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CITIES IN A GLOBAL WORLD
From the pvramid to the web ... with a few steps in between
1.- lntroduction
Let me present sorne th inking about certain aspects of the matter which 1
consider to be crucial. 1will highlight, of course, the non-cooperative aspects of
the globalization process.
1 will try to explaín in particular how a globatly
networked world, one that opens new opportunities instead of turther promoting
nationalism and hierarchy, provokes what 1will call "vertigo of new treedoms". 1
will attempt to establish a first conclusion, highlighting the need for new public
policies in a world that pretends to be increasíngly líberalized. In this context, 1
would like to draw attention to the capacity of the local world to play an active
role. Borrowing the New Citizenship concept from Saskia Sassen, 1will insist on
the positive role of local agents and politicians. Based on this point. 1 will
attempt to compare the idea of the Global Village with the idea of a world of
cities that compete and cooperate, leading to two important points: No abstract
paradigm of the city exists. lnstead we have one of concrete cities, each one
with specific possibilities and limits, which leads us to the second point: the
need to have comparable indicators of each specific reality in arder to enhance
the ability to perform. Herein, líes the general framework of what 1wish to say.
1"
X
1'.
1 would like to begin my presentation by citing one of the many documents
(more than 140,0001) that are floating around on the web and that respond to
the connection of the two key words of our topic: Cities and Globalization. The
following passage is taken from
the rev1ew done by
Dr. Mit Mitropoulos of IAPS
(Peop1e-
Environment Studles lntern1tlona/ A:ssoci11tíon) In hls book 'H1blt•t. Citl.:> in A Glob1/i%/ng Worfd··Globel Report on
0
Human Settlements". The author ends hls review with a subtle and lronic twist .
He writes: "Back in 1954
Laszlo Benedek directed The Wild One, with Marlon Brando riding with a roar
�into tidy-silent Wrightsville. He is floater Johnny, leading a mottey bunch of
motorcyclists wearing leather branded Black Rebels. The other character in the
scene is a local haírdresser in her prime. The hairdresser asks Johnny cheekily,
"What are you rebelling about?"
Johnny responds, "What have you got?"
The scene occurs during a decisíve moment of the
Fordist-Keynesian
production
model that began in 1945 and would guarantee three decades of sustained
growth in industrial production as well as the establishment of the Welfare State
for developíng COUntrieS.
As Steffen Schnei_de_r declares (Post-Fordism, the Resurgencfl of the Local State,
and Naw Forms of Urban Gavernance:
A~ments
and Deficíts of an Emerging Meta-N1trrative) :
"There is now widespread consensus on the combination of economic and politlcal factors that enabled the Western
Industrializad countrias to recovar from the Graat Dapression and to enjoy three decadas of unprecedented growth and
stability after 1945. According to the standard aceount, this phase of capitalist davelopment was, natlonal variations
notlNithstanding, basad on Fordlsl mass production and its macroeconomic regulation In and through tha Keynesian
wettare state.
"The logic of the Fordist-Keynesian paradigm was tied to national,
demand and employment orientad macroeconomic regulation even though it
was embedded in a specific international arder, characterized by United States
dominance, the Bretton Woods system am:1- the--first- steps- towards trade
liberalization, and also entailed specific functions for urban regions and local
governments. The urban regions around industrial cities were the main sitas,
and the phenomenon of suburbanization - often actively encouraged by national
housing and transportatíon policies - was an important element of the "virtuous
circle" of mass production and mass consumption that sustained economic
growth and stability in the postwar era. Yet local variations in the forms of
production and consumption are considered Jargely irrelevant in the literature,
and local governments are described as having a subordinate role during that
time - namely, as local arm of the Keynesian welfare state, responsible for
providing the infrastructure of Fordist mass production, administeríng the
welfare programs of central governments, and organizing social consumption."
(Steffen Schneider)
2.- Development without solidarity
While 1 apologiza for such a long quotation, 1 believe it provides clarity, and 1
would now like to retum to the contemporary Johnnys and hairdressers of our
world. Today the paradigm has changed: we are in the Post-Fordist era. But in
�Barcelona the World Bank suspended a seminar far fear of the recurrence of
the events that unfolded in Geneva which constitute a precedent for
disturbances anywhere in the world where representatives of a global economy
or commerce gather. Despite the change in style that the Davos gathering in
New York tried to present, a few thousand people protestad against this symbol
of globalization. In Barcelona, the measures of security on the occasion of the
European summit on March 141h have been taken to extremes of dubious value.
