Political Science 1020E Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Virtual Community, Knowledge Economy, Creative City
28 Apr 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
March 19, 2018
Cities Matter in A Global Age
Paradox of Globalization
- As borders and barriers came down, and virtual communities flourish in cyberspace,
cities matter more than ever
- Still have a major localizing or urbanizing dynamic to globalizing
- Seen in three major areas
o Flow of people across national borders
▪ Most choose to settle in urban settings and urban areas
▪ Immigration, rural exodus (especially youth); urban populations (80% in
North America, worldwide 14% in 1900, 51% in 2010, projected 70% in
2050)
o Flow of capital is selective and tends to choose urban centres
▪ Take advantage of related businesses in urban settings
▪ Investment in the knowledge economy clusters in innovative places with
networks of research, finance, and entrepreneurship
• Cities now the engines or national economies – responsible in US
for 91% of GDP
o Ideas: Those with talent in demand for knowledge tend to be choosing urban
centres with certain qualities and amenities
▪ Knowledge hubs
▪ Interesting urban lifestyle and culture
Cities uniquely positioned as strategic policy spaces and national drivers in the global age
Double-edge impact to these global flows – complicated questions about equality, access and
opportunity for all
- Excluded people:
o Skilled knowledge workers may thrive, but what about the many more without
high tech or excluded immigrants
▪ Occupy Wall Street about the unequal city
- Mobile capital: winners and losers who gain knowledge-based investments
o Foreign investment creares jobs, but what about when branch plants leave in
search of profit
- Bad ideas: innovative products make urban life more rich, but what about urban spral or
even terrorist against urban modernity
- Cities need to be ready to welcome people, embed businesses and invest in the best ideas
o Meet the challenges, transform them into opportunities
o Can be the 21st C. hotbed of innovation
Innovations in Action
Major issues on the government’s agenda, cities responding to major challenges
- Economic: Technology clusters
o Waterloo Ontario
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
As borders and barriers came down, and virtual communities flourish in cyberspace, cities matter more than ever. Still have a major localizing or urbanizing dynamic to globalizing. Seen in three major areas: flow of people across national borders, most choose to settle in urban settings and urban areas. Immigration, rural exodus (especially youth); urban populations (80% in. North america, worldwide 14% in 1900, 51% in 2010, projected 70% in: flow of capital is selective and tends to choose urban centres, take advantage of related businesses in urban settings. Cities uniquely positioned as strategic policy spaces and national drivers in the global age. Double-edge impact to these global flows complicated questions about equality, access and opportunity for all. Excluded people: skilled knowledge workers may thrive, but what about the many more without high tech or excluded immigrants, occupy wall street about the unequal city.
