Introduire le concept de ville globale

Abstract

In the current global market, the geographic dispersal of economic activities, their hypermobility and partly de-materialized nature obscure an essential - albeit somewhat overlooked - aspect of globalization: territorial concentration in general and urban centralization in particular. The foregoing essay "recaptures" the geography of globalization and explores the degree to which global cities have become strategic nodes in a worldwide network, delineating a new organizational architecture that is partly de-territorialized (e.g. through telematics) and partly concentrated in cities (given the need for conventional infrastructures and nonexpert jobs, inter alia). This new global grid of strategic sites is a congenial terrain for politics and engagement - and could be an opening for new forms of "citizenship".