft h e serv icesthey need to produce, the uncertain ty of the markets they are involved with ei therdirectly or throu gh the hea dqua rters for which they are produ cing the serv ices , and thegrow ing im porta nce of speed in all these t ransact ions , is a mix of condi t ions that c on-s t i tu tes a new agglom erat ion dy nam ic. T he mix of f irms, ta lents , and expertise from abroad range of specialized f ie lds makes a certa in type of urban e nviro nm ent funct ion asan inform at ion center. Being in a c i ty becomes synon ym ous w ith being in an extremelyin tense and dense informat ion loop.

A fourth hypothes is , derived from the preceding on e, is that the more head qua r-ters outsource their most complex, unstandardized funct ions , part icular ly those sub-ject to uncertain and changing markets , the freer they are to opt for any locat ion ,because less wo rk actually don e in the h eadq uarters is subject to agglome rat ion econo - 2 9mies . T his further underl ines tha t the key sector specify ing th e d is t inct ive p rod uct io nadvantages of global cit ies is the highly specialized and networked services sector. Indeveloping th is hypothes is I was responding to a very co m m on not ion that the n um be rof headquarters is what specifies a global city. Empirically it may still be the case inmany countr ies that the leading business center is a lso the leading concentrat ion ofheadquarters, but this may well be because there is an absence of alternative locationalop t ions . B ut in coun tr ies wi th a wel l -developed infras tructure outs ide the leading busi-ness center , there are likely to be m ult ip le locat ional o pt ion s for such head quarters .

Fifth, these specialized service firms need to provide a global service which hasmeant a global network of affi l iates or some other form of partnership, and as a resultwe have seen a s t rengthe ning of cross border c i ty- to-ci ty t ransact ions a nd netw orks . Atthe l imit , th is may wel l be the beginning ofthe format ion of t ransnat ional urban sys-t ems . The growth of global markets for finance and specialized services, the need fort ransnat ional serv icing networks due to sharp increases in in ternat ional inves tment ,the reduced ro le ofthe government in the regulat ion of in ternat ional economic act iv-i ty , and the corresponding ascendance of o ther ins t i tu t ional arenasnotably g lobal


4/18

SASKIA SASSENA related hypothesis for research is that the economic fortunes of these cities

become increasingly disconnected from their broader hinterlands or even their na-tional economies. We can see here the formation, at least incipient, of transnationalurban systems. To a large extent major business centers in the world today draw theirimportance from these transnational networks. There is no such thing as a single globalcityand in this sense there is a sharp contrast with the erstwhile capitals of empires.

A sixth hypothesis, is that the growing numbers of high-level professionals andhigh profit making specialized service firms have the effect of raising the degree ofspatial and socio-economic inequality evident in these cities. The strategic role of thesespecialized services as inputs raises the value of top level professionals and their num-bers . Further, the fact that talent can matter enormously for the quality of these strate-gic outputs and, given the importance of speed, proven talent is an added value, thestructure of rewards is likely to experience rapid increases. Types of activities and work-ers lacking these attributes, whether manufacturing or industrial services, are likely toget caught in the opposite cycle.

A seventh hypothesis, is that one result ofthe dynamics described in hypothesissix, is the growing informalizarion of a range of economic activities which find theireffective demand in these cities, yet have profit rates that do not allow them to competefor various resources with the high-profit making firms at the top of the system.31 1Informalizing part of or all production and distribution activities, including services, is

one way of surviving under these conditions.

RECOVERING PLACE AND WORK-PROCESSIn the first four hypotheses, I attempted to qualify what was emerging in the 1980s asa dominant discourse on globalization, technology, and cities which posited the end ofcities as important economic units or scales. I saw a tendency in that account to takethe existence of a global economic system as a given, a function of the power oftransnational corporations and global communications.

My counter argument is that the capabilities for global operation, coordination,and control contained in the new information technologies and in the power oftransnational corporations need to be acrualized. By focusing on the production ofthese capabilities we add a neglected dimension to the familiar issue of the power oflarge corporations and the capacity ofthe new technologies to neutralize distance andplace. A focus on the production of these capabilities shifts the emphasis to the practices


5/18

The Global City: Introducing a ConceptF u r t h e r , a f o c u s o n

practices draw s the categoriesof p l ace and work processinto the analysis of econ om icglobal iza t ion. These are twocategories easi ly overlookedin accounts centered on thehyp erm obi l i ty of capi ta l andt he pow e r o f t r an sna t i ona l .Developing ca tegories suchas p lace and work processdoes not negate the cent ra l -i t y o f h y p e r m o b i l i t y a n dpower . Rather , i t br ings tothe fore the fact that manyofthe resources necessary forglobal eco nom ic activi ties arenot hypermobi le and are , in-deed , de ep l y embedded i nplace, no tab ly places such as OL ^ f u i L- i tg lobal c i ties , g lobal -c ity re- v id eo st il ls f rom "T he Paracul ture ," un de r pro du ct iongions, an d expo rt processing a t ZK M by Hi lary Koob-Sassen (Germ any, 20 03 -4) .zones.

Th is enta il s a wh ole in-frast ructure o f ac tivi ties , f i rms, a nd jobs w hich are necessary to run the adv anced cor-po r a t e e conomy . The se i ndus t r i e s a r e t yp i c a l l y concep t ua l i z ed i n t e rms o f t hehypermobi l i ty of the i r outputs and the high levels of exper t i se of the i r professionalsra ther than in terms of the product ion or work process involved and the requisi teinfrastructure of facil i t ies and non-expert jobs that are also part of these industries.Focusing on the work process br ings wi th i t an emphasis on economic and spat ia lpo la r iza t ion because of t he d i sprop or t iona te concen t ra tion of ve ry h igh and ve ry lowincom e jobs in these major global c ity sec tors . Em phas iz ing place , infrast ructure , andno n-ex per t jobs mat ters prec ise ly because so m uch of the focus has been on th e neu t ra l -iza t ion of geography and place made possible by the new technologies.

