Weekly Roundup 055– 12th to 18th March

FEATURE REPORT/ ARTICLE OF THE WEEK

‘There are only 8 truly Global Cities in the World’
Authored by Aaron M Renn

In the wake of smart cities, modern living, contemporary architecture and an increasingly cosmopolitan way of life, the growing impact of globalization and its effect on the way we design cities is significant. Today globalization has extended to the digital realm and while more of our planet is accessible, the world is also shrinking as result of this easy accessibility. Connections between nations have deepened as result of global flows of trade, services and finance and radically modified the face of globalization. Accompanied by an increase in the flow of people, (for example the sudden flow of refugees across country borders), globalization is in a constant flux, an interpretation that changes dramatically with the change in flows.

“Today, however, traditional flows have lost their momentum. At least part of this shift appears to be structural rather than a temporary cyclical dip. But this does not mean that globalization has moved into reverse. Enormous streams of data are transmitted across borders every minute, and they are growing exponentially in both volume and variety. Today globalization is being accelerated and redefined by flows of data that embody ideas, information, and innovation.”

Read the whole piece here

Published by The Urbanophile.



ONLINE PUBLICATION OF THE WEEK

‘Digital Globalization | The new era of Global Flows’
Published by Mckinsey Global Institute

Conventional wisdom says that globalization has stalled. But although the global goods trade has flattened and cross-border capital flows have declined sharply since 2008, globalization is not heading into reverse. Rather, it is entering a new phase defined by soaring flows of data and information. The world is more connected than ever, but the nature of its connections has changed in a fundamental way. The amount of cross-border bandwidth that is used has grown 45 times larger since 2005. It is projected to increase by an additional nine times over the next five years as flows of information, searches, communication, video, transactions, and intracompany traffic continue to surge. In addition to transmitting valuable streams of information and ideas in their own right, data flows enable the movement of goods, services, finance, and people. Virtually every type of cross-border transaction now has a digital component.

Download the publication here.

VIDEO/ PODCAST OF THE WEEK

‘Place | A shared responsibility’
Created by the Glass House | Community led design

Speakers Michelle Saxton, Cllr Graham Chapman, Robert Evans and many members of the audience share their views and experiences on the barriers and opportunities to how we can work better together as citizens with those responsible for developing and managing our places.

http://www.theglasshouse.org.uk/blog-entry/_/new-podcast-place-a-shared-responsibility/178/

The Glass House