3. Our New Urban World

Nonbasic activity

"nonbasic" activity that instead circulates income among local residents. (Note that "nonbasic" does not necessarily mean, not important.) Nonbasic activities instead are things like restaurants, and grocery stores, and hair salons, and law enforcement—services provided locally to the city's own residents.

Economic Base (basic/nonbasic)

A community's collection of basic industries -basic-industries that sell their products or services primarily to consumers outside the settlement -nonbasic- industries that sell their products primarily to consumers in the community

Tertiarization

The development of a service economy without a manufacturing base, usually in a developing country

A rental-car company specializing in hybrid cars struggling to find qualified mechanics because of none of the local schools specializes in "green" technologies.

localization diseconomy

two main types of agglomeration economy

localization economies and urbanization economies (3.4 Urban Economies) -First are the localization economies yielded by being located close to your suppliers, your customers, and even your competitors. Think of all the health-related businesses clustered in mid-city Santa Monica, and all the benefits to the providers and their suppliers by being located so close to each other and to the city's several hospitals. An obstetrician, for example, can go back and forth between her office and the hospital's delivery room, and patients can head right next door to pick up their new prescription. Similarly, one sees localization economies at work in the cluster of hotels, restaurants, shops, bike- and surfboard-rental businesses near the Santa Monica Pier and Venice boardwalk. On a broader scale, the San Francisco Bay Area's "Silicon Valley"—home to Apple, eBay, Intel, Google, and many, many others—is arguably the world's most famous example of localization economies in the information age. The second type of agglomeration economy often overlaps with the first, especially at the scale of Silicon Valley, but we nonetheless can distinguish urbanization economies from their localization cousin. -Urbanization economies are the general benefits of being located in the city, or in a particularly dense business district within the city. The cost benefits of having access to various kinds of infrastructure, large potential markets of nearby consumers, large pools of skilled labor, and simply the cachet of being in a vibrant, economically active place—these are all benefits that accrue to lots of different kinds of business, not just those of a particular industry.

A start-up software company in California's Silicon Valley being able to meet for lunch to discuss their business plans with a venture capitalist specializing in the IT sector who has offices just a few blocks away.

localization economy

flexible production

process in which computers design customized products for a mass market

basic activity

the "basic" activity that is said to generate income for the city because it brings in money from outside the area. The classic example of a basic activity would be a factory manufacturing, say, washing machines, or pencils, or semiconductors; because most of these manufactured products are sold beyond the city in which they are made, they are, by definition, basic, part of the city's economic base.

Urbanization

the growth of cities

Example of megacities

-Tokyo(two megacities in tokyo) and New York were first megacities. -The UN estimates that Delhi, Shanghai, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Mumbai, and Osaka also have joined the 20-million club. -Looking ahead to 2030, the UN reckons there will be more than 40 megacities worldwide. -the UN expects our Southern California agglomeration to be only the 26th largest worldwide in 2030—although it is worth noting that the UN excludes the "Inland Empire" of Riverside and San Bernardino counties from its definition of metro LA.

Growth Poles Theory

A region where specific industries cause economic growth within the industry as well as the housing market and local economy, causing growth

Globalization

Actions or processes that involve the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope.

Fordism Vs. Felxible Production

Fordist manufacturing—such as the North American "Rustbelt" of Michigan, Ohio, and neighboring states. Fordism refers to the large-scale, vertically integrated, standardized assembly-line mass production that Henry Ford and other manufacturers developed as the state of the art in early-20th-Century industry. But times have changed, and the dynamic growth poles of today's global high-tech information age have tended to be located in newer regions of urbanization, such as the North American "Sunbelt" (California, Texas, Florida, et al.). This geographic shift southwards (and westwards) of North America's economic center of gravity reflects a structural shift toward both the service sector—a process known as tertiarization—and more flexible production methods of manufacturing that exploit the "Just In Time" capabilities that new information, transportation, and commmunication technologies provide.

GNI

Gross national income (now used in preference to gross national product—GNP). The total value of goods and services produced within a country together with the balance of income and payments from or to other countries.

While only considered a "secondary" world city of the global "semiperiphery" by Friedmann in 1986, this city's world-city credentials seem much more impressive today. For example, it is one of the world's leading locations for corporate headquarters; air passenger travel; international offices of U.S.-based law firms; and interoffice linkages with other major world cities. (See the various tables in chapter 4 of the textbook.) Which city am I describing, whose rising status can be seen as a product of its country's growing economic clout around the world?

Hong Kong, China

The roster of the most globally important "world cities" is always changing, and it also depends on the particular ranking system being used (e.g., number of corporate headquarters, volume of trade through local ports, assets controlled by local banks). With the relative decline of Japan, and thus Tokyo, during the last two decades, these two cities appear to be the two most globally significant world cities in the early 21st century—at least for now.