( .. . ) There are still rebels. What are they rebelling about? What have we got?
In PortoAlegre an important acknowledgement was openned far the need to
react, not only in a mood of protest but also through política! and civic action, to
the globalization of the economy and technology. This reaction can be summed
up in one simple phrase: it is necessary to confront the globalization of the
economy, technology ar power with the globalization of solidarity. Hardly a
novelty. Yet sorne new concepts were introduced into the argument. Nongovernmental organizations and city govemments from Europe and Latín
America called far greater coordination between local authorities and civil
society to prevent marginalization and social exclusion.
\
"The crisis of values has been globalizad, which means that we have lo globallze solidarity," nid Martln Pumar, mayor
of Villa El Salvador, a poor nelghborhood in Lima, to IPS.
-
According to Martin Pumar, the aim of the Euro-Latin American Third Sector
Observatory, which met severa! times in Brazil during the January 25-30 World
Social Forum, is to foment partnerships and development projects carried out
jointly by civil society and municipalities. The Observatory was just ene of a
number of workshops and conferences held parallel to the plenary sessions of
the World Social Forum.
Giampiero Rasimelli,
president of Ares, an ltalian NGO, said globalization has
.....__
given rise to profound social imbalances between the índustrialized North and
the developing South, as well as within each regían ar country. And "the cost is
paid by the Citizens, Cities and democracy," he Said.
Urgent changas mus! be brought about
by governmant efforts and lnltlatives based on !he potential of globaHzation and new technotogies for boosting cillzen
participation, and on experimenls in local autonomy focussing on sustainable economlc and social development.
Partnerships between civil socíety and city governments, he said, have arisen
spontaneously as a natural result of sharing experiences, seeking collaboration
L.and reflecting on common problems.
�Mexican social researcher, Jose Luis Rhl Sausi, said the growing partnershlp between civil sooiety and local
governments had its roots in the crisis of development models - the European welfare modal as well as the
development-orlentad models adoptad In Latín America. "That has given rise to a profound economic and political
restructuring entailing a loss of declsion-maklng jurisdiction and power for the siete," sald Rhl Sausi.
The coordlnator of the Euro~atin American Observatory, Claudia Barattini, underlined the growth of the Third
Sector - that "ensemble of non-profit economic, social and poírtical lnitiatives, in which the socially-oriented enterprise
and citizen groups stand out.•
Claudia Barattini pointed out that the so-called "Third Sector'' has grown in a
number of countries, but especially in those countries where civil society is best
organized. "We believe that we can fashion a simple, multifaceted mechanism
for the globalization of communities, civil organizations, and small and medium
companies, which discovers its own strength in its capacity to strike up
partnerships, based en the quality and simplicity of common experiences," she
(...
said.
In their final document, the more than 100 city govemment officials, mainly from
Latín
America
and
Europe and drawn by the World
Social
Forum,
acknowledged the need to work closely with NGO's on initiatives aimed at
upholding citizen rights, fomenting social participation and addressing the needs
of neglected sectors.
The necessary changes could arise in urban or rural areas, but the gap
between mainstream society and the marginalized, which is widening in today's
globalized world, was most starkly visible in the cities . In addition, they said,
cities are the scenario where social aspirations and innovative responses
affirming the quality of life and the rights of human beings are mainly played out.
The mayors called for a modification of the tendency to marginalize sectors of
the population, proposing common policies to tackle social exclusion and
greater coordination between cities to work out problems and achieve a
stronger presence in both the national and intemational spheres.
Thay agreed that it was Indispensable to work together with citlzen groups to resolve the housing crisis and extend
urban services to alt, as well as to address the needs of the poor through a more just distributíon of public funds, with
greater backing from central govemments.
The local authoritíes called for greater participation in the development of
national economies, in arder to improve the insertion of countries into the global
economy, "without lopsided dependencies". To do that, they argued that
�progress must be made towards the adoption of mechanisms aimed at
controlling intemational capital flows .
The mayors expressed their backing
~fthe Tobin Tax, the well known -
or not
so well known - tariff on intemational financia! transactions that would gather
funds for the fight against poverty at the national as well as the local leve!.
