Global / globalizing cities

Along with the rise in research on globalization, the concept of globalization has become a subject to a more critical scrutiny. While majority agree that it represents a serious challenge to the state-centrist assumptions of most previous social science, doubts about its newness, inevitability and epoch-making qualities are also being raised. Others argue that the globalization literature neglects issues of social regulation by the nation-state, while some critics view it as a discourse drawn upon to legitimize particular political and economic agendas. Debates focus on metropolitan manifestations and impacts. Moving from this background, the paper presents three sociospatial urban configurations that have emerged in the literature. Alongside attempts at identifying globalizing cities and transnational urban networks as new theoretical subjects, another significant vein in the literature focuses on the complex forces of globalization and the production of new urban spaces in these cities. In addition, economic conceptions of globalization is now being pushed beyond adding sociocultural or sociopolitical dimensions and argue instead for the need to theorize globalization as a discursive formation. The global city as a discursive category conjures up imaginary concepts of high modernity, megadevelopment, 21st century urbanity. However, it is noted that the way forward is to focus on the distinctive ways in which urban actors engage in specific processes of economic and social reflexivity. There exists an urgent task for theorizations of the global city, which weave together historical, economic, cultural, sociopolitical and discursive dimensions.     

Power to the people: when culture works as a social catalyst in urban regeneration processes (and when it does not)

This article focuses upon the relationship between culture, urban regeneration schemes, and their impact on socio-cognitive assets – namely, social and human capital. It examines three major urban regeneration projects in the districts of Saint Michel (Montreal, Canada), Auburn (Sydney, Australia) and Bicocca (Milan, Italy), where culture has been invoked as a main transformational driver at the economic and socio-environmental levels, but with different approaches and results. Through comparative analysis, we develop a more general reflection on the social impact of culture-led urban transformation processes, questioning the actual role of cultural initiatives – particularly those related to the creation of new cultural facilities and the programming of big cultural flagship events – and participation as a means to improve the local social milieu. We find that a key role for social efficacy is played by projects’ capacity to elicit the commitment of residents through inclusive cultural participation, as opposed to instrumental top-down initiatives mainly addressing city and neighbourhood branding and real estate marketing purposes.     

有关"社会主义转型国家"城市社会空间的研究述评

1990年代西方学者对于“社会主义转型国家”城市社会空间进行了大量研究。尽管中东欧社会主义转型国家与中国城市社会空间演进有某些共同点,如郊区化、内城区衰落、居住隔离等,但两者的分异机制迥然不同,前者为“社会主义向资本主义的彻底的急速转型”,后者为“社会主义前提”的渐进转型。这对中国城市社会空间的深入研究具有较大的指导意义。     

全球化时代的城市大事件营销效应:基于空间生产视角

在全球竞争时代,大事件营销已经成为城市政府实现增长策略的重要工具。文章引入空间生产的分析视角,对城市大事件营销的物质空间效应、社会空间效应、经济与政治效应进行了客观的评述,这些影响有正面的,也有负面的,从而揭示了通过大事件营销实现城市空间生产过程的本质。文章指出,大事件营销成为城市在全球化流动空间中增强对资本等发展要素粘性的重要媒介,实现了从流动空间向场所空间的转变,对城市的空间、经济、社会与政治关系等都产生着深刻的重塑作用。但是,更加关注如何将外向增长机遇与城市内生增长能力进行更好的结合,是非常必要的。     

中国城市地理研究的若干问题:海外学者的观点

海外学者是中国城市地理研究的一支重要力量,取得了许多重要的研究成果,提高了中国城市地理在国际学术界的地位。本文就海外学者对中国城市地理研究的主要问题:经济发展与城市化、全球化与城市发展、体制改革与城市转型及城市地理的理论与方法等方面进行归纳总结,期望加强了解,取长补短,相互学习,共同促进中国地理学的发展。     

全球化背景下的城市怀旧现象及地理学研究视角

现代化、全球化和城市化催生了当代的怀旧现象,城市怀旧已成为一种极其普遍的社会文化景观,并成为国内外学界关注的重要话题。通过对国内外文献的分析,总结了国内外城市怀旧现象的研究状况,以及文化地理学视角的研究进展。研究表明,城市怀旧研究已经渗透至诸多学科领域,国外文化地理学者从多个角度开展了城市怀旧的研究,但该研究在国内还十分鲜见。文章指出可以结合文化地理学及相关理论,从人地关系角度,分析城市怀旧文化的形成发展及其与城市文化生态环境的互动作用,探讨城市怀旧空间的生成、类型、特征、时空演变及其动力机制,解读城市怀旧文化景观对于城市怀旧空间的诠释以及地方认同的影响,以揭示在城市怀旧空间形成和演变过程中,城市记忆、地理想象、地方认同和建构的互动作用机理。认为城市怀旧的地理学研究将拓展我国城市文化地理学的研究视野,并对城市更新、历史街区的保护和复兴提供重要的理论支撑和决策依据。     