New York and London

Fordism

System of standardized mass production attributed to Henry Ford.

As suggested by the first few megacities all being located in the United States and Japan, through the first half of the 20th Century, urbanization was primarily a phenomenon of the "First World" core of more developed countries (MDCs).

THEN: Among the world's thirty most populated countries, only the United States and five of its European peers (the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain) were more than 50 percent urbanized in 1950. With the exception of Japan, the demographic giants of Asia and Africa—such as China, India, Indonesia, and Nigeria—remained overwhelmingly rural mid-20th Century with only about 15% of their populations residing in cities. NOW: Fast forward to the present and much has changed. Not only can giant megacities topping 10 million in population be found across all regions of the world, but additional dozens—indeed hundreds—of still-quite-large cities with at least a half-million people each are just as globally diffuse. Consequently, while Europe and North America are still more urbanized than most of the rest of the planet, those pioneering regions of modern urbanization no longer account for most of the world's urban population.

Examples of a "world city" aka "global city"

There is no single official definition of a world city, and many different scholars have produced many different lists. Invariably, these lists of proclaimed world cities are based on data demonstrating that the cities possess one or more of the following: -headquarter offices of major government and corporate entities (i.e., they function as centers of institutional "command and control"); -nodes of interaction and exchange, such as airports, ocean ports, and large, specialized markets—including stock and commodity markets; -high-level financial and other producer services—major banks, law firms, advertising agencies, and the like; and -tourism and highly visible centers of consumption, both of elite culture (museums, opera houses, sports arenas, etc.) and popular culture and entertainment.

A pizza restaurant unable to offer free-delivery service because traffic is so bad in its neighborhood that it is impossible to deliver fresh, warm pies beyond a radius of only about one mile from the store.

Urbanization diseconomy

A prestigious law firm able to woo new clients by providing them with free tickets to their luxury box at the local NFL stadium.

Urbanization economy

Urbanized societies, those with, say, at least 65% of their population living in cities,

are much more common today than they were a century ago, but there are still large numbers of countries, particularly in Africa and southern Asia, that remain mostly rural.

More Info on "dual" or "divided" city

World cities are seen as particularly dynamic examples of urbanism, characterized by high levels of change, contrast, and conflict. While defined by their relative wealth and power, world cities ironically are also home to severe poverty—the economic underclass of often immigrant workers who handle the bulk of the work on the low-wage end of the spectrum. There is a sharp segregation of geography between the affluent and poorer classes, with the former largely living, shopping, and working behind secure fortified walls—which some observers liken to metaphorical ancient citadels—while the latter are sequestered in crowded, impoverished ghettoes. The notion of a "dual" or "divided" city is how many have taken to describing this polarization of society within world cities.

world city (global city)

a city that functions as a service center of the world economy

Megacity

a great city that is made up of several large and small cities The UN now defines a megacity as an agglomeration (i.e., suburbs included) of least 10 million people.

Which one (or more) of the following statements about megacities are true? a. Megacities are defined by their large size (in terms of population), rather than by their levels of affluence and power. b. Today's megacities, especially those that have joined the ranks within the last 20 years, are mostly found in the more-developed countries of North America and western Europe. c. A rising number of megacities worldwide is one reflection of a general pattern of global urbanization that characterized the 20th Century and continues today.

a. Megacities are defined by their large size (in terms of population), rather than by their levels of affluence and power. c. A rising number of megacities worldwide is one reflection of a general pattern of global urbanization that characterized the 20th Century and continues today.

Which one (or more) of the following statements about urbanization and social-economic development are true? a. More-developed countries are usually more urbanized than less-developed countries. b. Urbanization levels are increasing year to year in less-developed countries. c. Most of the world's urban population today lives in cities found in the more-developed countries of Europe and North America. d. Urbanization levels (i.e., percent living in cities) have increased during the last hundred years in more-developed countries.

a. More-developed countries are usually more urbanized than less-developed countries. b. Urbanization levels are increasing year to year in less-developed countries. d. Urbanization levels (i.e., percent living in cities) have increased during the last hundred years in more-developed countries.

Which one (or more) of the following commercial settings would best be described as "basic"—part of the city's economic base? a. a suburban retail complex anchored by a supermarket and featuring independent small businesses providing consumer services such as haircutting and martial-arts lessons b. a factory manufacturing microprocessors for smartphones and computers c. medical offices featuring optometrists, family-practice physicians, and dentists d. a complex of business hotels located next to the airport a new civic center, featuring city hall, police headquarters, and a municipal auditorium

b. a factory manufacturing microprocessors for smartphones and computers d. a complex of business hotels located next to the airport a new civic center, featuring city hall, police headquarters, and a municipal auditorium

agglomeration economies

is the cost savings associated with spatially clustered activity. (3.4 Urban economies)