Global cities of the South : Mexico City and Johannesburg in an era of globalisation

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The global city discourse posits a new role for cities in light of increased economicintegration and the rise of a global economy. Firms are increasingly investing capitalin locations where profits are anticipated to be highest, creating a geographic dispersalof economic activity. As a result, the central command functions of firms –management, coordination, servicing, and financing of vast networks of operations –have become more complex and strategic. Firms thus outsource a portion of theircentral command functions to specialised service firms. Specialised service firmstend towards high levels of agglomeration and concentrate in a small number oflocations, giving rise to command and control centres of the global economy or globalcities.Cities of the South are increasingly fulfilling global city functions, yet are generallyapproached through a developmentalist framework. The global city discourse placessalience on specialised services and exhibits a Western bias. This study develops analternative analytical framework that recognises an array of activities and processes,across three spheres of globalisation – markets, mafias, and movements – thatcontribute to the global connectivity of cities. In this way the role of cities of theSouth in the global economy is better understood. This study focuses on Mexico Cityand Johannesburg as global cities of the South. What the research uncovers is thatthese cities fulfil many global city functions and are amongst the best connected citiesin their respective regions in terms of their ability to service global capital throughgrowing specialised service sectors.In this way Mexico City and Johannesburg emerge as global cities of the South thatintegrate large geographical areas, populations, and sub-global economies with theglobal economy. This study also illustrates that the way in which global cities areconceptualised limits the extent to which the concept can be applied in Southerncontext. Global cities of the South service far less global capital because of the natureof core/semi-periphery/periphery relations and underdevelopment, the role they fulfilin the global economy is, however, no less critical than that of global cities of thecore. This study therefore proposes thinking of global cities as constituent units of a global urban network, garnering certain power by occupying a particular nicheconstitutive of the whole network.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University