Globalization, Migration, and the City PDF

# Globalization ## What Is a Legitimate Wage? Some corporations that invest in developing countries pay very low wages. If the market for labor in a country is $0.50 or $1.00 a day, is creating more jobs at $1.50 a day a benefit? Would fewer people in developed countries buy products from developi...

# Globalization ## What Is a Legitimate Wage? Some corporations that invest in developing countries pay very low wages. If the market for labor in a country is $0.50 or $1.00 a day, is creating more jobs at $1.50 a day a benefit? Would fewer people in developed countries buy products from developing countries if those products were more expensive? Would it be harder for a company that pays low wages if it's started by a poor entrepreneur and owned by the poor in the developing country? ## Finding a Middle Way is Essential - **Acumen** works with local banks by guaranteeing investments in locally owned enterprises. They concentrate on models of poverty alleviation that are scalable and sustainable. - **Grameen** provides not only financial capital but also the cultural capital necessary for success. The key to the Grameen strategy helps people do for themselves. They are patient capitalists because they support investments over the long term and do not chase quick returns. - **Novogratz** looks for investors and projects that combine social need with striving for success All three models are examples of capitalist enterprises working for reasonable profits. They have rejected the ethic of seeking the most profit, which led to many unstable practices and global crises. Profits are invested back into new enterprises, and shareholders are reasonably paid. These programs are important for alleviating suffering in poorer segments of the world, though the benefits are shared globally. - **Warren Buffet** and **Bill Gates**, both of whom are among the richest men in the world, promote development aid. - **Gates** delivered a 75-minute talk at the 2011 G20 meetings to encourage a "Robin Hood" tax on financial transactions. - **Buffet** has consistently supported development aid and criticized the U.S. tax code, reporting that he was taxed at a 17% rate in 2010, lower than most low- and middle-income Americans. ## Migration People migrate for a variety of reasons. Most are related to inequality. - **Economic opportunity:** Many people emigrate from their homeland for better economic possibilities. - **Persecution:** They may need to escape persecution based on their ethnicity, religion, or political or sexual orientation. - **Environmental catastrophe or violent conflict:** Many people leave their homes to escape these situations. - **Forced:** Some people are forced to leave, expelled from their homeland. While migration may benefit both host countries and migrants, it's also implicated in human security issues. * **Human economic, political, and social insecurities:** These are the primary forces that push migrants out of their homelands. * **Waves of migration:** Can place temporary undue pressures on host countries as immigrants adjust and become economically integrated. This can increase actual or perceived insecurity. * **Refugees:** Often live in conditions of extreme economic and social insecurity in host countries. Many groups live as refugees for generations. Refugees may carry conflict across borders. Networks connecting migrant communities may facilitate ethnically based organized crime movement of money or goods globally. When waves of migration reach a level that citizens in a host country perceive as threatening to their economic, cultural, or other interests, discrimination, hate crime, and other reactionary activities rise. ## Refugees * **Refugees** are individuals who cannot live in safety in their homeland and have the right to international protection. * **Asylum seekers**: If persons are already in the country where they wish to reside or at a port of entry, they are considered asylum seekers. They must meet refugee status. ## A Closer Look: Refugee Camps Between 2000 and 2009, over 42 million people were uprooted by conflict or persecution. Some are displaced temporarily, but for many, refugee status may last a lifetime. In 2007, there were 8,525,500 people living in refugee populations of 10,000 or more for more than 10 years. In 2007, over 1 million refugees fled their homelands, the highest number since 2001. Many of these refugees found themselves in countries with corrupt government, corrupt leaders, and corrupt relief workers. This is particularly true in conflict zones. Hundreds of thousands of refugees return home each year. Sometimes, this is because conditions have improved, but it can also be due to the oppressive conditions of life in camps. These camps are often deplorable because of lack of basic needs for survival, lack of opportunity for employment, and other indignities. They are also more subject to natural disasters. The security of refugees does not depend on the wealth or democratic leanings of a country. Treatment depends on shared characteristics between refugee and host: physical, ethnic, religious, language, and other common bonds. When there is less commonality, there is less humane treatment. All nations that accept refugees make sacrifices. When the nation is poor, they cannot create secure environments or maintain their own security without significant international aid. Refugees have recognized status and rights globally, such as freedom of religious practice and the right to food and secure shelter. Rights beyond the minimum stipulated in international law vary widely