The deputy mayor of Lisbon, Vasco Franco, said it was nota question of being
for or against globalization, "but against exclusion." "(Cities) can make a
difference, by contributing to setting rules for unregulated globalization," said
Franco. He also pointed out that social aspects were fundamental to that
process, and that "local govemments have much to contribute."
(Source: Third World Network)
lt is evident that the new era, or the age of technology, the market and the
economy taken as a whole, together with global power, is creating in many
cities a pessimistic view of the immediate futura:
In this pesslmlstlc seenarlo, processes of globalization drlven by the accumulatlon strategles of transnational
corporatlons 1re sean as central, while state restrueturing is perceived as largely based on the neo-Uberal agenda.
In such a context, increased local autonomy is the privilege of a few global
cities, while the scope and contents of innovation in urban govemance are
dictated by market imperativas.
The optimistic scenario, by contrast, presents a discourse of "hope" according
to which economic and labor market policies implemented by local govemments
can foster a progressive, general and sustainable alternative both ·to obsolete
Keynesian and discredited neo-liberal strategies - an alternativa that supports
growth together with social equity, more genuine democratic participation and
improved quality of life.
�3.- Technotogical changes: a new economy in a new space
But befare evaluating possible scenarios, we must observe one fact, almost an
empirical affirmation: our societies are moving at an accelerated pace from the
pyramid to the web. That is to say, they are ceasing to be hierarchical,
mononuclear and predictable and are becoming reticular, polycentric and open
realities.
Í This profound global transformation, the causes of which we will discuss shortly,
presents opportunities and challenges, both from an economic and social point
of view. 1 will try to explain how, in arder to take advantage of these
opportunities and confront these challenges, it is particularly important to equip
oneself with efficient, flexible and public policies based on cooperation. In
addition, in arder to make these policies effective, they must be deeply linked to
each specific location, to each territory. Territory meaning here a triangle
formed by terrirorial govemment, universities and firms.
1 propase, then, the consideration of the well known paradox: in an
interconnected and polycentric society, the importance of local factors increases
instead of decreasing]What política! implications should we extract from this
Uobservation? Let's have a look.
J
The motor fer the move from pyramid to web is, above all, technological. The
development of information technologies has allowed for profound changes.
Manuel Castells explained this in clear fashion: "Productivity, competitiveness ,
communication and, finally, power depend essentially on the capacity to
generate knowledge and to process information in all areas of the economy and
society".
From a territorial point of view, ene of the consequences of the development of
these technologies - among which the Internet is, without
expression -
adóubt, the highest
is the reduction of spatial barriers. That is to say, the physical and
administrative obstacles that, over the centurias, have made the movement of
information, capital and goods difficult, tend to be drastically reduced.
This removal of spatial barriers has led to a much higher capacity far the
mobility of factors: greater volatility of capital, more rapid diffusion of
t<
�innovations,
configuration
of
integrated
and
selectiva
channels
of
communication.
And this greater mobility breaks up the geography of countries and regions and
integrates them into networks. These ínclude networks of individuals,
companies and universities. They are flexible networks that are constantly
changing and often do not rely on a rigid hierarchical structure. Therefore, it is
difficult far any territorially based power, be it
a
municipality, a state ar the
European Union, to control them. But it not true that nothing can be done to
overcome these difficulties.
4.- Our challenges: advantages and fears of certain liberties that do not
belong to everyone
The economic and social opportunities presentad by this development are
enormous. We will mention only one, the most obvíous one: the United States
has undergone the longest uninterrupted growth cycte in its history (interrupted
only by what may be one of the shortest crisis, if the optimistic data of the past
few days is true) without inflatíon, only interrupted in 2001 to give way to a
period of stagnation that seems to be on the mend. This is a period of growth
that escapes, then, the classic parameters of economic cycles and, although
offering any single explanation is still risky, it must doubtlessly have something
to do with the ínvestment in technology and the organizational changas that this
investment has brought about.
In addítion, the monopoly on information and knowledge that has been in the
hands of a few people for centuries has been broken. This information and
knowledge is now freely accessible, at least to eveíyone who is integrated into
the web.