The growth of ne tworked cross-border dynamics among global c i t ies inc ludes a

31


6/18

SASKIA SASSENeco no m ic ac t ivi t ies . W e also see grea ter cross-border n etwo rks for cul tura l p urpo ses, asin the grow th of intern at ion al m arkets for ar t and a t ransna t iona l c lass of cura to rs; an dfor non -form al pol i tica l purposes, as in the growth of t ransn at ion al ne twork s of ac t iv-is t s around environmenta l causes, human r ights , and so on. These are largely c i ty- to-c i ty cross-border ne two rks, or , a t least , it appears a t th is t im e to be s im pler to cap turethe existence and m odal i t ies of these netw orks a t the c i ty level. T h e sam e can be sa id forthe new c ross borde r c r imina l ne tw orks .

Re captu r ing the g eograph y of places involved in global iza t ion a llows us to recap -ture people , workers , communi t ies , and more speci f ica l ly , the many di f ferent workcul tures, besides the corpora te cul ture , involved in the work of global iza t ion. I t a lsobr ings wi th i t an eno rm ou s research agenda, one tha t goes bey on d the by now famil iarfocus on cross-border flows of goods , cap i t a l , and in forma t ion .

Finally, by emphasizing the fact that global processes are at least part ly embeddedin nat ional te rr i tor ies , such a focus int roduces new var iables in current concept ionsabo ut econ om ic g loba li zat ion and the shr ink ing regu la to ry ro le o f the s t a t e . " T ha t is t osay, the space economy for major new t ransnat ional economic processes diverges insigni ficant ways f rom the dual i ty glob al /na t ion al presupp osed in m an y analyses o f t h eglobal economy. The dual i ty , na t ional versus global , suggests two mutual ly exclusivespacesw here one beg ins the o the r end s . O n e o f the ou tcom es of a g loba l c ity ana lys isis that i t makes evident that the global material izes by necessi ty in specific places, andins t i tu t iona l a r rangement s , a good number o f which , i f no t most , a re loca ted in na -t ional te rr i tor ies .W O R L D W I D E N E T W O R K S A N D C E N T R A L C O M M A N D F U N C T I O N S

T h e geograph y of global iza t ion con ta ins bo th a dy na m ic of dispersa l and of cent ra liza-t ion. The massive t rends towards the spat ia l dispersa l of economic ac t ivi t ies a t themetropol i tan, na t ional , and global level which we associa te wi th global iza t ion havecontr ibuted to a demand for new forms of te rr i tor ia l cent ra l iza t ion of top- level man-agem ent and contro l funct ions. Insofar as these f l inc t ions benef i t f rom agglom erat ionecon om ies even in the face of te lemat ic integra t ion of a f irm's global ly dispersed m an u-fac tur ing a nd service op era t ion s, they ten d to locate in c i t ies . T hi s ra ises a que st ion asto why they should benef i t f rom agglomert ion economies, especia l ly s ince global izedeconomic sec tors t end to be in t ens ive use rs o f the new te l ecommunica t ions and com-puter technologies, and increasingly produce a par t ly de-mater ia l ized output , such as


7/18

The Glob al City: Introducing a Conceptdeveloped. Business netw orks benefi t f rom agglom erat ion eco nom ies and hence thr ivein cit ies even today w hen s imu ltaneous g lobal com m unic at ion is poss ib le . Elsewhere Iexam ine th is issue and f ind that the key variable con tr ibu t ing to the spatia l con centra-t ion of central functions and associated agglomerat ion econom ies is the extent to wh ichth is d ispersal occurs under condi t ions of concentrat ion in contro l , ownership , andprofi t appropriat ion . '^

This dynamic of simultaneous I n s i d e c o u n t r j e s , t h e l e a d i n g f i n a n c i a lgeographic d ispersal and co ncen tra-tion is one of the key elements in " i i t e r s t o d a y c o n c e i i t r a t e 3 g r e a t e rthe organizational architecture of the s h a r e o f nat ional f inanc ia l ac t iv i ty thang l o b a l e c o n o m i c s y s te m L e t m e f i r s t ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ i n t e r n a t i o n a l l y ,give some empirical referents andthen examine some of the itnpiica- citJes in the g lohal North concentrate wel ltions for theorizing the impact of gver half o f t h e g l o b a l C a p i t a l m a r k e t .global iza t ion an d t h e n ew t e chno lo -gies o n cities .

T h e rap id grow th of affi liates i l lus t ra tes th e dyn am ic o f s im u l t aneous geog raph i cdispersa l a n d c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f a f i rm 's opera t ions . By 1999 firms h a d well over half amil l ion a f fi li ates o u t s ide the i r ho m e coun t r i e s accou t i t ine for USS 11 tri l l ion in sales, a 3very significant figure if we cons ide r tha t g loba l t rade s tood a t US$ 8 t r i l l ion. Firmswi th l a rge num be r s o f geographical ly dispersed fac tor ies a n d service outlets face m a s -sive n e w needs for cen t ra l coord ina t ion a n d servicing, especially when their affi l iatesinvolve fore ign countr ies with different legal a n d accoun t i ng s y s t em s .

Ano the r i n s t ance t oday o f th i s nego t ia t ion be tween a globa l c ros s -borde r d y -n a m i c a n d terri torially specific s ite is tha t of the global f inancia l markets . T h e orde rs o fm a g n i t u d e in these t ransact ions have r isen sharply, as i l lus t ra ted b y t h e US $ 192 t r i l -l ion fo r 2 0 0 2 in t raded derivat ives , a m ajo r com po nen t o f t h e g l oba l e con om y a n d o n etha t dwarfs t h e va lue o f globa l t rade which s tood a t US $ 8 t r i l l ion . These t ransac t ionsa r e pa r t ly em bedd ed in e lec t ron ic systems tha t ma ke poss ib le th e i n s t an t aneous t r an s -mis s ion o f m o n e y a n d i n f o r m a t i o n a r o u n d th e g lobe . Much a t t en t i on h a s g o n e t o th iscapac i ty for ins tan taneous t ransmis s ion o f th e n ew t e chno log i e s . Bu t t h e othe r ha l f o fthe s to ry is th e ex t en t t o w h i c h th e global financial markets are located in an e x p a n d i n gn e t w o r k o f ci t ies , wi t h a d i s p ropo r t i ona t e concen t r a t i on in cities o f t h e g l oba l Nor t h .I ndeed , th e degrees o f concen t r a t i on i n t e rna t i ona l l y a n d wi th in coun t r i e s are u n e x -


8/18

SASKIA SASSENpirically in a later section.

O ne o f th e com pone n ts o f th e g loba l cap ita l marke t is s tock marke t s . T he la te1980s and early 1990s saw the addition of markets such as Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo,Mexico Ci ty , Bangkok, Taipei , Moscow, and growing numbers of non-nat ional f i rmsl is ted in most of these ma rkets . T he grow ing num ber of s tock markets has co ntr ibu tedto raise the capital that can be mobilized through these markets, reflected in the sharpw orldwide growth of s tock m arket capi ta l ization w hich reached over US$ 24 t r i l l ion in20 00 a nd U SS 36 tr i ll ion in 2 0 0 1 . This g lobal ly in tegrated s tock market which makespossible the circulation of publicly l isted shares around the globe in seconds is embed-ded in a grid of very mater ial , physical, strategic places.

The specific forms assumed by globalization over the last decade have createdpart icular organizat ional requirements . The emergence of g lobal markets for f inanceand special ized services , the growth of inves tment as a major type of in ternat ionalt ransact ion , a l l have contr ibuted to the expansion in command funct ions and in thedemand for specialized services for firms.'^

By central functions I do not only mean top level headquarters; I am referring toall the top level financial , legal, accounting, managerial , executive, planning functionsnecessary to run a corporate organizat ion operat ing in more than one country , andincreas ingly in several cou ntr ies . Th ese central funct ions are part ly em bed ded in head-quarters, but also in good part in what has been called the corporate services complex,that is , the network of financial , legal, accounting, advertising firms that handle thecomp lexi ties of operat ing in more than one n at ional legal sys tem, nat ional acco unt ingsystem, advert is ing cul ture , e tc . and do so und er co ndi t ion s of rapid innov at ions in al lthese fields. Such services have become so specialized and complex that headquartersincreas ingly buy them from special ized f i rms rather than producing them in-house.These agglomerat ions of f i rms producing central funct ions for the management andcoordinat ion of g lobal economic sys tems, are d isproport ionately concentrated in thehighly developed countriesparticularly, though not exclusively, in global cit ies. Suchconc entrat ions of funct ions represent a s t ra tegic factor in the organizat ion o fth e g lobaleconom y, and they are s ituated in an ex pand ing netw ork of global c i ties .'^

It is im po rta nt analytically to unb un dle strategic functions for the global econo m yor for g lobal operat ion , a nd the overall corporate econ om y of a country . Th ese g lobalcon t ro l and com m and func tions a re par tly embed ded in na t iona l co rpora te s truc tu res,but also consti tute a distinct corporate subsecror. This subsector can he conceived aspar t of a netw ork that co nnec ts global cities across the w orld th ro ug h firms' affi liates oroth er representative offices.'^ For the purpos es of certain kin ds of inq uiry this distin c-


9/18

The Global City: Introducing a Co nceptThis d is t inct ion also mat ters for quest ions of regulat ion , notably regulat ion of

cross-border act iv i t ies . I f the s tra tegic central fun ct ions both those produ ced in cor-porate headquarters and those produced in the special ized corporate serv ices sectorare located in a ne tw ork of major financial an d business centers, the qu estion of regulat-ing w hat a m ou nts to a key part of the g lobal econom y will en tai l a d i fferent type ofeffort f rom w hat wou ld be the case i f the s tra tegic ma nag em ent a nd coo rdina t ion func-tions were as distributed geographically as the factories, service outlets , and affi l iatesgenerally. W e can also read this as a strategic geo graph y for p olit ical activisms tha t seekaccountabi l i ty from major corporate actors , among others concerning environmentals tandards and workplace s tandards .

National and global markets as well as globally integrated organizations requirecentral p laces whe re the work of g lobal izat ion gets done . Finance and adv anced corp o-rate services are industr ies prod ucin g th e organizat ional com m odit ies necessary for theim plem enta t ion a nd m ana gem ent of g lobal eco nom ic systems. Ci t ies are preferred s i tesfor the production of these services, particularly the most innovative, speculative, inter-nationalized service sectors. Further, leading firms in information industries require avast physical infras t ructure con tain ing s t ra tegic nodes with h yper-c once ntrat ion of fa-ci li ties; w e need to d is t inguish b etween the capaci ty for g lobal t ra nsm iss ion/c om tnun i-cat ion and the materia l condi t ions that make th is poss ib le . Final ly , even the most ad-vanced information industries have a production process that is at least partly place-bound because of the combinat ion of resources i t requires even when the outputs arehypermobi le .

