Question

Read the article, “The Problem with Being Global,” and answer the following:

How can a global city accommodate both the global and local identity?

What are two needs of local residents that should not be ignored and why?

Explain two or three consequences that may occur if a global city exiled the middle and working class?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/joelkotkin/2014/08/23/the-problem-with-being-global/#63e255ac36cf

Answer 1

Studies suggest that some of the main reasons for a gap between a city trying to achieve a global as well as local identity are as follows.

• Rapid urbanization.
• Firms hiring cheaper foreign labor to cut costs.
• City growing to meet the demands of the wealthy that are a small percentage of the total population.
• Rice in prices and cost of living.
• Lack of jobs or low paying jobs for the locals.

A global city can accomodate both a global as well as a local identity by preserving symbols and festivals of national and cultural significance. Since a global city is at an alpha level there is no shortage of capital or labor. These production inputs can be channelised in a manner so as to benefit the local communities as well. It is well understood that cheaper and skilled foreign labor is very attractive to a business entity. It is, however, important to provide a platform for the growth of locals as well so the human capital in the country grows. A global city will totally lose out on its national identity if there is a mass influx of foreign labor and migration of locals to other smaller cities in search of jobs and a lower cost of living.

Two needs of local residents that should not be ignored are employment and prices. As a global city is characterized by high economic growth and a high cost of living, it is necessary to ensure that there is a slowdown or reducing inequality in the distribution of income. As mentioned in the Forbes article "The problem with being global", that a global city usually has the most wealthiest living with some of the most poorest. Well paying jobs for the locals and a reduction in prices of goods and services could bridge the wide prevalent gap between the rich and the poor.

Some of the consequences of if the middle and the working class were exiled from a global city are explained as follows.

• Increase in demand for labor and employees resulting in the rise in wages(i.e) cost to the firms.
• Businesses with production units based in the global city have to move out due to rise in costs which results from lack of working class.
• The city eventually loses its global city status as businesses move out to other places resulting in a fall in the income generated by the city.