However, this new situation, this increase in free spaces, is not exempt from
risks. In the first place, the transition from rigidly hierarchical systems to a
situation in which - as Brecht's Galileo would say -"each one and no one can
be the center", produces a certain vertigo. But the risks do not only arise from
�the difficulty in adapting to changes. In effect, the freedom that the web offers
can also represent an exclusion factor. One of territorial and social exclusion.
In many parts of the globe, the access to the web is impossible for vast
numbers of the population. Thus, the differences between that third of the
world's population that lives in relatively well-integrated areas and the remaining
two thirds are at risk of widening. This is true not only for the countries of the socalled third world. Even in the most advanced countries, bread territorial areas
are being marginalized due to reasons of weak infrastructures or by price
differences. This is the case with rural areas of the United States, and it could
well happen in various European countries, including Spain.
In my region, Catalonia, ene of the densest and most advanced in Spain, the
deadline fer connection between the 41 district or county capitals through a
wide band network has not been respectad. lt was assumed that it would be in
place a year ago. lt has not. Now the quasi-monopolist of telecommunications,
Telefónica, accounting for 86% of total communications as against 14% far the
hundred companies in the trade, has offered ADSL solutions, accepted by the
Catalan
govemment,
but not completely by the almost 800 hundred
municipalities (out of 900 existing ones) organized in a powerful net called
Localret. This net is decisive since the subsoil or underground cartography is
mainly in its hands and operators need it badly.
This is a fascinating conflict involving majar and lesser operators (i.e., monopoly
and competition) as well as major and smaller political authorities.
The "A" in Adsl meaning asynchronic (or asymmetric) services, that is to say,
wide discharging capacity or consumption capacity and lesser sending or
production capacity, the present solution is suitable for operators but not for
local representatives. You can buy a marvelous version of Beethoven's Ninth
Symphony living in the mountains 200 hundred Kms away from Barcelona, but
you cannot send your own musical production from there. Conclusion: you can
be a far away consumer but not a far away producer. The whole tale about
ubiquity of production becomes simply not true.
(Recall the Stockholm "Bangemann Challenge" story)
�Furthermore, society's development of knowledge could ampHfy social differences in the same way: dueto reasons of
age, training, and capacity far adaptation in very large sactors of the population.
5.- The need for public policies: the inevitability of technotogical
transformation (but not of its social consequences}
In light of these challenges it is important to be aware that, as absurd as it is to
oppose technological transformation, there is no reason far us to have to accept
its negative impacts, either from the territorial viewpoint ar from the social
viewpoint. In fact, certain public policies can help to resolve, ar at least mitigate,
these negative effects.
These policies do not have to stem in any way from govemments' will to control
the development of the web, either in its economic or cultural aspects. This
constitutes a chimera that is impossible to accomplish from a technical
standpoint. In addition, it would be absolutely counterproductive.
In effect and quite counter to what it may seem, entering the new economy with
a specific social model is the only way by which European countries can
maintain and even increase the model of social protection and cohesion that
characterizes them. Only through the increase in productivity derived by such a
model will it be possible to achieve the necessary leeway for redistribution.
Thus, rather than trying to limit or control the development of the network, the
activity of governments must be directed at just the opposite: attempting to
facilitate the adaptation of society to the network and of the network to societal
potentialities. And avoiding that its development brings about an increase in
inequalities and factions among social and territorial groups.
In this sense, the formativa aspects upan which we can elaborate today are, in
my estimation, fundamental: ensuring the quality of education (not only through
the contents or the means available, but also through a substantial
improvement of work conditions and the social consideration of those who do
that work); incorporating ali social sectors, regardless of age or origin, in the
�knowledge pertaining to new technologies (with "literacy" campaigns about the
Internet); not allowing, at any cost, the differences among the various
educational centers (rural/urban, public/private) to lead to inequalities in terms
of opportunities far accessing the network.
Along with the formative aspects, it is imperative to ensure, logically, the
complete coverage (the more simultaneous the better) of the entire territory with
infrastructures that permit equal access to the web. lf the opposite becomes
true, the network's development will only lead to new marginal spaces. As such,
far from being a technical discussion, the debate over the territorial
development of the network is one loaded with political meaning: in reality, it
involves the equality of opportunities among citizens, regardless of their origin
and place of residence. And it means also a better profit far the countless
investments made historically in now deserted land and villages.
