Global Cities

AY2019/2020 Semester 1

This course takes the concept of the Global City as its starting point to understand metropolitan life through this particular expression of contemporary urbanism. The limitations of such a conceptual framing will be explored, and applicability of the concept to cities outside the `West? will be examined. In addition to exploring key issues in urban studies through the frame of the global city, the course also aims to introduce methodological perspectives for studying how global city processes manifest at the scale of the everyday. In doing so, this course takes the `urban? as the primary unit of analysis, as opposed to the `national? or `state?. The first part of the course introduces and discusses the main critiques of conceptualisations of Global Cities, after which examples of Global Cities from the `North? and `South? are discussed in greater detail. The course goes on to present methodological perspectives for doing research in such urban spaces. The second half of the course delves into important urban concerns around liveability, sustainability and the economy, amongst others, approached from the perspective of the Global City. As far as possible, discussions and the selection of readings will attempt a balance between cities of the global `North? and `South?, with a particular focus on Asia.