by host country. ## A Closer Look: Seeking Asylum In 2010, 358,800 people sought asylum. Asylum seekers come from many countries. The asylum seeker may be suffering from religious persecution or from political persecution. For example, they may be targeted victims of an oppressive regime or homosexuals in a country where same-sex sexual orientation is considered deviant or criminal. Once these persons' asylum application is accepted, they become refugees. This may take years. There are close to a million people globally who are in asylum-seeking status. ## A Closer Look: Internally Displaced Persons An internally displaced person (IDP) is another category of migrant. About 27.1 million people were living outside of their homes but in their homeland in 2009. Half of these are displaced due to internal war, others due to natural disasters and human rights violations, among other causes. The 1951 UN Convention on Refugees did not address IDPs. The responsibility for IDPs is left to the very governments that are often responsible for their displacement. - In 1998, a group of international experts drafted "Guiding Principles" to consolidate and clarify existing international laws. These principles now serve as a blueprint for the treatment of internally displaced persons. - Regional alliances have encouraged member states to develop national laws based on the principles. - The Organization of American States and Council of Europe have mandated that any signatories incorporate the principles into their domestic law. - The guidelines stress a country's obligation to prevent displacement and start planning durable solutions if it occurs. Prevention efforts are to include effective disaster risk reduction, emergency preparedness, and effective conflict prevention. Ending displacement as expediently as possible requires early recovery strategies. The number of IDPs in Bosnia-Herzegovina is small, but in many countries, millions have lived in displacement for generations. Sudan has the largest internally displaced population: 4.9 million. Armed conflict has been near-constant since independence in 1956. Oppression of religious and racial minorities by an Arab government spawned rebellions in South, West (Darfur), and Eastern Sudan. Sudan is home to two UN peacekeeping forces, one in the South and one in Darfur. Over 4 million people fled Southern Sudan alone. With the peace treaty signed in 2005, returnees started to flow back into Southern Sudan. About 2 million refugees and IDPs have returned as of 2009. ## A Closer Look: Involuntary Migrations Refugees and Displaced Populations, 1964–2008 - The global population grew from 2,250,000 refugees in 1964 to 4,500,000 in 2008. - The number of internally displaced people grew from just over 1,000,000 to almost 3,750,000 in 2008. ## A Closer Look: Ethnicity in Burma About 3 million Burmese are in refuge in neighboring countries. Despite democratic reforms instituted beginning in 2010, Burmese military continues to fight rebel groups, and inter-ethnic violence continues. Despite these crises, the international community has committed itself to meeting the needs of the Burmese people. ## Brain Drain and Brain Gain Among the voluntary migrants are people who are looking for better economic opportunities or to join their families. Most developed countries have special immigration statuses for these migrants. When employers want to bring in highly skilled employees, they apply for a special visa. - Canada is considering dropping the number of high-skilled visas by 20% from the 2010 number. This has created an uproar. Many high-skilled workers claim that the visas provide a vehicle for bringing cheaper labor into the country. ## Destabilization Waves of migrants can destabilize the countries receiving them. They may create pressures on social services, resources, and the environments of local areas when migrants concentrate in particular areas. The dangers to host countries that offer refuge. Refugees are likely to be burdensome to neighboring states, often themselves poor. Stretching resources too thinly is likely to create tensions between the displaced population and the host community. Ethnic and racial balances in host states may also be tipped. Refugees may use neighboring states to launch military actions across the border. This may bring retaliation and may even escalate conflicts. Each of these possibilities brings destabilization and potential for further conflict. These dangers may cause host states to manipulate access to refugee communities and redirect the aid from humanitarian agencies. <start_of_image> Cities and global systems: The enforcement of the principles in Burma grew to be a responsibility of the international community. The international community can force governments to conform to international law remains problematic. Sanctions have had little to no effect on the activity of the government. The Constructive engagement of ASEAN, of which Burma is a member, namely, continuing to deal with them while encouraging them to change, had not improved the situation either. China, Burma's ally, often acted as a buffer, providing extensive aid and vetoing UN Security Council proposals. ## A Closer Look: Al Salaam Refugee Camp New arrivals at Al Salaam camp, in Sudan's North Darfur region, make temporary shelters out of household goods they were able to carry with them. ## Global Trajectories: The City - The Global Compact: The Global Compact is an agreement to abide by ethical business practices. It was initiated in 2000 by 40 corporations joined by some influential civil society and labor organizations. It