6.- The strategic importance of local factors and policies
In bringing these policies to term, in confronting these challenges, it could be
assumed at the outset that the activities of local and regional powers - cities,
and regions - are irrelevant. Thus, in a progressively interrelated world in which
economic agents vastly surpass local situations, the question could be asked,
"What importance can municipal or regional decision-making have?"
But here we come upon the lovely paradox: in a network-based society, the
importance of local factors, far from decreasing, actually increases. This is so
because the enhanced ability to choose between situating activities in one place
or another - placing a company in Barcelona, Lyon or Casablanca- increases
the importance of the comparative advantage that can be derived from each
location.
This is the basis of the "local renaissancé" which has been discussed so much
in recent years. This is the reason why local policies are taking on the highest
importance.
The success of the simultaneous policies of adaptation to the web and
maintenance of the social protection systems of small countries such as Finland
�ar The Netherlands provide irrefutable guidelines to follow in this field. The data
concerning these two countries are both impressive and inspirational.
In Finland, far example, 58% of the adult population has an advanced degree
related to science or technology, the public and prívate investment in R+D is
around 4% of the GDP, risk capital represents 0.15% of the GDP (compared to
the European average of 0.06% and Spain's 0.02%) and the Internet is used
regularly by 41.4% of the population. And ali of this occurs within the framework
of a Scandinavian-level social security system. This, without a doubt, is the road
to follow.
The transition from the pyramid to the web, from a hierarchical society to a
reticular one, opens enormous possibilities and presents important challenges.
And the future of Europe depends largely on our capacity to confront these
challenges from each and every one of our cities and regions.
(Source: PM, From the pyramid to the web)
7.- From citizenship to the city. Saskia Sassen, 03.07.97, Transformations of
Citizenship
Saskia Sassen has highlighted with excellent criteria three partial yet strategic
aspects of the political discourse regarding globalization. The first involves a
loss of accountability regarding quasi-govemmental activities carried out by
institutions, companies and prívate or deregulated organizations to whom the
market structure has bestowed certain powers. A propos of this, it is certainly
not too late to incorporate the example of opaque power of the agencies in
rating the irresponsibility of a certain large consulting company in the Enron
case. uunshrinking" the possibilities fer openness and accountability is also
within reach for the political activities of citizens concentrated in cities. In my
country, municipal pressure groups that demand higher quality energy
infrastructures are creating an incipient counterbalance to
the private
companies that provide energy. The private services managing toll freeways are
being obligated to enter into dialogue with municipalities affected by the terms
�of their concessions. The large ports in the Internet and the society of
knowledge offered by municipal libraries are competing with certain success to
lower the connection costs controlled by the telecommunícation multínationals.
In other words, the implementation of this new concept of citizenship that affects
not only private persons but also important collectives can retum to cities and
their new policies part of the power that disappears with this strategic
consequence of globalization.
Sassen finds the second strategic element of globalization in the growing
importance of human rights. She terms this dynamic, "the ascendancy of the
international human rights regime. In many ways, it reduces the significance of
nationally based citizenship in terms of rights attached to individuals, no matter
what the nationality in question might be. lmmigrants and refugees have ctearly
been a crucial instance through which this intemational human rights regime
has demonstrated sorne of its influence and power". Allow me to insist that the
reduction of nationally-based citizenship in terms of rights attached to
individuals finds its clearest reality ín terms of the city insofar as the city is the
continent of many of these rights. 1 return to my former reference: a citizen of
Barcelona coming from abroad can be a person deprived of certain rights
derivad of "nationalíty", for example the right to work or to unionize. But an
important battle is unfolding in arder to provide that citizen with all the rights of a
citizen . Citizens have many rights, but not all: the right to vote is missing for
sorne. In the new Barcelona Charter now passing through the prove of
Congress, a window is open to the possibility of immigrants locally censed even
if not nationally legalized, as well as of 16 to 18 year old youngsters to
participate in the elections of their disctrict or neighborhood representativas.