Theoretically, this addresses two key issues in current debates and scholarship.O ne of these is the complex a r t iculat ion between capi ta l fix ity and capi ta l m obi l ity , andthe other is the posit ion of cit ies in a global economy. Elsewhere I have developed thethes is that capi ta l mob i l i ty cann ot be reduced s imply to that w hich m oves nor can i t bereduced co the technologies that faci li ta te mo vem ent . R ather , m ul t ip le com po nen ts ofwhat we keep th ink ing o f as capital fixity are actually components of capital mobili ty.This conceptualization allows us to reposit ion the role of cit ies in an increasingly glo-bal iz ing world , in that they co ntain the resources that enable f irms and ma rkets to haveglobal operat ions . ' The mobi l i ty of capi ta l , whether in rhe form of investments , t radeor overseas affi liates, n eeds to be man age d, serviced, co ord ina ted . Th ese are often ratherplace-bound, yet are key components of capital mobili ty. Finally, states, place-boundins t i tu t ional ordershave played an often crucial ro le in producing regulatory envi-ronments that faci l i ta te the implementat ion of cross-border operat ions for their na-


10/18

SASKIA SASSENIn brief, a focus on c i ties mak es i t possible to recognize the anc ho ring of m ul t iple

cross-border dynamics in a network of places, pro m ine n t a m on g which a re c i ti e s, pa r -t icular ly global c it ies or rhose wirh global c i ty funcr ions. T his in tur n anch ors var iousfeatures of globalization in the specific condit ions and histories of these ci t ies, in theirvar iable ar t icula t ions wirh the i r na t ional economies and wirh var ious world economiesacross t im e and place . '^ T hi s opt ic on global iza t ion c on tr ibu tes to ident i fying a com -plex organ iza t ional arch i tec ture wh ich cu ts across borde rs , and is bo th p ar t ly de- terr i -tor ia l ized and par t ly spat ia l ly concentra ted in c i t ies . Fur ther , i t c rea tes an enormousresearch agend a in tba t every par t icular na t ion al or urban eco no m y has i ts speci fic an dinher i ted m odes of ar t icula t in g w i th curre nt global c i rcui ts . O nc e we have mor e infor-mat ion about this var iance we may a lso be able to establ ish whether posi t ion in theglobal hierarchy makes a dijfference and the various ways in which i t might do so.IM P A CT S O F N E W C O M M U N I C A T IO N T E C H N O L O G I E S O N C E N T R A LI TY

Cit ies have histor ica l ly provide d n at ional eco nom ies, pol i ties , and socie ties w i th so m e-thin g we can tbin k of as cent ra li ty . In term s of the i r econ om ic funct ion, c i ties provideagglom era t ion econom ies , mass ive concen t ra t ions o f in forma t ion on the l a te s t deve l-o p m e n t s , a marke tp lace . Tb e ques t ion he re is : how d o the new technolog ies o f com -municat ion a l ter the role of cent ra l i ty and hence of c i t ies as economic ent i t ies .

As earl ier sections have indicated, central i ty remains a key Feature of today's glo-hal economy. But today there i s no longer a s imple , s t ra ight forward re la t ion betweencentra l i ty an d such geog raphic ent i ties as the dow nto w n, or the cent ra l business dis t r ic t{ CBD} . In the past , and up to qui te recent ly in Fact , the center was synonymous wi ththe do wn tow n or the CB D. Today , pa r t ly as a re su lt oF th e new com m un ica t ion t ech-nologies, the spat ia l corre la tes oFthe c enter can assum e severa l geog raphic Forms, rang-ing From th e C B D to a new global gr id oF c i t ies .

Simply, on e can ident i fy three Forms assum ed by cent ra l i ty tod ay . ' ' F i rs t , whi lethere i s no longer a s imple s t ra ightForward re la t ion between cent ra l i ty and such geo-grap hic ent i ties as tbe dow nro w n, as was the case in the past , the C B D remains a keyForm oF cent ra li ty . B ut the C B D in m ajor intern at ion al business centers is on e pro -foundly reconf igured by t echnolog ica l and econom ic change .

Second, the center can extend into a metropol i tan area in the form oFa gr id oFno des oF inte ns e business activity, a case well i llustrated by recen t dev elo pm en ts incit ies as diverse as B uen os Aires^" and Par is ." ' One might ask whether a spat ia l organi -


11/18

Global Gity: Introducing a ConceptInsofar as these various nodes are articulated through cyber-routes or digital highways,they represent a new geographic correlate oFthe most advanced type of "center." Theplaces that fall outside tbis new grid oFdigital highways, however, areperipheraiized. This regional grid oF Ttiere is little doubt that connectJng tonodes represents, in my analysis, a re- g|o(3a| cJrcuJtS fiaS brOUght WJtb Jt Zconstitution of tbe concept of region.Far From neutralizing geography, the Significant level of development...[and]regional grid is likely to be embedded economjc dynamism. But tbe questioni n conven t i ona l f o rm s oF com m un ic a - , . i- . . . . r u ^ I of i n e q u a l i t y b a s n o t b e e n e n g a g e d .t ions infras t ructure , notably rapid ra i l n J O O

and h ighways connec t i ng to a i rpor t s .I ron ica l ly pe rhaps , conven t iona l inFras t ruc tu re are likely to m ax im ize tbe e c o n o m i cbenefi ts der ived from te lemat ics . I th ink th i s is an impor tan t i s sue tha t h as been los ts o m e w h a t in discuss ions about the neut ra l i za t ion of geog raphy t h rough t e l em a t i c s .