now has 6,000 corporate members from 135 different countries, as well as 2,000 civil society, labor, and other organizations. It's mission is to promote stronger ethics, better caretaking of the common good and more comprehensive management of risks. The Global Compact has standards in 11 topical areas: human rights, labor, environment, anti-corruption, development, peace, investment, business education, expansion to more businesses and organizations in domestic locations, responsibilities for communicating on progress in these areas, and UN-business collaboration. Corporate responsibility can mitigate risk significantly. ## Relationship of societies to the Global System Capitalism has increased inequality among societies. The legacy of colonialism and the Cold War left societies vulnerable and allowed core societies to concentrate power and wealth. The distribution of wealth within societies, as well as regular meetings of elites, suggest a global elite class is emerging that has been successful in promoting their interests. Global economic and political systems make it challenging, if not impossible, for states to manage the welfare of their citizens. Limited access to technology restricts the development of many societies. Intellectual property and patent rights exercised by powerful nations, and corporations are increasingly questioned and modified by a developing global political system that engages all countries, as well as civil society groups more than in the past. ## Relationships of societies to individuals Institutional failures within societies abound. Traditional institutions and ways of life are no longer feasible for most of the world's poor. Poor states cannot manage basic sanitation and health services. Economies are short on jobs, and many have extremely low wages. Large numbers of children are not enrolled in school. Food, even when sufficient in caloric content, is often lacking in proper nutrients. ## Relationships of the global system to humanity Responsibility of the global community for providing a minimal quality of life has been recognized through the Millennium Development Goals. Treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Refugee Convention and Protocol acknowledge all societies’ obligations, the obligation of global governance to assure a minimal level of security and relief to suffering of humanity by providing refuge regardless of national origin. Agreements promising more socially responsible behavior on the part of powerful actors in the global economy are minimally an acknowledgment of corporate responsibility to humanity. ## Individuals to the Global System Inequality within societies has grown over the course of capitalist expansion as well. Elite and disadvantaged exist within all societies. Whether inequality is an inherent characteristic of capitalist expansion or a result of the particular ways that capitalism has evolved remains to be seen. If the reforms promised by the WEF, G20, and individual governments raise the quality of life for the BOP and poor within wealthy nations, capitalism may persevere. In the meantime, the global community has pledged to protect individuals and the dignity of each individual, as best it can, from threat, regardless of its source. ## The Nature of Cities - Ancient Cities: Over half of the world's population lives in cities. Both the prospects and the problems of globalization are most pronounced in the world's cities. Cities have been central to globalization processes from the earliest phases, shaping and being shaped by globalization forces. Cities form and inform networks across regions and civilizations. The Silk Road connected cities along its main arterial routes, forming global markets and connected cities tangential to the road from which people and goods arrived to the markets. Great Cultures were created along these roads, and variations of older cultures emerged. For hundreds of years, numerous empires and kingdoms, including the Persians, Indians, Greeks, Romans, Chinese, and Mongols, influenced and were influenced by the development of the area and the civilizations east and west of them. Greek colonization laid the foundation of the Silk Road. - Cities of the ancient empires reflected the underlying values or cosmos of their cultures, belief systems, and codes. - *Athens:* The center of the city was the community center, the agora, reflecting the equality of the citizens. All houses were equidistant from the center, built in a radial pattern. - *Ancient Rome:* Initially built on a human scale and stressed social interaction and public life. As the empire grew, the look of the city changed to grandeur and dominance, reflecting the power of the state, and the forum became the city center. - *Cities of the empires:* Were political administrative centers built to control territories and commerce. ## A Closer Look: Cityscapes - How do the physical characteristics reflect of a city reflect its character, or that of the region or nation where it resides? - For instance, what does it suggest when a city has run-down parks, schools, roads, and other public areas that are surrounded by lavish gated communities, private clubs, and exclusive restaurants suggest? - What message do well-lighted, clean neat, and well-kept public areas convey? - Are there back stories to the architectural mix of cities? ## The Industrial City The dominance of East over West changed abruptly. With industrialization, the center of production and commerce shifted to Europe. European cities grew exponentially, and all of the ills familiar to modern cities grew with them. London grew 300% in 30 