Globalization of the Chinese city : a comparative study on the prospects of a global city in China

Abstract

China has experienced unprecedented growth since the open door policy began at the end of the 1970s and is currently in position as the world’s second largest economy in terms of gross domestic product. Much of the academic community already considers China a dominant economic power and potentially the most important nation state in terms of its current and future role in the global economy.

In addition, the last 50 years has produced a plethora of research on the importance of cities and on their profound economic contribution under persistent international trends of globalization. One prime example of the culmination and prominence of this research, Saskia Sassen’s The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo, delineates specific characteristics of true global cities, citing the three titled cities as the only prime examples in existence.

Based on the economic prominence of China as a nation-state, this dissertation aims to view China’s prominent contemporary cities through the lens of Sassen’s global city alongside other relevant and related theories and data in order to determine whether a true global city exists today within Mainland China. It then evaluates the current status of Chinese cities with respect to the observed effects of globalization and on the hypothetical path to true global city status. A number of theories relating to Chinese cities are developed in this respect, including the ‘shared spotlight’ theory and the ‘polarity of global city functions’ theory. Finally, an attempt is made to directly associate the distinct global economic roles and developmental paths of Beijing and Shanghai to the unique political and economic policy and action demonstrated by the Chinese Communist Party.

Through qualitative and quantitative analysis, the conclusion is drawn that Chinese cities, specifically Beijing and Shanghai, have taken divergent paths and play very distinct economic roles, as opposed to showing the natural agglomeration of global city functions one would expect to find in a world economic power under an increasingly globalizing world economy. Additionally, an associated conclusion is drawn that the unique developmental paths and the resulting distinct roles can be directly associated with actions and policies of the Chinese Communist Party.