重申全球化时代的空间观:后现代地理学的理论与实践

"空间"是人文地理学研究的核心概念。全球化时代,空间概念的内涵与外延都发生了重要变化。本文通过重述后现代主义哲学、当代城市与区域空间重构的社会实践、当代人文地理学前沿理论三者之间相互印证的理念与事实,重申全球化时代的空间观为空间与社会辨证统一的后现代空间观,并阐述了其对当代人文地理学研究的重要意义。     

The cultural paradiplomacy of Barcelona since the 1980s: understanding transformations in local cultural paradiplomacy

This article seeks to explain the conditions for the emergence and institutionalization of the cultural paradiplomacy of the city of Barcelona and its local effects. The recognition of the city as an active participant on the international stage is based on its evolution from an industrial to a service economy. Against this backdrop, Barcelona’s city council, in common with many other city authorities operating in the world’s metropolises during the 1980s, initiated its own cultural paradiplomacy as a strategy for attracting capital and promoting local development. This policy became established as part of a new multilevel system of governance. This article analyzes the causes of the institutionalization of this activity from an intergovernmental perspective. It concludes that in the context of economic globalization, the emergence of cities’ cultural paradiplomacy is strongly related to the restructuring of the State and its external administration and to the intensification of the ‘cultural branding’ of cities as a tool for global competition.     

基于演化理论的我国城市合作机理研究

全球化和区域竞争引发了广泛的城市合作实践。城市合作是特定地域空间中城市共生演化的动态过程,城市合作的形成与发展,是多种行为主体在多种环境因素和历史因素作用下互动博弈的结果。以新近兴起的演化经济学和演化经济地理学为基础,建构了一个城市合作研究的演化分析框架,探讨了城市合作的本质和内容,分析了我国城市合作模式的类别、演化过程和不同模式的有效性。城市合作的本质在于追求包括分享、匹配和学习三大效应的更高层级的集聚经济,演化理论可以为研究城市群的演化过程,探索适合我国国情和区域发展实际的城市合作模式。     

"后社会主义城市"社会空间分异研究述评

社会空间的分化与极化是当代城市空间结构的主要特征。经济转型伴随了社会分异程度的增加,带来新的社会空间结构。对于中国城市社会空间转型的研究正处于方兴未艾之际,但对于处于东欧和前苏联的所谓“后社会主义城市”(Post-socialistCities)的研究尚缺乏比较与借鉴。本文通过对“后社会主义城市”社会空间分异研究的综述,探讨了这一类城市在新的政治经济背景下新的社会极化对城市社会空间的影响,市场的出现和福利体系的重构造成了普遍的社会空间分异程度的增加,这类转型城市的社会空间表现出多元多样的空间分异格局。     

发达国家城市收缩现象及其对中国的启示

城市收缩是发达国家在工业化与城市化过程中普遍存在的现象,城市收缩对发达国家经济社会转型、城市空间结构转变产生了深刻影响,在对城市收缩有效治理过程中形成的精明收缩与弹性城市理论对快速发展的工业化国家具有积极的借鉴意义。本文对发达国家城市收缩的现象与事实进行了系统梳理与分析,分析了城市收缩的特征与空间模式,探讨了城市收缩的形成机制和城市收缩的应对措施,并对西方发达国家城市收缩现象对我国的启示形成了几点认识。     

基于空间再生产视角的西方城市空间更新解析

1970年代西方开启了向新自由主义的转型过程,城市空间的更新变迁都打上了资本积累、资本增殖的烙印。文章将西方的城市更新历程归纳为三个阶段,以空间再生产的视角揭示了城市更新的本质,指出1980年代以来鼓励公共-私人部门共同参与空间再开发成为城市更新的基本特征。文章归纳了西方城市更新的三种模式,并对其经济社会绩效进行了评估,深度解读了其动力机制。最后,文章提出了对中国城市更新的基本判断。     

Former Soviet cities in globalization: an intraregional perspective on interurban relations through networks of global service firms

This paper presents an empirical study of the globalizing urban landscape in the post-Soviet region. In order to understand the position of cities in relation to each other in the context of economic globalization, the study considers the transnational city network in the post-Soviet region. At the center of analysis are the locational strategies of global service firms operating in the former Soviet cities. We adapt the interlocking network model proposed by the Globalization and World Cities research (GaWC) network to the regional level to uncover the interurban relations. Unlike the classical studies of the GaWC, this study focuses on the analysis of intraregional spatial patterns of globalization. The research shows that the globalizing regional city system is in the midst of substantial restructuring and that the state of former Soviet Union (FSU) cities in relation to Moscow is altering. The integration of FSU cities into the global economy mostly occurs through capital cities. However, under the current political and economic circumstances, the position of each capital city within the region has become diversified. The analysis indicates that the globalization of cities within a particular region reproduces similar processes on a world scale, which are characterized by spatial concentration and hierarchical relations. However, our research has shown that patterns of urban globalization at the regional level significantly depend on the historical context and national economic and political tendencies, thus creating conditions for the penetration of the world economy into cities.     