years and at the turn of the 19th century was the world's largest city with a population of over 2 million. City life and social life adjusted to conform to the needs of the emerging industrial capitalist economy. ## Contemporary Cities Cities today are larger and busier, with more diversity and more objective culture than Simmel might have imagined. At the turn of the century, it made sense to talk of cities as relatively discrete locations, but by mid-20th century, cities had spilled over their political boundaries and become "metropolitan regions" with much of the industry and manufacturing moving into outlying areas. The cities of the turn of the 20th century were centers of manufacturing and commerce. They were very often filthy from burning fossil fuels, lack of sewage and sanitation, and homelessness. As manufacturing moved from many cities, aggregating or disaggregating in nearly any region of the world, cities became visibly cleaner. At the beginning of the 21st century, global cities gleam, at least in their imagined and stylized form. The contemporary city is a complicated social structure. Cities serve as a nexus, but they are strategic rather than manufacturing centers. Corporate headquarters and those that serve them agglomerate in cities. They bridge the advanced economic zones and sectors and the backward zones and sectors. ## A Closer Look: Iconic Architecture - To testify to their stature and importance, global cities are home to "iconic architecture." Architectural firms of global fame build iconic, one-of-a-kind buildings in global cities. - These buildings are stunning, designed to inspire awe. - They often bear remarkably little relation to the cities in which they are found. - Iconic architecture gives the skylines of global cities a fantasy-like quality. ## Global Cities - The concept of the world city was initiated by Hall (1966) and elaborated by Friedmann and Wolff (1982). - *World City*: Designated a particular type of city that emerged with globalization. They are not necessarily the largest cities, nor are they necessarily capital cities. The outstanding characteristic of a world city is its role as a hub of power-political and economic, national, and international-and the extent to which it is integrated with other hubs of power. As globalization advanced and control of production, consumption finance, and commerce from around the world became more concentrated in particular cities, the term global city (Sassen 1991) replaced world city. ## Inhabiting Global Cities Global cities are dense with influential global economic, political, and cultural transactions. During the industrial era, different types of manufacturing tended to concentrate in different cities, where they found comparative advantage, however defined. Global cities are still sites of agglomeration. As manufacturing dispersed, cities acquired new specialized roles, crystallizing as command centers for far-flung production, commercial, and financial enterprises. Able to communicate with managers at sites in remote locations, corporate executives found more value in being located centrally rather than near one facility or another. Just as cities tended to specialize in discrete forms of manufacturing, command centers for certain commodity, production, or service processes tended to concentrate in particular cities. The advanced services-financial planners, accountants, stockbrokers, tax attorneys, marketing gurus, business consultants, and the like-cluster near the headquarters of firms, wherever they are located, creating an effervescence or synergy by concentrating the knowledge and information networks. These wealthy and elite groups-commanders and their advisors-depend on others for their basic needs. Two-working-professional partner families, they rely on the intimate services of myriad low-paid service workers (often migrants) to clean their homes, cook their food, wash their clothes, and watch their children. They have assumed the role of wife in professional households. Global staffing companies have added home care services to accommodate the mother and wife roles (Sassen 2009, 3). Other low-wage workers clean the offices, drive the cars, and ferry the elite in taxis. They work in hotels, groceries, dress shops, dry cleaners, laundries, and so forth. The elite class also demands a culturally rich life of restaurants, film, theater, and activities, although this seems significantly different from the high culture of the industrial era, which supported world-class symphonies, ballets, and opera. These audiences are declining in many cities. Sassen points out that the services demanded by the elite classes are labor intensive. French hand laundries employ more people than the laundry to which middle-level managers might take their shirts and blouses to be thrown into a huge washing machine and ironed with presses. Diners at expensive restaurants may be tended by three or more servers dedicated to their table alone. The personal services demanded by the elite class accounts for 30% to 50% of the global economic infrastructure, according to her calculations. Personal service is a class primarily of immigrant, female, low-level workers.The juxtaposition of the most powerful classes and the least powerful in the world's cities forms the basis of the global economic, political, and cultural infrastructure. The flow of people, money, and communication via intimate connections with one another and their connections outward to the rest of the world makes the global city the global nexus. These classes are probably the two largest global networks. They are both