contemporary

• Global city


  An urban center that enjoys significant competitive advantages and that serves as a hub within a globalized economic system
• Global city


  • Key locations for finance and specialized service firms, which have replaced manufacturing as the leading economic services
  • Sites of production, including the production of innovations, in leading industries
  • Highly concentrated command points in the organization of the world economy
  • Markets for the products and innovations produced
• Attributes of a global city


  • Rise and expansion of Transnational Corporation (TNCs) in global production patterns
  • Decline of mass production and the rise of flexible production centered within urban areas
• Attributes of a global city (Sassen 2005)


  • The geographic dispersal of economic activities that marks globalization along with the simultaneous integration of such activities is a key factor feeding the growth and importance of central corporate functions
  • Central corporate functions become so complex that increasingly, the headquarters of large global firms outsource them
  • Those specialized global firms engaged in globalize markets are subject to agglomeration economies
  • Global cities were formed because firms are free to look for multiple locations outside leading business centers to outsource their most complex and specialized functions
  • Specialized firms need to provide a global service
  • There is a growing number of talented, high-level professionals and high profit
  • There is a growing in formalization of a range of economic activities such as production and distribution including services
• Standard characteristics of world cities


  • Variety of international financial services
  • Headquarters of several multinational corporations
  • Existence of financial headquarters, a stock exchange, and major financial institutions
  • Domination of the trade and economy of a large surrounding area
  • Major manufacturing centers with port and facilities
  • Considerable decision-making power on a daily basis and at a global level
  • Centers of new ideas in business, economics, culture and politics
  • Centers of media and communication
  • Dominance of national region
  • High percentage of residents employed in the services and information sector
  • High quality educational institutions
  • Multi-functional infrastructure offering some of the best legal, medical and entertainment facilities
  • Highly diverse
• 10 traits of globally fluent metro areas


  • Leadership with a Worldview
  • Legacy of Global Orientation
  • Specializations with Global Reach
  • Adaptability to Global Dynamics
  • Culture of Knowledge and Innovation
  • Opportunity and Appeal to the World
  • International Connectivity
  • Ability to Secure Investment for Strategic Priorities
  • Government as Global Enabler
  • Compelling Global Identity
• Global migration


  The flow or movement of people from one place to another around the world. The main purpose of migration is to find work or employment.
• Trends in global mobility (2015)


  • In 2015, the number of international migrants worldwide was the highest ever recorded, having reached 244 million
  • South-South migration flows continued to grow compared to South-North movements
  • Germany became the second most popular destination for international migrants globally
  • 2015 was the deadliest year for migrants
  • Remittances continue to climb globally while remittances-sending costs remain relatively high
• Factors influencing migration and population movements


  • Socio-political, economic and ecological factors are the main forces driving migration
  • Rising communal violence world-wide has led to increased levels of migration
  • Economic disparity between developing and developed economies encourages the movement of skilled labor from the former to the latter
  • Changes in the ecological environment have the potential to worsen food and water insecurity in various parts of the globe
• Demography


  The study of human populations- their size, composition, and distribution across space- and the process through which populations change. It also refers to the statistical study of populations, especially human beings.
• Socio-political, economic and ecological factors


  Main forces driving migration
• Rising communal violence world-wide has led to increased levels of migration
• Economic disparity between developing and developed economies encourages the movement of skilled labor from the former to the latter
• Changes in the ecological environment have the potential to worsen food and water insecurity in various parts of the globe
• Demography


  The study of human populations- their size, composition, and distribution across space- and the process through which populations change
• Demographic transition


  The decline in fertility and mortality that started in Europe from the 18th to 19th century onwards
• Stages of the classical demographic transition model


  1. Pre-transition: High birth rates, and high fluctuating death rates

  2. Early transition: Death rate begins to fall, birth rates remain high, population starts to grow rapidly

  3. Late transition: Birth rates start to decline, rate of population growth decelerates

  4. Post-transition: Low birth and low death rates, population growth is negligible, or even enters a decline
• The transition started in mid- or late 1700s in Europe, with high to low fertility happening 200 years in France and 100 years in the United States
• It was only the twentieth century that mortality decline in Africa and Asia, with the exemption of Japan
• The baby boom in the developing world was caused by the decline of Infant and child mortality rates
• Positive check


  Mortality response which means faster population growth may cause the rise of famines, wars and diseases (misery)
• Preventive check


  A response where faster population growth may result to marriage postponement which could lead to prostitution and contraception (vices)
• First demographic transition


  Starts with a mortality decline, followed by reduced fertility, and then decreasing population growth and finally population aging
• Second demographic transition


  Expects no such stability, sees new developments that bring sustained fertility, a multitude of living arrangements other than marriage, disconnection between marriage and procreation, and no stable population
• Migration


  Crossing the boundary of a political or administrative unit form a minimum period of time
• Types of migration


  • Internal migration: Movement of people within one country from one area to another
  • International migration: Crossing the boundary of one state to another
• Types of international migrants


  • Temporary labor or guest workers or overseas contract workers
  • Highly skilled and business migrants
  • Irregular migrants or undocumented or illegal migrants
  • Refugees
  • Asylum-seekers
  • Forced migrants
  • Family members
  • Return migrants
• Types of international migration

  • Permanent settlers
  • Temporary
  • Refugee
  • Illegal migration
• Causes of migration

  • Neo-classical economic perspective: Disparity in levels of income, employment, and social well-being between differing areas
  • New economics of labor migration approach: Chances to secure employment, availability of capital for entrepreneurial activity, and the need to manage risk over period
  • The development perspective: Migration is both a result and cause of development
  • Migration systems theory: Migratory movements arise from the existence of prior links between sending and receiving countries
  • The refugee phenomenon perspective: Closely linked to internal struggles within nation-states for economic development, social justice and relations between ethnic groups
• GOAL 5: Gender Equality. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls