Globalisation and the Sustainability of Cities: A Methodology for Determining their Relationship

Abstract: At the very core of the relationship between sustainability of the world’s cities and globalisation are the linkages between these cities and regions around the globe. These linkages, and all they embody in terms of transfers and flows, have changed most dramatically as a result of globalisation. From an economic, cultural, social and political perspective, the ever developing links between cities have had a fundamental impact on what occurs within them, how urban expansion and form are structured and how they relate to each other and their hinterland regions. The city-region-nation paradigm has entirely changed through globalising forces and as a result a city’s sustainability is now far more dependent upon the world city network within which it exists than its previous raison d’être. Significant work has emerged over the past decade on mapping the geography of the contemporary world city network, however very little empirical evidence exists on the impact the growing connections amongst cities is having on their sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to specify a methodological model to determine how globalisation is affecting the sustainability of cities. The proposed model may be used for a cross-sectional and longitudinal study to chart the development of a city’s economic, cultural, social and political linkages to other localities and examine how these connections have impacted on its sustainability