城市蔓延的多维度思考

半个多世纪以来,城市蔓延引起了广泛关注,取得了显著的研究进展,但也存在一些不足。本文就城市蔓延的内涵界定、测度方法、动力机制及中国大城市空间扩张的特殊性进行讨论与辨析,认为：城市蔓延是指那种盲目而无计划的、分散而非连续性的、用地功能单一且低密度的、过度依赖机动化出行且导致人地关系日趋紧张的不可持续的城市空间扩展模式;具有复杂性、阶段性、区域性、相对性等特点;是经济因素、制度因素、政策因素、技术因素、规划因素、社会因素、文化心理因素或行为因素等综合作用的结果;城市蔓延是过度郊区化的表征,是与特定的时空条件相联系的,需要从中心城区与郊区互动演进的视角来考察;中国大城市的交通拥堵和空气污染问题正在从城市中心向郊区扩展,新一轮城市规划必须对此给予足够的重视。     

世界城市体系研究的定量化趋势及其方法演化

20世纪80年代以来,世界城市体系研究受到越来越多的关注,研究内容由早期的案例研究、基于属性的世界城市排名,发展为对世界城市体系结构的定量化分析。这些变化是与城市间关系数据的日益丰富分不开的,数据的丰富也带动了世界城市体系研究方法的日益丰富与完善。本文首先回顾了世界城市体系研究的定量化发展过程,在此基础上对世界城市体系定量分析方法的演化：由社会网络分析到链锁网络模型的发展以及两种方法的讨论和完善进行了梳理,并对两种方法的异同进行了对比。最后结合中国国内相关领域的研究现状,对未来研究进行了展望。     

全球化视角下的世界城市网络理论

城市诞生时就相互保持着联系,只有将城市纳入世界城市网络中才能正确把握城市产生和发展的本质。1980年以来在第三次全球化浪潮的背景下,世界生产要素和产品市场开始整合,世界城市的兴起是国际劳动分工在空间上的表达。Cohen、Friedmann、Sassen、Castells和Taylor等学者提出并发展了世界城市理论,世界城市网络理论已经成为研究城市问题的重要框架。联系数据的缺乏长期制约了世界城市网络的实证研究,二十世纪九十年代中期以来学者们创新性地解决了方法论的问题,对世界城市网络的各个层面进行了实证研究。     

Cultural actors as agents of generating social co-presences within the place: Istanbul’s contemporary art scene

This paper builds on the designation of cultural actors’ actions as a decisive factor in the emergence of urban patterns of art-driven social co-presences in Istanbul. It contributes to the creative city debate from the perspective of community development by incorporating the contemporary arts into urban social space making efforts. Methodologically, the locations of art organizations in the contemporary arts scene of Istanbul are approached as an urban pattern of art driven social co-presences that resulted from the ‘collective action’ in which a multitude of cultural actors are involved. We find that the clusters of art organizations serve as multidimensional social interactions among artist communities. There are, however, inefficiencies in spreading this interactive networking throughout different social segments. Research findings conclude that the cultural actors as agents of generating social co-presences within the place, are not effectively contributing to the society’s social coherence, particularly in terms of creating links with disadvantageous neighbourhood residents.     

全球化背景下城市文化地理研究的新趋势

文化全球化背景下,在城市的快速转型过程中,城市文化发展和演进面临更多新要素的触动:"异质文化"日渐冲击或渗透着城市本底文化,影响城市文化发展的主要因子也更多从自然环境要素始向人文因素转变,即城市本底文化生存的"土壤"正在发生革命性改变,从而使城市文化表现出更多时代内涵、时尚意韵和新景观。本文基于国内外相关研究进展,讨论全球化背景下城市文化地理研究的新态势,以期对新时期国内文化地理学的研究有所裨益。     

Global Media Cities in a World-wide Urban Network

This article examines the link between cities and culture from the point of view of the production of cultural goods, including media products. It focuses on the institutional structure of present-day cultural production and the media industry and on their geographical organization at the local and global levels. The cultural economy is a prime mover for globalization processes in the urban system, in which cultural production clusters act as local nodes in the global networks of the large media groups. The models frequently used to analyse the global city system will be supplemented and partially modified by an empirical analysis of the 'world media cities'. The analysis of the world media cities enables those locations to be identified, from which globalization in the spheres of culture and the media proceeds and is 'produced' in practical terms. Global city research has predominantly emphasized the role of advanced producer services—in contrast this article concludes that for the process of globalization the globally operating media firms are at least as influential as the global providers of corporate services, because they create a cultural market space of global dimensions, on the basis of which the specialized global service providers can ensure the practical management of global production and market networks.     

社会阶层化与城市社会空间的发展及其与城市娱乐业的(空间)关系

基于学术界共识的后工业化大城市社会空间中产阶层化的理念,本文首次提出社会阶层化的概念并指出社会阶层化主要研究在社会阶层的生活行为扩散和变化规律下,所构建的城市日常居住社区体系和日常生活行为场所体系的时空模式,以此探讨城市社会空间结构的变化。研究认为不同城市发展阶段其对应有不同主导阶层的社会阶层化空间结构。进一步从解构城市社会空间结构的演化动态角度,研究不同社会发展阶段下,社会阶层化与城市娱乐产业的对偶空间结构关系。