Monografías CIDOB nº. 73
The concept of “global cities” became popular in the 1990s to account for the strategic role of major urban centres in articulating the effervescent neoliberal globalisation of capitalism. Almost three decades on, the transnational space anchored in global cities has changed substantially. This scenario invites a new interrogation of the notion of global cities, particularly from the perspective of its associated modes of governance, city production and urban regulation.
The prevailing urban development pattern has forged “city brands” and boosted inter-urban competition, attracting financial and real estate rent-seeking activities as well as the insufficiently problematised “talents” of the global “creative classes”. It has also generated a process of planetary gentrification and further uprooted cities from their surroundings.
Transformations in the “glocal” conditions embodied in global cities pose new challenges for city dwellers and public authorities. The scalar restructurings of the global governance system suggest a repositioning of cities at different levels. The claim to the “right to the city” underscores, in turn, the existing disputes around the appropriation of urban space and its production. In the interstices of these processes, new models of development, both within and beyond the prevailing value systems and digitalisation paradigms, require special consideration.
Key words: global cities; right to the city; global governance; inclusive cities; new urban models
ISBN: 978-84-92511-71-6
Introduction: (counter) trends in global cities since the 21st century’s first major crisis
Eva Garcia-Chueca and Lorenzo Vidal
CITIES IN GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
City power and powerlessness on the global stage
Sheila R. Foster and Chrystie F. Swiney
Territorial alliances and articulations to influence global agendas
Enrique Gallicchio
THE RIGHT TO THE CITY: TOWARDS A NEW URBAN PARADIGM
The alternatives here and gone, as is the Global South. The everyday life of urban majorities
AbdouMaliq Simone
Advancing the right to the city in Brazil: lessons learned and current challenges
Betânia Alfonsin
Curbing rents and gentrification in a global city: the case of Berlin
Katrin Schmidberger
The “right to the city” and the “human rights city” in Asia
Anselmo Lee
NEW URBAN DEVELOPMENT MODELS
Cities, democracy and energy sovereignty: global challenges, local responses
Daniel Chavez
Building digital cities from the ground up based around data sovereignty and participatory democracy: the case of Barcelona
Francesca Bria
Inclusive cities for the urban working poor: recognize and support informal workers
Marty Chen
New economic development models for cities in the UK
Frances Northrop, Rachel Laurence and Adrian Bua
