May 22, 2006
By Neil Fraser
"FREUD famously said that after 30 years researching the feminine soul, he'd never answered his real question: what does a woman want? We urbanists could likewise confess that we have failed to answer our conundrum: what makes cities tick." Peter Hall, professor at the Bartlett School of Architecture and Planning, University College, London
"Of all the major global trends on the planet, none is more intriguing more disorganized, yet promising; more unruly, yet filled with creative potential than the rise of the world's major cities. As the nation-states wane under the transforming power of globalisation, cities are growing in power, filling in the spaces being left vacant by nation states. Yet cities are more unknown than any of the other geo-political units on the world stage. By unknown, I mean not just that some of the cities are exotic and unfamiliar, even to the well-travelled. Rather, they are unknown also even to themselves. The major cities of the world are experiencing a kind of secular and civic re-birth, awakening to self-awareness and discovering new identities." Tim Campbell, chairman of Urban Age
My visits to a number of Australasian cities over the past few weeks rekindled my interest in what legitimately gives a city "world", "global", "world class" or "great city" status, as well as the role that iconic architecture has in this city nomenclature. Always in the back of my mind is our City council's "vision" of Johannesburg as "a world-class African city".
Definitions
So, what does "world class" or "great" denote in relation to cities? There is a mass of academic literature on the subject and a wide variety of definitions and classifications, for example:
"Global cities are the command posts for the world economy, the sites for global finance and other specialised service firms, the sites of key innovations, including innovations in services, and they are markets for the products and innovations produced."
"World cities are at the points of convergence of networks and thus acquire growing centrality and importance (the network' functions are embodied in financial flows, headquarter branch relations, high-tech service intensity and telecommunications networks)."
"A world city is defined as a large city that has outstripped its national urban network. A world city has become part of an international global system. It is a centre of political power, world trade and communication, a leader in banking and finance. World cities attract world stage, entertainment and sporting spectacles and are the headquarters of non-government organisations as well as trans-national corporations. World cities benefit from high levels of tourism. They are command centres in the borderless domain of the new global economy."
"The great cities of the world are organisational nodes in multiple global networks of economic, social, demographic and information flows."
Much of the analysis or ranking of cities that is available seems to focus on the economic realm and inter-connectivity of cities taking such issues into account as global network connectivity, headquarters and subsidiaries,
stock exchange capitalisation, and regional, inter-regional and total international destinations of direct flights.
Alpha, beta and gamma cities
The Globalisation and World Cities Study Group and Network (GaWC), based primarily at Loughborough University in England, ranks cities based on their provision of "advanced producer services" such as accountancy, advertising, banking finance and law. The inventory identifies three levels of world city named alpha, beta and gamma for their relative influence, with each level containing two or three sub ranks.
Alpha cities are the most influential world cities London, New York City, Paris and Tokyo on the top level and Chicago, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Milan and Singapore on the lower.
Beta cities are major world cities San Francisco, Sydney, Toronto and Zurich on the top level; Brussels, Madrid, Mexico City and Sao Paulo on the middle level and Moscow and Seoul on the lower level.
Gamma cities are minor world cities there are 35 cities in this classification, including Johannesburg and Melbourne on the upper level. Johannesburg is the only city in Africa to appear in this system of ranking.
Other work goes beyond the economic as the basis for ranking world cities and includes political and cultural dimensions. One such exercise looks at cities outside Western Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan and Australasia (World Cities Beyond the West, Josef Gugler). Of the 12 world cities examined, 11, including Joburg, are also on the GaWC ranking, the twelfth being Cairo.
Joburg
So Joburg is ranked a world city when appraised on specific criteria such as those on which these academic works are based. But calling oneself "world class" without specifying the criteria is misleading Joburg is on the same level as Melbourne in the GaWC study but, having recently been in Melbourne, that certainly would not be the case if the criteria were changed.
So what other criteria need to be assessed to determine whether you can legitimately call yourself world class? The web's Wikipedia I know, it is hardly the most erudite source quite interestingly defines global, world or world-class cities as those with a city population of a least one million and "with a somewhat subjective set of traits generally seen as meeting most, or at least some, of the following criteria" (It certainly doesn't embrace all the issues for classifying world-class cities that I would include, such as public environment, percentage and quality of public space, housing, heritage, health, environment, sports facilities, civility, and so forth):
- International familiarity one speaks of "Paris" and not "Paris France";
- Active influence and participation in international events and world affairs;
- A major international airport that serves as an established hub for several international airlines;
- An advanced transportation system that includes several freeways and-or a large mass transit network offering multiple modes of transport subways, light rail, regional rail, ferry or bus;
- In the West, several international cultures and communities, such as Chinatown or Little Italy or other immigrant communities;
- International financial institutions, law firms, corporate headquarters (especially conglomerates) and stock exchanges that have influence over the world economy;
- Advanced communications infrastructure that modern trans-nationals rely on, such as fibre optics, wi-fi networks, cellphone services and other high speed lines of communication;
- World-renowned cultural institutions, such as museums and universities;
- A lively cultural scene including film festivals, a thriving music or theatre scene, an orchestra, an opera company, art galleries and street performers;
- Several powerful and influential media outlets with an international reach; and
- Safety and security for all its citizens and visitors, both perceived and actual.
Score Joburg on the above, item by item, from 0 (representing the worst) to 10 (representing the best) and see what your rating of the city is. I got four "urbanist" colleagues to do the exercise two scored the city at an equivalent of a D pass (between 50 percent and 60 percent) and two were below that level.
World-class African city
So back to Joburg's world-class African city: it is a vision that has worried me because, while I have a gut feeling as to what it is about, firstly, it is quite open to different interpretations and, secondly, it intimates that we have already arrived at that state. On the basis of my admittedly subjective exercise above, we have a long way to go before we are able to call ourselves world class.
Durban takes the more sensible route by spelling out its aspirations, which don't include "world class" verbiage: "By 2020, eThekwini Municipality will enjoy the reputation of being Africa's most caring and liveable city, where all citizens live in harmony."
Tshwane also is aspirational: "To be the leading international African capital city of excellence that empowers the community to prosper in a safe and healthy environment."
I believe that we have all the ingredients, but I equally believe that we have a huge amount of work to do and that leadership needs to play an increasingly high profile role in knitting together our diverse peoples. Certainly this was the approach that turned Singapore into an affluent world city in just a generation.
And iconic architecture and world class cities? We'll talk about that next week but here is an appetizer from Charles Jencks, author of The Iconic Building The Power of Enigma:
"A spectre is haunting the global village the spectre of the iconic building. In the last 10 years a new type of architecture has emerged. Driven by social forces, the demand for instant fame and economic growth, the expressive landmark has challenged the previous tradition of the architectural monument.
"In the past, important public buildings, such as the cathedral and city hall, expressed shared meaning and conveyed it through well-known conventions. They stood out from the background the houses, shops and factories as poetry rose above prose, the statesman above the citizen. Some old towns retain these relationships of power and meaning today: the tallest building may still be the central church or clock tower, the less prominent types might be the school and public library, and the minor civic buildings the railroad and the police station adopt a modest demeanour.
"There was a hierarchy of public worth, not perfectly agreed and finely graded to be sure, but akin to that of everyday dress and civil address. Decency and appropriateness were its watchwords; deference and conformity were its curse. But in a world marketplace competing for attention, decency and deference carry little weight and even attacks on iconic buildings fail to register. In fact, the insults often add a welcome frisson, the desired element of controversy and column inches publicity.
"It sounds bad and many bemoan celebrity architecture. They want to turn the clock back; they tend to damn any deviance from minimalist modernism as kitsch; and they get very angry, not observing that their reaction may amplify the sins they slate, for paranoia
is an essential part of our media situation.
"Furthermore, when a global culture has no unifying faith, the iconic building will continue to prosper, perhaps even increase in volume. We might then step back from reaction and learn to understand the new genre. We might distinguish the few superlative creations from the more numerous failures, for the best work, like all good architecture, shows the basic temper of the times, and, as Ruskin said, judges its character.
"The iconic building, when successful, puts architecture on a par with the best contemporary art to explore freely, the possibilities of open-ended creativity."
Best, Neil
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