T h i r d , we are seeing tbe Formation of a t rans terr i tor ia l "center" cons t i tu ted viate lemat ics a n d i n t en s e e conom ic t r an s a c t ion s . T h e most powerFul oFthese n ew geogra -ph ies o F cen t ra l i ty at th e in te r -u rban leve l b inds th e major in te rna t iona l fmanc ia l andbus ines s cen te rs : N e w York , Lo nd on , Toky o , Pa r is , F rankFur t , Zur ich , Am s te rda m , L os 37Angeles , Sydney, Hong Kong, among others . ^^ But th i s geography n o w also includescities such as Sao Paulo and Mexico Ci ty . Tbe in tens i ty oF t ransac t ions among theseci t ies , par t icular ly through th e Financial m ark ets , t rade in services, a n d i nve s tm en t hasincreased sbarply, a n d so have th e orde rs of magnitude involved. Final ly , w e see em e r -gent regional hierarchies , as is i l lus t ra ted by th e g rowth co r r i do r s in Southeas t Asia ,^ 'the case oFSao Paulo in th e M ercosu r f ree - t rade area,^"* an d b y t h e re la t ion be tween th epar t i c ipa t ing en t i t i e s in the I ran-Dubai cotr idor .^^

Besides the ir impact on the spat ia l corre la tes oFcentra l i ty , the n e w c o m m u n i c a -t ion t echnolog ies can also be expec ted to have an i m p a c t on inequal i ty between c i t iesan d ins ide c it ies. T be re is an expec ta t ion in mucb oFrhe l i t e ra tu re on tbese t echnolo-gies tha t th ey wil l overr ide olde r hierarchies a n d spat ia l inequal i t ies through th e unive r -sa li zing oFconnec t iv i ty th a t they represen t . T h e avai lable evidence sugges ts tha t th is isno t qu i t e the ca s e . Whe the r it is the ne tw or k oF f inancia l cen ters and Foreign directinves tment pa t t e rns d i scussed he te , or the more spec i f i c examina t ions oF the spat ia l


12/18

SASKIA SASSENand considerable economic dynamism. But the quest ion of inequal i ty has not beenengaged.

Fur ther , the p ronounced o r ien ta t ion to the wor ld marke t s ev iden t in many o fthese cit ies raises questions about the articulation with their nation-states, their re-

g ions , and the l a rger economics t ru c tu re msu chT h e e m p h a s i s on the t r a n s n a t i o n a l and Cities have typically been deeplyh y p e r m o b i l e c h a r a c t e r o f c a p i t a l h a s embedded in the economies oft o a s e n s e of pOWerleSSneSS their region, indeed often reflect-

, , . _ . , . ing the characterist ics of the lat-a m o n g l o c a l a c t a r s . . . B u t a n a n a l y s i s ,en and they stui d o . But dties thatt h a t e m p h a s i z e s p l a c e s u g g e s t s t h a t t he are strategic sites in the globaln e w g l o h a l g r i d of s t r a t e g i c s i t e s is a nect from their region. T his c on-t e r r a i n f o r p o l i t i c s a n d e n g a g e m e n t , mcts with a key proposition in tra-

ditional scholarship about urbansystems, namely, that these systems promote the terri torial integration of regional andnat ional economies . There has been a sharpening inequal i ty in the concentrat ion ofstrategic resources and activit ies between each of these cit ies and others in the same38country, though this tends to be evident only at fairly disaggregated levels of evidence.For exam ple, Mexico Ci ty tod ay concentrates a h igher share of som e types of econ om icactivity and value production than it did in the past ,^ ' ' but to see this requites a verypartic ular ized set of analyses.^*T H E G L O B A L C I T Y AS A N E X U S F O R N E W P O U T I C O - C U L T U R A L A U G N M E N T S

T h e inco rporat ion of c it ies in to a new cross-border geography o f central ity a lso s ignalsthe em ergen ce of a parallel polit ical geography. M ajor cit ies have em erged as a strategicsite not only for global capital , but also for the transnationalization of labor and theform ation of translocal co m m un ities and identities.^^ In this regard, cities are a site fornew types of polit ical op eratio ns a nd for a wh ole range of new "cultu ral" and subjectiveoperations.^' The centrali ty of place in a context of global processes makes possible at ransnat ional economic and pol i t ical opening for the format ion of new claims andhence for the const i tu t ion of ent i t lements , notably r ights to p lace. At the l imit , th iscould be an op en ing for ne w forms of "citizenship."^^


13/18

Global City: Introducing a Conceptgic si tes is a terrat t i for poli t ics and engagement.^ ' The loss of power at the nationallevel produces the possibi l i ty for new forms of power and pol i t ics a t the sub-nat ionallevel. Further , insofar as the natio nal as co nta ine r o f social process and pow er is cracked,^"*it opens up possibil i t ies for a geography of poli t ics that l inks sub-national spaces acrossborders .^^ Ci t ies are foremost in this new geography. Th is eng enders quest ions of howand whether we a te see ing the format ion of a new type of t ransnat ional poUtics tha tlocalizes in these cities.

Imm igra t ion, for instance , is one m ajor process throug h which a new t ransnat ionalpol i tica l econo m y and t rans- local hou seho ld st ra tegies are being co nst i tuted . I t is onelargely embedded in major c i t ies insofar as these concentra te most immigrants , cer-ta inly in the developed wo rld, w heth er in the U ni ted Sta tes , jap an , or W estern Eu rope .It is , in m y reading, one of the con sti tut ive processes of globalization today, even th ou ghno t recognized or represen ted as such in m ainst ream acco unts of the global economy.^^

Global capi ta l and the new immigrant workforce are two major instances oft ransnat ional ized ac tors tha t each have uni fying proper t ies across borders internal ly ,and find themselves in contestat ion with each other inside global ci t ies.^^ Researchingand theor iz ing these i ssues wi l l requi re approaches tha t diverge f rom the more t radi -t ional s tudies of pol it ica l e l ites , local par ty pol i t ics , ne ig hb orh oo d associa t ions, im m i-grant communi t ies , and so on through which the pol i t ica l landscape of c i t ies andmetropol i tan regions has been conceptual ized in urban studies .

O n e way of thinkin g ab out the pol i tica l impl ica tions of this s t ra tegic t ransnat ionalspace anchored in global c it ies is in terms of the form at ion of new cla ims on tha t space .The global ci ty part icularly has emerged as a si te for new claims: by global capital ,wh ich uses the global c ity as an "organiza t ional com m odi ty ," bu t a lso by disadv antagedsectors of the urban popula t ion, f requent ly as internat ional ized a presence in globalc i ties as capi ta l . T he "de-nat ional iz ing" of urba n space and the format ion of new cla imsby t ransna t ional ac tors , ra ise the qu est ion : W ho se c i ty is it?

The global ci ty and the network of these ci t ies is a space that is both place-cen te red in tha t i t i s embedded in pa r t i cu la r and s t ra t eg ic loca t ions ; and i t i stransterri torial because i t connects si tes that are not geographically proximate yet areintensely con nec ted to each other . I f we consider tha t global c it ies con centra te bo th theleading sec tors of global capi ta l and a growing share of disadvantaged popula t ions(imm igrants , m any of the disadvantaged w om en, pe ople of color genera l ly , and , in themegaci t ies of developing countr ies , masses of shanty dwel le ts) then we can see tha tci ties have bec om e a strategic terrain for a wh ole series of confl icts an d co ntra dic t ion s.


14/18

SASKIA SASSENC O N C L U S I O N

An examination of globalization through the concept ofthe global city introduces astrong emphasis on strategic components ofthe global economy rather than the broaderand more diffuse homogenizing dynamics we associate with the globalization of con-sumer markets. Consequently, this also brings an emphasis on questions of power andinequality. It brings an emphasis on the actual work of managing, servicing, and fi-nancing a global economy. Second, a focus on the city in studying globalization willtend to bring to the fore the growing inequalities between highly provisioned andprofoundly disadvantaged sectors and spaces ofthe city, and hence such a focus intro-duces yet another formulation of questions of power and inequality.Third, the concept ofthe global city brings a strong emphasis on the networkedeconomy because ofthe nature ofthe industries that tend to be located there: financeand specialized services, the new multimedia sectors, and telecommunications services.These industries are characterized by cross-border networks and specialized divisionsof functions among cities rather than inter-national competition per se. In the case ofglobal fmance and the leading specialized services catering to global firms and mar-ketslaw, accounting, credit rating, telecommunicationsit is clear that we are deal-ing with a cross-border system, one that is embedded in a series of cities, each possiblypart of a different country. It is a de-facto global system.

Fourth, a focus on networked cross-border dynatnics among global cities alsoallows us to capture mote readily the growing intensity of such transactions in otherdomains^political, cultural, social, and criminal.

Global cities around the world are the terrain whete a multiplicity of globaliza-tion processes assutne concrete, localized forms. These localized forms are, in goodpart, what globalization is about. Recovering place means recovering the multiplicityof presences in this landscape. The large city of today has emerged as a strategic site fora whole range of new types of operationspolitical, economic, "cultutal," subjective.It is one ofthe nexi where the formation of new claims, by both the powerful and thedisadvantaged, materializes and assumes concrete forms.

N O T E S

1. Saskia Sassen, "Digital Networks and the State: Some Governance Questions," Theory, Culture, andSociety 17 ( 2000) : 19-33 . Saskia Sassen, "Spatialities and Temporalities ofthe Global Elements forTheo-r izat ion," Public Culture 12 ( 2 0 0 0 ) : 2 1 5 - 3 2 . Saskia Sassen, "Territory and Territoriality in the Global


15/18

The G lobal City: Introducing a Conceptscope , and t imed to fo l low or p recede par t i cu lar conf igura t ions o f the wor ld economy. See , GiovanniArr igh i , The Long Twentieth Century (Lon don and N ew York : Verso , 1994) .

4. Orig ina l ly a t t r ibu ted to Goeth e , the t e rm was re- launched in the work o f Peter Hal l , The W orld Cities(New York: M cG raw -Hi l l , 1966) , and mo re recen tly re-specif ied by John Fr iedm ann and Wol f f Goetz ,World City Formation: An Agenda for Research and Action (Los Angeles: Gra duate School o f Arch i t ec tu reand U rban Plann ing , UC LA , 1982 ) . See a l so , R. St ren , "Th e Stud ies o f Ci t i e s : Popular Percep t ions , Aca-demic Disc ip l ines , and Emerg ing Agendas ," in M. Cohen , B. Ruble , J , Tu lch in . and A, Gar land , eds . .Preparing for the U rban Future: G lobal Pressures and Local Forces ( W a s h i n g t o n D . C : W o o d r o w W i l s o nCenter Press . 1996) .

