Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Cities around the world are experiencing profound economic and social change as they seek to compete in a globalizing world. Global Metropolitan seeks to explain such changes. It explores how the discourse of globalizing has become a major narrative in the restructuring of cities around the world. It illustrates how a similar range of globalizing practices including the hosting of mega-events, the siting of urban spectaculars, the rewriting of the city, and its representation to a world of global flows, are important processes structuring urban socio-spatial transformation in the contemporary world.
Moving beyond the debate surrounding the measurement of world cities, John Rennie Short suggests a new paradigm for urban studies; globalizing cities where the emphasis is on how cities are embarked on a global project to maintain economic competitiveness and cultural relevance. The book sets a new agenda for both globalization and urban studies.
Synopsis
Exploring the connections between globalization and urbanization, this notable book places particular emphasis on understanding the economic function of global cities, the political process of globalizing cities, and the cultural significance of cosmopolitan cities.
The book explores the meaning of the globalizing project in cities:
- the maintaining, securing and increasing of urban economic competitiveness in a global world
- the reimagining of the city
- the rewriting of the city for both internal and external audiences
- the construction of new spaces and the hosting of new events.
Specific chapters look at the significance of signature architects, the hosting of the Summer Olympics and the role of the super-rich. The main thesis of the book is that this discourse of globalizing is a major force in the restructuring of cities around the world.