Prospero Jerome A.

Intano The Contemporary World

Jeams E. Vidal Mr. Nikko T. Ederio

BSA-201

MODULAR ACTIVITY #6

GLOBAL CITY TOUR ACTIVITY 6.1. Try to search and watch online videos and pictures of
the following places: New york, Tokyo, and Sydney with different beautiful landmarks. After the
tour, the teacher will ask the students:

1. What are these places?

New York, Tokyo and Sydney belong to the top 10 World's Most Attractive Cities.

•London’s core strengths lay in the category of “Cultural Interaction”, which

helped the city keep its No.1 position overall for the tenth consecutive year. London
continued to maximize its overall strengths by improved scores in the indicators of GDP
Growth Rate and Level of Political, Economic and Business Risk. While there remains
some uncertainty surrounding the U.K.’s exit from the EU, London’s balanced strengths
across several categories mean the city has the potential to turn challenges into
opportunities, extending its commanding lead and continuing forward as the top-ranked
city in which to live and work.

•New York, in second place overall, increased its scores in the “Economy”
category due to improvements in its Nominal GDP and GDP Growth Rate, but failed to
make any significant headway in its overall score, owing to weaker showings this year in
the category of “Cultural Interaction”.

•In other parts of the world, Sydney climbed four spots this year to edge its way
into the top 10 for the first time in seven years. Cities such as Los Angeles (in 11th
position overall), Beijing (13th), San Francisco (17th), Amsterdam (7th), Berlin (8th) and
Frankfurt (12th) all significantly improved their rankings from last year, as did Vienna
(14th), Stockholm (16th), Zurich (18th) and Copenhagen (20th)

2. Why are they important?

It is important for it determined that the power of cities has been changing as a
result of changes in the macro environment. The report shows that a city’s overall power
cannot be determined by a single factor, such as economy, but needs to take into account
the many factors that define the city. Rapid urbanization and globalization pose both
challenges and opportunities for cities, so for cities to thrive, they need to accurately
assess their specific strengths and weaknesses, as well as their relative positioning against
other cities.

3. How are they relevant to you?

It is relevant to me because these cities are the world’s most important and influential city
that covers the dimensions of the globalization. These dimensions are cultural experience,
business activity, human capital as well as political engagement. New York, Tokyo and
Sydney are one of the most well-known global cities as it provides global
competitiveness for its citizens and companies.
ASSESMENT ACTIVITY 6.3

1. In what sense are cities mediums/media of globalization?

The media are today seen as playing a key role in enhancing globalization, and
facilitating cultural exchange and multiple flows of information and images between
countries through international news broadcasts, television programming, new
technologies, film, and music. If before the 1990s mainstream media systems in most
countries of the world were relatively national in scope, since then most communications
media have become increasingly global, extending their reach beyond the nation-state to
conquer audiences worldwide. International flows of information have been assisted by
the development of global capitalism, new technologies, and the increasing
commercialization of global television, which has occurred as a consequence of the
deregulation policies adopted by various countries in Europe and the United States in
order to permit the proliferation of cable and satellite channels.

2. Why is economic power the most crucial determinant of a global city?

Cities are a key element to that evolution for many reasons. First of all, the world
has become urban. If you want to understand where people are, people are in cities.
Second: economics. Most of the world's economic power is concentrated in cities, and
therefore they become the pivotal entities you need to analyze to understand the world
economy. Thirdly, cities are increasingly connecting to each other. They're forging their
own diplomatic networks, [which] I call "diplomacity."

Diplomacy among cities is the return of an ancient pattern. But it also dis-
intermediates state structures. Cities building physical and institutional connectivity
among each other, as well as growing demographic and economic power, is how they
become the drivers of this new system.

3. Why is there a lot of inequality in global cities?

Leading Causes of Global Inequality:

•Lack of access to education for all women, education empowers women to deal
with adversity in life, and can improve health and economic wellbeing in families
and local communities;

•Innovation is at the heart of enduring prosperity and where nations, communities

and organizations have consistently fostered free enterprise, we see livelihoods of
people thrive;

•Inequality (deprived needs and unfulfilled capabilities of the vulnerable) has

risen with financial sector over-expansion, weak social policies and without the
skills to remain useful, people are deprived of opportunities - creating a massive
underclass;

•Historical processes such as wars, industrialization, colonization, as well as

current trade arrangements, financial systems and global politics impact inequality
between nations, individuals and groups within countries.