5 . Manuel Cas te l l s , The Informational City: Information Tech nology, Economic Restructuring, and theUrban-Regional Process (Oxford: Basi l Blackwell , 1989).

6. Braudel(1984), f />. >.7 . Ibid, ; Peter Hal l (1966), op. cit.\ Ant hony D. Ki ng , Urbanism, Coknialism, andthe Wo rld Economy :

Culture and Spatial Foundations (London and New York : Rout l edge , 1990) .8 . Janet L . Abu-Lughod , Before European Hegemony: the World System A.D. 725 0 -735 0 (New York andOxford : Oxford Univers i ty Press , 1989) .9. King (1990), o;). cit.10 . See a l so Abu -Lu gho d (1999) , op. aV.; John Renn ie Shor t and Yeong-Hy un Kim, Globalization and

the City (Essex : Addison W els ley Longm an, 1999) . A. Sachar, "Th e Global E cono my an d the W orldCities," in A. Sacha r and S. Ob erg , eds .. The World Economy and the Spatial Organization of Power (AJdcrshot:Avebury, 1990).

11 . See general ly . Kris Olds. Peter Dicken, Phi l ip E Kel ly, Li l ly Kong, and Henry Wai-Chung Yeung,eds . . Globalization and the Asia-Pacific: Contested Territories (London: Rout ledge , 1999) .

12 . Sask ia Sassen , "The New Labor Demand in Global Ci t i es , " in M.P Smi th , eds . , Cities in T ransfor-mation (Bever ly Hi l l s , CA: Sage , 2001) : C hap te rs Two and Five .

13. A cen t ra l p ropos i t ion here , developed a t l eng th in m y work , i s tha t we can not t ake the ex is t ence o fa g lobal economic sys tem as a g iven , bu t ra ther need to examine the par t i cu lar ways in which the cond i -t ions fo r economic g lobal i za t ion are p roduced . Th i s requ i res examin ing no t on ly communica t ion capaci -t ies and the power of mult inat ionals , but also the infrast ructure of faci l i t ies and work processes necessaryfor the implementa t ion oi global econ om ic sys tems , inc lud ing the p ro duct ion o t those inpu t s tha t cons t i -tu te the capab i l ity to r g lobal con t ro l and the in f ras t ruc tu re o f jobs invo lved in th i s p ro duc t ion . T he em-phasis shifts to ihc practice of g lobal con t ro l : the work o f p rod ucing a nd re produc ing the o rgan iza t ion a ndm a n a g e m e n t o f a global p rod uct ion sys tem an d a g lobal marke tp lace for Pmance , bo th u nde r cond i t ionsof econ om ic co nce n t ra t ion .The recovery o f p lace and pro duc t ion a l so impl ies tha t g lobal p rocesses can bestudied in great empirical detai l ,

14 . W e are see ing the fo rmat ion o f an econo m ic complex wi th a va lo r i za tion dyn am ic tha t has p roper-t ies clearly dis t inguishing i t from other economic complexes whose valorizat ion dynamic is far morear t i cu la ted wi th the pub l i c economic funct ions o f the s t a t e , the qu in tessen t i a l example be ing Ford i s tmanufac tu r ing . Global market s in f inance and advanced serv ices par t ly opera te th rough a " regu la to ry"um brel l a tha t is no t s ta t e -cen tered h u t mark et -cen tered . Th i s In tu rn b r ings up a ques t ion o f con t ro ll inked to the cu r ren t ly inade quate capaci ti es to govern t ransac t ions in e lec t ron ic space .

15 . In this sense, global ci t ies are different from the old capi tals of ers twhile em pires , in tha t they are afunct ion of crossborder networks tather than s imply the most powerful ci ty of an empire. There is , in myconceptual izat ion, no such ent i ty as a s ingle global ci ty as there could be a s ingle capi tal ot an empire; theca tegory g lobal c i ty on ly m akes sense as a com pon ent o f a global netw ork of s t rategic si tes . T he corp oratesubsec to r whcih co n ta ins the g lobal con t ro l and c om m an d funct ions is par t ly emb edde d in th is ne tow rk .

16 . Th ere are m ul t ip le spec i fi ca tions to th i s a rgum ent . For ins tance , and go ing in the oppos iu te d i rec-t ion, the development of f inancial inst ruments that represent f ixed real es tate reposi t ions the lat ter in


16/18

SASKIA SASSEN17. Sassen (2001), op. cit.18. Carl Abbott, "The InternationalizaiionofW ashington D.C .," Urban Affairs Review 1)\, no. 5 (1996):571-594; Abu-Lughod (1999), op. V.; John Allen. Doreen Massey, and Michael Pryke, eds., Unsettling

Cities (London: Routledge, 1999); Allan Cochrane, Jamie Peck, and Adam Tickell, "Manchester PlaysGam es: Exploring the Local Politics of G lobalization," Urban Studies 33 no, 80 (1996): 1319-13336; Fu-chen Lo and Yue-man Yeung, eds.. Entering World Cities in P acific Asia (Tokyo: United Nations Univer-sity Press, 1996); M . M .A. DeSo uzeSa ntos, an dM .L . Silveira, eds., Territorio: Globalizacao eFragmentacao(Sao Paul: Editorial Hucitec, 1994).19. Tbe re is a fourth case which 1 bave addressed elsewhere (Sassen (2 001), op. cit.: Chapters Four andFive), which is represented by new forms of centrality co nstituted in electronically generated spaces.20. Pablo Ciccolella and Iliana M ignaqui, "Bu enos Aires: Sociospatial Impacts ofthe Development ofGlobal City Functions," in Saskia Sassen, ed., Gbbal Networks/ Linked Cities (New Yotk and Lond on:Routledge, 2002): 309-325-21. Pierre Veltz, Mondialisation Villes Et Territoires (P^iis: Presses Universitaires de France, 1996); Joss