migrant classes. The elite migrate for politics and business, jetting all over the world for both work and play. Their interests, in business, finance, and fun, span the globe. Their command reaches all corners of the globe. The poorest migrate for work, but not for play. Their interests also span the globe. They send money home. Often, they may return home to be with family or eventually to stay. They bring family and friends to join them in their new homelands along well-traveled routes, forged by global forces of colonialism, war, language, or cultural similarities. They serve the wealthy in their home countries, as tourism is a major industry of the developing world. Connections within and among global cities are plentiful and complex. Interrelations among city residents and those outside the city span every aspect of life. Executives control manufacturing and distribution centers from strategic locations. Communications technologies connect migrants with relatives in homelands. A mother from the Dominican Republic living as a housekeeper in New York or a Thai mother working in Tokyo, although separated from their families, may still be the command centers of their families, sending money, giving advice, supervising activities, and making rules for those she left at home. These global migrants also consume city services, furnished by other immigrants or low-level workers. Each of these women may belong to a religious organization along with immigrants from many other countries. Each may buy food at a farmer's market and a farmer who is part of the Women, Food, and Agricultural Network, a global organization, or the Buy Local global movement. Each may dine at an ethnic restaurant run by recent immigrants who are sending money back to their homeland. Each is connected in myriad ways to global networks that weave their way through the flux and flow of city life. Many theorists of the city argue that we are moving away from the age of nations, to the age of cities. In a way reminiscent of Marco Polo's enthusiasm for the Silk Road cities he traveled, it is not the powerful empires, but the powerful cities that are striking in their vibrancy. Some theorists maintain that cities will become islands of governance replacing nations as the most critical political unit (Khanna 2010, 122). A global city is distinguished by the extent of its influence around the world, not the size of its population. Global cities structure the basic architecture of the globe, connecting the world through transactions: formal, informal, personal, and impersonal. Images of global cities are abundant-"chain of nodes," "Global Commodity Chain," "Global Value Chain," "Global Production Network," "networks of information flows," and the "World City Network" are some of the ways people have described them and their relationship to one another. Understanding how cities function in the global system, how they are transformed by their roles in global networks, and how their institutional and social fabrics transform the global networks is central to understanding the impact of globalization on people's everyday lives (Derudder and Witlox 2010, 3). ## Cities and Global Networks Whether or not networks agglomerated in global cities are replacing states as global political and economic command centers is dependent on agency. Global cities are the nodes and hubs of networks. Undoubtedly actors within the networks have agency. The extent of the global economy and deregulation of many economic processes enables them to bypass the nation-state. Many of these actors are also very powerful in controlling corporations, finance, information, influencing political decisions, and so on. Even networks of NGOs, also concentrated in cities, are powerful through their global and local influence on people, corporations, and governments. The networks are global. But networks themselves do not have a collective decision-making body or capacity. Even when they coalesce and concentrate in cities, they do not decide; they are amalgams of decisions of many actors. As political units, the agency of city governments is limited, even though city administrators typically work closely with the decision makers in the economic command nodes. Control of command centers is oriented in two directions. In one direction, actors orient to the specific operations over which they have control. In this sense, cities as places are indeed global command centers. On the other hand, even the most powerful actors are oriented to states. Their range of control, for example is still determined by states. Enacting or eliminating regulation expands or contracts the range of control of a command center. Corporate "command centers," whether oriented to production or servicing production, still operate within the "spaces" and "places" and under the guidelines as defined by state parliaments, legislatures, executives, and judiciary, as well as the international groups of states. In this sense, globalization has not yet, and may never, overcome space. ## Ranking and Rating Global Cities Cities are distinct as particular locations and places. Although the population of the global elite or transnational capitalist class is drawn from every country, cities reside within countries, and despite the globalization of many attitudes and values, global cities may retain cultural distinctions in how decisions are made and the priorities on which they are based. This raises the issue of the influence of global cities on the values and lifestyles of people and the structure and decisions of states. The "Global Cities Index 2010" (Foreign Policy 2010) finds