Global Cities

The term global city has come to connote a unique urban habitat acting as a portal and stage for world connectivity. It bestows an image that is contemporary, international, multicultural, “wired,” cosmopolitan, congested, polarizing, and commanding geographically boundless (transterritorial) spheres of influence. Global cities are known for their inspiring built environments where art meets function and for their centrality in world affairs. As standard bearers of postmodern lifestyles and consumption, global cities contain the principal command centers for managing world commerce, the nexus of intercultural immersion, world-renowned research campuses, and world stages for art and entertainment. Most also are distinguished as global “gateways” harboring major airports and “load-center” seaports.

As shown by Herman Boschken (2008), the term is anchored in a collective multidimensional vision that empirically ...