Landrieu, Nicole May, Dirige Par, Tberese Spector, and Pierre Veltz, eds.. La Ville Exclatee (La Tour d'Aigues:Editiones de I'Aube, 1998).22. In th e case of a comp lex landscape such as Europe 's, we see in fact several geographies of centrality,one global, others continental and regional. A central urban hierarchy connects major cities, many ofwhich in turn play central roles in the w ider global system of cities: Paris, London, Ftankfurt, Amsterdam,Zurich. Th ese cities are also p art of a w ider network of Europeanfinancial/cultural/servicecapitals, som ewith only one, others w ith several of these liinctions, articulate the European region and are somewhat lessoriented to the global economy than Paris, Frankfurt, or L ondo n. And then there are several geographiesof m arginality: the East-West divide and the North - South divide across Europe as well asnewer divisions.In Eastern Europe, certain cities and regions, notably Budapest, are ratber attractive for purposes of in -vestment, both European and non-Eu ropean, while others will increasingly fall beh ind, notably in Rum a-nia, Yugoslavia, and Albania. We see a similar differentiation in the south of Europe : M adrid , B arcelona,and M ilan are gaining in the new European hierarchy; Naples, Rome, and M arseilles are not.

23. Lo and Yeung (1996), op. cit.24. Sueli Ramos, "Sao Paulo: Articulating a Cross-Border R ^io n," in Sassen (2002), op. cit.25. Ali Parsa and Ramin Keivani, "The Hormuz Corridor: Building a Cross-Botder Region BetweenIran and the Un ited Arab Em irates," in Sassen (2002 ), op. a/ . : l45-182.26. Stephen Graham 2002, "Communication Grids: Cities and Infrastructure," in Sassen (2002), op.

cit.: 71-91; Stephen Graham and Simon Mamu, Splintering Urbanism: NetworkedLnfrastructures. Technlogical Mob ilit ies, a nd the Urban Condition (London: Routledge, 2001); Manuel Castells, The RiseoftheNetwork Society (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1996).

27. Tbis also holds in the highly developed world. For instance, the Paris region accounts for over fortypercent of all producer services in France, and over eighty percent of the most advanced ones. New YorkCity is estimated to account for between a fourth and a fifth of all US producer services exports thou gh ithas only three percent ofthe U.S. population. London accounts for forty percent of all exports of pro-ducer services in the U.K. Similar trends are also evident in Zurich , F rankiiitt, and Tokyo, all located inmuch smaller countries.28 . CristofParnreitet, "Mexico: Th e M aking of a Global C ity," in Sassen (2002 ), op. a>.: 145-182.29. David Sm ith, "The Urban Sociology Meets the O ld: Re-reading Some Classical Hum an Ecology,"

Urban Affairs Review iQ , no.3 (1995): 432-457.30 . Jantet L. Abu-Lughod, From Urban Village to "East Village": The Battle or New York's Lower East(Cam bridge: Blackwell, 1994); Nira Yuval-Davis, "Etbnicity, Gender Relations, and tbe M ulticulturalism,"in R. Torres, L. Miron , and J.X. Inda, eds.. Race, Identity, and Citizenship (Maiden, MA: Blackweil Pub-lishers, 1999): 112-125; Richard Sennetr, The Conscience of the Eye: the Design and Social Life of Citie


17/18

The G lobal City: Introducing a ConceptKing (1996) , op. a r . ; Abu -Lug hod (1994) op. c/r . ; Joan Copjec and Michael Sorkin, eds . . Giving Ground:The Politics of Propinquity (New York: Verso, 1999); E. Berner and R, Korff, "Global i za t ion and LocalRes i s tance: T he Crea t ion o f Local it ies in M ani la an d B angkok ," International Journal of Urban and Re-gional Research 19 , no . 2 (1995 ) : 208-2 22 .

33 . Peter J .Tay lor, "W orld C i t ies and Terri torial States: T he Rise an d Fall of their M utual i ty ," in PeterTay lor and P L Knox , eds . . Wo rld Cities in a Wo rld-System (Cambridge: Cambr idge Univers i ty Press , 1995) ;A. Sacba r, "The G l oba l Econom y and W or l d C i t ie s ," in A. Sa cb a ra nd S . O dbe rg , ed s . . The W orld Economyand the Spatial O rganization of Power {Aldershot: Avebury, 1990).

3 4 . Saskia Sassen, Globalization and its Discountents (New York: New York Press, 1998) : Cha p ter O neand Ten .

3 5 . Sassen (199 8) op. cit.: Par t One ; Rona l d Ske l don , Reluctant Exiles? Migration from Hog Kong and theNew Overseas Chinese (Armonk , New York : M.E. Sharpe , 1994) .

36 . Frank B oni l la , Edwin M elendez , R ebecca M orales , and M ar ia de los Angeles Torres , BorderUss Bor-ders: US. Latinos, Latin Am ericans, and the Paradox of Interdependence (Ph i l adelph ia : Temple Univers i tyPress, 1989). Sassen (2000a, b) , op. cit.; Sassen (1998), op. cit.: C h a p t e r O n e .3 7 . Ira Katznelson, Marxism in the City (Oxford a nd New York: Clare ndo n Press and Oxford Univers i tyPress, 1992) .

4


18/18

Sassen - The Global City - Introducing a Concept

Documents

Transcript of Sassen - The Global City - Introducing a Concept