Comig back to Sassen, if she polnts out soma
ot the positiva and strateglc aspects of globallzatlon,
allow me to add to
the role of international justice organizations that monitor human rights the many examples that deepen the exercise of
these rlghts at the city lave!. Ona example of this would be the Networ1< of Rafuga Clties that taka in authors deprived of
their rights to opinion In their countries of origin. Another would be the Network of Educatlng Cillas, that broadcasts
around the world local experiencas within the framework of respect and deepaning of these rights. We could add to
these the very existllflca of departments within the City Councll that specialize in promoting !hase rights within the city
environment as wall as in intervening in moments and areas of conflict. And we should no! neglect to mantlon the citizen
aspect of the NGO's that specialize in this area. Once agaln, it seems claar to me that lf globallzation does not serve to
create a network for confronting hierarchy, not e single one of these positiva strategic factors such as the fomentlng of
Human Rlghts wHI ever be achieved. Tribunal for the Milosevics and Bin Ladens, for su re, but services at the local level
for immigrants without papers, as well. Even if In that last issue, established citizens have lo have recognized thair right
to secura neighborhoods and decenl schools. Otherwise democracy befna such an lmperfect crealure, the b!nef¡js to
�be obtaloed by caplta!lzlng on fgar are h!nt¡istlcal!y hlgh. Needfe$S to polnt lhe rac;t thal most fascjst reglmes haye come
out of votes and nO! out o! "coups' .
The thlrd strateglc element that Sassen menllons is precisely the crisis of the classic concept of democratic
representation via the vote. By thls 1 mean the degree to which new and old collectives do not feet represented, l.e.
feminists, human rights advocates, immigrants.
lf she focuses her attantlon on !he progressive importance of international law, 1 also would llke to highlight the factors
of proximity, solidarity and participation that oughl to characterize cities. The representation of the city does not escape
the need to go further into the contradictions of that democracy that, in the sixties, wa oalled ''formal". But the city has (or
can hava) very powerful lnstruments far overoomlng "formalism•. The citizen, whether lndivldually as part of a collective,
feals this proximity to power by belng able to attend tha debates of their representativas In arder to promete publlc
interest initiatives. Tha intensive application of the principie of subsidiarity recognlzed in the Europaan Carter of Local
Autonomy can furthar optimiza the proximity of the citizenry to local powar lnsofar as thls Is eble to resolve a wider
spectrum of neads and establish a broadar array of programs. Finally, the right of participation at the local leve! far
surpasses the simple delegation of representation by means of the vote: topical municipal counclls and publlc heartngs
are two examples.
1 have chosen to follow the pattern of this article by Sassan first and toremost out of en lnterest in her strateglo
appreciation. Howaver, there is a sacond reason for this as well. lt involves the city. And !he city Is the most significan!
meaos by which to damonstrate that tha process of globallzation is not necassarily a "zero sum game" in which
increased global power m&ans dlminished local power. The city can add value or diminlsh disadvantages as long as the
movement is from a hiararchical conception of political action to a web concapt. Both !he axtension of accountabillty as
well as tha dafanse of human rights and represantation of minority or individual rlghts have two routas for compllmentary
prograss: the "supranationar powars and influence (laws, lnstitutions, publlc opinion, etc) that are derivad from or are
mechanisms of globalizetion, and the deepaning of local autonomy and establishment of challenges of coordinatlon or
simply competition among lhese powers.
1 spoke before of a pessimistic scenario regardlng the globalization process as well as a contrasting one of optimism.
Now that it Is in vague among certain individuals to qualify the Post-Fordian modal as a Nao-Schumpeterian modal, it
would be a good idea to remamber why Shumpater forecast the fall of capitalism. 1 illustrate with the ever sharp and
concisa words of Joan Robinson: "The increasa in the standard of living and tha diffuslon of aducation create a class of
unsatisfied intellectuals that channel aod articulate the resentment ot tha masses In faca of toequality, inaquality without
which capitalism cannot function. Above all, the business function becomes antiquated due to technologicai progr ess.
Wth !he devalopment of the large-scala compaoy and experimental sciance, true lnnovation is reduced to routine and
the buslnassman degenerates into a bureaucrat".
This lncrease in the standard of living has occurred In developlng countries, and education has baen diffusad. Thare
now exists a class of unsatisfied lntellectuals that denounce inequalities. But techoological progress has etimulatad the
appearance of new, innovative entreprenaurs that, using experimental sciances as a basls, have lnnovated in nonbureaucratlc ways. And some·analysts, though lacking necessary indicators and about which 1will speak later, balieve
that the models ot local progressive power are not indifferent to tha continuad fight against lnequafüy and !he resulting
apparition of new opportun~ies for innovation.
