The 2008 Global Cities Index

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http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4509&print=17 sur 13 17.02.2009 11:37trademarks owned by Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company.The Biggest BoomtownsThe 2008 Global Cities IndexThe Biggest BoomtownsThis year, for the first time, more people live in cities than in rural areas.And, increasingly, those cities are gigantic. The United Nations counts 19megacities—or those with more than 10 million people—throughout theworld. In 2025, it expects to see eight more join their ranks: Chennai,Guangzhou, Jakarta, Kinshasa, Lagos, Lahore, Paris, and Shenzhen.In this year’s Global Cities Index, cities in rich countries overwhelminglyoutperform their counterparts in poorer countries in cultivating global ties.Three of the top 15 cities are megacities from developed countries; six of thebottom 15 are megacities from the poor world.Urbanization can help cities that have already become wealthy climb higher,while anchoring down those that have the unlucky fate of being located in apoor state. Part of the problem is a vicious, reinforcing cycle: The challengesany large city faces—how to deal with sanitation, education, infrastructure,crime, and taxes—are much easier to solve with cash in the bank andwell-trained officials at the helm.However, a few of these developing-country megacities are breaking out ofthat cycle and figuring out how to make urbanization translate intoglobalization, while several others teeter on the edge:Beijing (#12)Long in Shanghai’s global shadow, Beijing’s successful Olympic spectacleearned it much international respect. In this year’s index, the city scores asthe highest-ranking megacity from a poor country. But Beijing isn’t stoppingto take a breath: Among other projects, it has announced a new bullet trainto Shanghai, which, when completed in 2013, will be the fastest in the world.Buenos Aires (#33)A cultural hub of the Americas, Buenos Aires is intent on showcasing elegantdesign in planning the city’s future. It invests $25 million each year topromote industrial design, urban planning, and the arts. The city has seen aconstruction boom since the dark days of Argentina’s debt default, and itcontinues to draw prominent engineering and software firms. One problemcity planners will need to solve as its wealthier population booms? Traffic.Mexico City (#25)Deadly drug violence has plagued the city in recent months, prompting an
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4509&print=18 sur 13 17.02.2009 11:37anticrime rally of 150,000 people in August. Its landfills are overflowing. Andnow, engineers are trying to avert an even worse threat: Low-lying slums,the old historic district, and the city’s subways could be flooded with rawsewage from its crumbling drainage system.Dhaka (#56)With massive traffic jams and sewage-filled rivers, Dhaka could arguably bea test case of a megacity gone wrong. Local papers recently reported thatcoordination between city planners was so poor that newly constructed roadshad to be torn up because they forgot to run the water, sewer, and gas linesfirst. The good news for Dhaka: There’s likely nowhere to go but up.© Copyright 2008, A.T. Kearney, Inc., The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, LLC.All rights reserved. A.T. Kearney is a registered service mark of A.T. Kearney, Inc. Foreign Policy and its logo are registeredtrademarks owned by Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company.ChinapolisThe 2008 Global Cities Index
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The 2008 Global Cities Index

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