that the most influential cities are trending Asian, as they did in the centuries before the Industrial Revolution. Of the top 10 global cities on the 2010 list, half are Asian: Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, and Seoul. Only three are in the United States: New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Two-London and Paris-are European. Eight of the next 10 are Western, either European or North American. Whether this, and the growing wealth of Asian nations, portends a shift "eastward" in the concentration of power is an interesting question. ## A Closer Look: The Diversity of Toronto - Not only does Toronto have many foreign-born residents in its ethnic mix, but they also hail from diverse regions. - This results in much more diversity than in cities that draw primarily migrants from other countries in their global neighborhood. ## The Global Cities Index The Global Cities Index 2010 (Foreign Policy 2010) uses 25 criteria in five categories to measure the most global, or widely connected, cities. The categories and a sample of the criteria are: - Business activity - How well it attracts diverse and talented people. - Information exchange. - Cultural experience. - Political engagement. Like other indices, the Global Cities Index reduces qualitatively distinct criteria-such as the production of culture and number of financial transactions-into quantitative rankings. As with any composite score, the differences among criteria are obscured. Even though connections may be weighted differently, a single score is difficult to interpret. ## A Closer Look: Global Cities, Global Power Cities, and Global Economic Power Cities Compare and contrast the three global cities indices. How different are they and how might you account for the similarities and differences? - **Global Cities Index 2010:** Rank by Population, Rank by GNP - **Global Power City Index 2010:** Rank 1-10 - **Global Economic Power Index:** Rank 1-10 | Rank | City | Global Cities Index 2010 | Global Power City Index 2010 | Global Economic Power Index | |-------|------------------|---------------------|----------------------------- |------------------------------| | 1 | New York | 6 | New York | Tokyo | | 2 | London | 28 | London | New York | | 3 | Tokyo | 1 | Paris | London | | 4 | Paris | 20 | Tokyo | Chicago | | 5 | Hong Kong | 31 | Singapore | Paris | | 6 | Chicago | 25 | Berlin | Boston | | 7 | Los Angeles | 12 | Amsterdam | | | 8 | Singapore | 38 | Seoul | | | 9 | Sydney | 43 | Hong Kong | Tied at 9th | | 10 | Seoul | 22 | Sydney | Washington DC and Seoul | ## Mega Cities The global population reached 7 billion on or around October 31, 2011. Approximately 3.5 billion, or half of the people on earth, live in cities. This could rise to as many as 70% by 2050. Most of this growth will be in developing nations. This presents opportunities and challenges. One the one hand, urbanization can mean more efficient production of goods and delivery of services from health care to education. On the other, population growth can exceed the capacity of the urban infrastructure leaving people in squalor. Already 1 billion people, over 25% of the people in cities, are living in slums. ## A Closer Look: Urban Slums Most of the largest cities in the world are not global cities. Most cities of 10 million are not centers of command and control. They are just big. Rather than being hubs of command, they are hubs of humanity: incredibly dense populations of people. People congregate in and near them seeking economic opportunities that are more available in cities than rural areas (World Bank 2009, xix). ## Mega Cities Mega cities share some features with the global cities, notably crime, congestion, and pollution. Together, they house the greatest densities of the poor (World Bank 2009). They are characterized by "a low standard of living and little strategic influence" (Kotkin 2010, 129). In Mumbai, the majority of people now live in slums (130). Global and mega cities share the extremes of inequality signified by the horrible squalor of slums without sewage systems that sprawl at the feet of gated communities housing private schools, grocery stores, and manicured parks. The residents of the gated communities never have to face the poor surrounding them as they pass through the slums in sleek cars with darkened windows or over them by helicopter (126). If this is the face of the future, it is not very pretty. ## A Closer Look: Mega Cities | Rank | City | Population | |-------|---------------------------|------------------------------------| | 1 | Tokyo, Japan | 32,450,000 | | 2 | Seoul, South Korea | 20,550,000 | | 3 | Mexico City, Mexico | 20,450,000 | | 4 | New York City, USA | 19,750,000 | | 5 | Mumbai, India | 19,200,000 | | 6 | Jakarta, Indonesia | 18,900,000 | | 7 | São Paulo, Brazil | 18,850,000 | | 8 | Delhi, India | 18,680,000 | | 9 | Osaka/Kobe, Japan | 17,350,000 | | 10 | Shanghai, China | 16,650,000 | ## Estimates and Projections of Numbers of Slum Dwellers by Region - The number of slum dwellers is projected to increase from just over 100,000,000 in 1990 to over 400,000,000 in 2020. ## A Closer Look: Urban Administrative Structure in China | Type of Administrative Unit | Number of units in China | Description | |---------------------------| ----------------------- |------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | National Cities | 4 | Fall directly under the federal government and have status equal to a province Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin | | Sub-Province Cities | 15 | Located within provinces; some are the provincial capital | | Prefecture Cities | 282 | Administer an urban core and surrounding districts and wards | | County-Level Cities (Sub Prefecture Cities) | 374 | Smaller towns and rural township counties | ## A Closer Look: Urban Administrative Structure in China The government designated specific territories for particular economic functions. - In 1978, China created four Special Economic Zones (SEZs); each incorporates a middle-sized city and its surroundings. - In 1984, China designated 14 open coastal cities to be similar to the SEZ. These zones channel and disperse foreign direct investment throughout the area. Township and village enterprises (TVEs) were also encouraged. The TVE is a partnership between domestic private enterprise and local Communist party officials or foreign investors. These are located around the perimeter of cities, not quite rural and not quite urban, but close to urban markets. Each of these designations presents an area with a specific set of designated opportunities. Changes in migration policy allowed more people to take advantage of the opportunities. In the mid-1980s, some restrictions on migration within China were lifted and people began more intensive migration from rural areas for better opportunities in the cities. These reforms resulted in dramatic growth in medium- and small-sized cities. Larger cities grew much less. (Note: The *Hukou*, or household registration system in China, set up in the 1950s, limited people's movement. The registration system is generally criticized for discriminating against rural citizens and ethnic minorities. People only received social services such as education and health care within the area of their registration. This system kept people within the area in which they were born, although moving among rural areas too difficult. Marriage and university study were among the few ways to move into the cities. *Hukou* was reformed in phases beginning in 1978 but still restricts and controls people's movements. In 1995, to limit migration to Shanghai and Beijing, rules required that rural to urban migrants brought their ID cards, apply for a Temporary Residence Card, and use that to apply for a work permit. Then, the administrative unit would decide what type of employment the migrant could seek. See the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (2011) for more details on contemporary hukou.) ## Case Study: Growth of Middle Cities in China Growth of mid-sized cities is very beneficial for the country's economic and social development. - During the first wave of urban reform in China (1945 to 1965), Cold War strategy dictated placing mass production securely in the country's interior and close to energy sources. This put them in second- and third-tier cities, encouraging their growth. - During the Cultural Revolution, the second wave of reform, neither primary nor secondary cities grew. Cities did not produce but survived by consuming and appropriating wealth produced by others. Youth were sent into rural areas to get a peasant's education and protect them from the corrupting influence of capitalism and materialism found in the cities. - A third wave of reform began in 1978. Massive economic, political, social, and cultural changes occurred as China opened to the West. Urban growth exploded when the Chinese government welcomed foreign investment and allowed capital accumulation under the aegis of "Chinese-style market socialism." One of the most important reforms was the reorganization of the administrative structure of Chinese provinces and cities. New policies expanded the boundaries of urban areas to include quasi-rural areas and several towns into a single administrative unit. China now has four tiers in its urban administrative rankings. National cities are the most powerful. They are not incorporated into provinces in the way that U.S. cities, no matter how large, are part of states. They stand alone and fall directly under the federal government. They are, in effect, provinces. Sub-province cities, prefecture cities, and county-level cities each exist within provinces. The territories of the new cities were expanded to include some of the peri-urban or hinterland that surrounds them as well as small towns and townships nearby, blurring the distinction between rural and urban. This expands the city's tax base and provides for a larger more integrated regional economy. Most U.S. suburban communities resist joining with cities because many suburban residents migrated from the cities to escape crowding and crime. In China, some rural residents resented the unification with the city calling it a "city-extorting-counties" system (Airriess 2008 137). - Along with expanding the categories of administrative ranks and the territories encompassed, China increased decentralization. More administrative responsibility transferred to local levels and more places gained political and economic autonomy. The cost of autonomy is more responsibility for generating revenue rather than depending heavily on the national or provincial governments. Heightened responsibility sent the cities out looking for investment opportunities. ## A Closer Look: Urban Administrative Structure In China | Type of Administrative Unit | Number of units in China | Description | |---------------------------| ----------------------- |------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | National Cities | 4 | Fall directly under the federal government and have status equal to a province Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin | | Sub-Province Cities | 15 | Located within provinces; some are the provincial capital