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Global cities of the South : Mexico City and Johannesburg in an era of globalisation

Thesis (MA (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006.

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Main Author: Hamilton, W. Michael
Other Authors: Cornelissen, Scarlett
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2006. 2008
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access_status_str Open Access
author Hamilton, W. Michael
author2 Cornelissen, Scarlett
author_browse Cornelissen, Scarlett
Hamilton, W. Michael
author_facet Cornelissen, Scarlett
Hamilton, W. Michael
author_sort Hamilton, W. Michael
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv University of Stellenbosch
description Thesis (MA (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006.
format Thesis
id oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/1042
institution Stellenbosch University (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:44:44.746Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
publishDate 2008
publishDateRange 2008
publishDateSort 2008
publisher Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2006.
publisherStr Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2006.
record_format dspace
source_str SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
spelling oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/1042 Global cities of the South : Mexico City and Johannesburg in an era of globalisation Hamilton, W. Michael Cornelissen, Scarlett Global cities of the South Mexico City Johannesburg Era of globalisation Dissertations -- Political science Theses -- Political science Thesis (MA (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The global city discourse posits a new role for cities in light of increased economic integration and the rise of a global economy. Firms are increasingly investing capital in locations where profits are anticipated to be highest, creating a geographic dispersal of economic activity. As a result, the central command functions of firms – management, coordination, servicing, and financing of vast networks of operations – have become more complex and strategic. Firms thus outsource a portion of their central command functions to specialised service firms. Specialised service firms tend towards high levels of agglomeration and concentrate in a small number of locations, giving rise to command and control centres of the global economy or global cities. Cities of the South are increasingly fulfilling global city functions, yet are generally approached through a developmentalist framework. The global city discourse places salience on specialised services and exhibits a Western bias. This study develops an alternative analytical framework that recognises an array of activities and processes, across three spheres of globalisation – markets, mafias, and movements – that contribute to the global connectivity of cities. In this way the role of cities of the South in the global economy is better understood. This study focuses on Mexico City and Johannesburg as global cities of the South. What the research uncovers is that these cities fulfil many global city functions and are amongst the best connected cities in their respective regions in terms of their ability to service global capital through growing specialised service sectors. In this way Mexico City and Johannesburg emerge as global cities of the South that integrate large geographical areas, populations, and sub-global economies with the global economy. This study also illustrates that the way in which global cities are conceptualised limits the extent to which the concept can be applied in Southern context. Global cities of the South service far less global capital because of the nature of core/semi-periphery/periphery relations and underdevelopment, the role they fulfil in the global economy is, however, no less critical than that of global cities of the core. This study therefore proposes thinking of global cities as constituent units of a global urban network, garnering certain power by occupying a particular niche constitutive of the whole network. Masters 2008-07-14T11:54:59Z 2010-05-31T11:28:52Z 2008-07-14T11:54:59Z 2010-05-31T11:28:52Z 2006-12 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1042 en University of Stellenbosch application/pdf Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2006.
spellingShingle Global cities of the South
Mexico City
Johannesburg
Era of globalisation
Dissertations -- Political science
Theses -- Political science
Hamilton, W. Michael
Global cities of the South : Mexico City and Johannesburg in an era of globalisation
title Global cities of the South : Mexico City and Johannesburg in an era of globalisation
title_full Global cities of the South : Mexico City and Johannesburg in an era of globalisation
title_fullStr Global cities of the South : Mexico City and Johannesburg in an era of globalisation
title_full_unstemmed Global cities of the South : Mexico City and Johannesburg in an era of globalisation
title_short Global cities of the South : Mexico City and Johannesburg in an era of globalisation
title_sort global cities of the south mexico city and johannesburg in an era of globalisation
topic Global cities of the South
Mexico City
Johannesburg
Era of globalisation
Dissertations -- Political science
Theses -- Political science
url http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1042
work_keys_str_mv AT hamiltonwmichael globalcitiesofthesouthmexicocityandjohannesburginaneraofglobalisation