8.- Global village or world of cities
What stirs people up are cities because cities are the real probfem, the problem
that is visible. But people's unstoppable instinct is to conglomerate, to live
�The truly interesting thing is the way in which these vast new spaces are
realizing that their fundamental intemal policy is the building of the backbone of
a system of powertul cities: Eurocities and the Regions Committee, Mercocities,
CityNet in Asia, United Towns of Africa, etc.
Two years from now, in 2004, in Paris, the United Cities Organization will be
created alongside the U.N.O.
The fact is that an advanced group of daring cities have begun to construct a
network of world cities. Even if we speak of cycles of optimism and pessimism,
we ought to speak about the accumulation of future phases and past phases, in
each moment of time, with more or less dramatic adjustments).
Sorne bibliographical references and sources on thls process of creation of Uniled Cilies along side the Unlted Nations
include the following:
Río-Barcelona Oeclaration 1992***: two hopes with the name city. Agenda 21.
The works by J. Borja'*, M. Castells**, Jorge Wilhem, F.E. Cardoso, M. Cohen (World Bank..): J would call them
"sociologists in the conques! of action". 1 should add Jaime Lemer.
lstanbul OO. AMCAL Declaratlon (Assembly of Clties and Local Authorltles)'*. HABITAT Declarallon 2••.
Amsterdam, May 15-16, 1997. European summlt of reglons and clties. Final Declaration. Rapport Stoiber-Gomes. Final
PMM Speech**
European Charter on local autonomy ••. Councll of Europa.
European Union Treaty. Preamble.
Cities in a Globalizing World: Global Report on Human Setllements 2001
Jan. 25-30, 2002, World Social Forum. Porto Alegre
Befare coming to the last point in my proposal, 1judge it necessary to qualify
the premature appearance of the concept of globalization and of the global
village in one of the following ways:
•
as a sublimation based on a thin empirical veneer;
•
as a genuine hope of peace;
�prices in poor sections is good and pulling them down in rich ones is also
welcome.
3.
Creating a battery of common indicators, with cultural fork if
necessary. Towards a virtual market of cities on the following issues: 1)
pollution, 2) noise, 3) crime, 4) accidents, 5) housing costs, 6) education levels,
7) health (life expectancy, infant mortality, UBA cost), 8) justice, 9) public
transportation commercial speed.
These are the analytical, behavioral and policy implications of the socalled Barcelona model.
To wrap things up, let me conclude by saying that the radical critique of the
neoclassical model has become oldish.
The assumption of a fully informed
market is more real today than during the first half of the last century; the
mobility of production factors has grown to levels unimaginable in those times
(who remembers the Hecksher-Ohlin theorem ?), and even the divisibility of
productlon factors is greater. One could certainly maintain a radical criticism of
static analysis { of the "terrible pedantry of static analysis" of which talked Joan
Robinson).
But economic analysis offers two equally plausible exits: A system of
hierarchically arranged cities that operate independently from the main centers
of power where only the first tier plays a significant role in a society close to
total globalization. Ora system of network cities that compete, cooperate, unite
and innovate by providing added value, minimizing inconveniences and
strengthening the advantages of a globalized world.
Therein líes the challenge. The first is a rather static model providing a good
analytical tool. The second is a rather dynamic model clase to economic policy.
�
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02. Activitat professional
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Sèrie
Description
An account of the resource
Documentació emanada de l'exercici professional de Pasqual Maragall.
- Gabinet Tècnic de Programació de l'Ajuntament de Barcelona (febrer 1965-1968, funcionari 1968-1979) : com a economista.
- Servei d'estudis del Banc Urquijo (1965-1968).
- Aula Barcelona (setembre 1997 - març 1999): funda i presideix Aula Barcelona com a centre de gestió del coneixement per a l'administració de les ciutats. És un espai comú de reflexió entre universitat, empresa i administració en relació amb la ciutat i el seu passat, present i futur.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Cities in a global World: from the pyramid to the web ... with a few steps between
Creator
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Maragall, Pasqual, 1941-
Nadal, Joaquim de
Date
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2002-03
Type
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Conferència
Format
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Textual
Language
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Anglès
Subject
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Ciutats
Globalització
Description
An account of the resource
15 p.
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Document
Discursos i conferències