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Hacking Uncertainty
combination of elements that might
produce this ironic outcome: the fact that
the most global, powerful, rich, and digitised
economic actors needed ‘central places’, and
perhaps more than ever before? In a digital
age, this dependence is still very much a
driving force behind what makes large, global
firms successful.”
Which major changes and disruptions
in today’s world were caused by
globalisation?
“One important impact was the rise of a
global service industry. You can see that
large corporate firms without a global
footprint would hire full-time staff to execute
their diverse needs, and these jobs offered
upward mobility ladders to good workers,
etc. But once the global era took off and
corporations went global they needed
specialised law, accounting, financial
services for 20, 50 or more countries. This
meant that they needed access to a whole
new mix of complex specialised services
almost impossible to produce in-house as
had been the practice. De facto it meant that
a vast new type of operational space installed
itself in these cities.
We see the second impact in the job
landscape. These cities create large numbers
of high-level jobs and low-wage jobs; far
fewer middle-range jobs would be needed.
But those low-level jobs, whether in the
office or in households, would matter more
than one might imagine by just looking at
the tasks. I described them as the work of
‘maintaining a strategic infrastructure’.“
Cities command power over
the way their citizens live their
lives. In this sense, the city’s
economic fabric matters in a
similar way a nation state matters
to those who live there
Is globalisation a never-ending
development or is it a process that will
develop into a more stable condition
in the future? In which ways, do you
think, are we able to influence these
developments?
“No system seems to have lasted forever
and neither will the current dominant
organisational logic of corporate
globalisation. What I see emerging
with growing power is what I like to
call ‘extractive’ sectors – key aspects of
finance are extractive. Look at the mining
industry, and the expulsion of millions of
small-holders every year to make room for
corporate extraction. With land becoming
scarce, it increases in value – and livelihoods
matter less and less. We have to be aware
of the political consequences this has on
an international, interdependent world
economy.”
Will cities become more important than
nation-states?
“Cities command power over the way their
citizens live their lives. In this sense, the
city’s economic fabric matters in a similar
way a nation state matters to those who
live there. For example, a hundred or so
cities have become key platforms for a
growing range of activities in the world. It
is tempting to think that it means that all
cities are becoming similar. No: there is far
more specialisation and local, unique flavour
than meets the eye. Each of these cities has
specialised capabilities that differ a bit from
other cities. And some can be fairly small
and just specialise in a limited range of
capabilities.”
You recently said: “The city is the place
where those without power get to make
history”. Do you see the city as a place of
emancipation and perhaps therefore as
a foundation for the creation of a more
equal society?
“Emancipation is a big word. If anything, it
is more like elements of emancipation. My
argument is that in today’s world – when
so many people are getting expelled from
their land, the large cities become places
where those expelled from rural areas can
still find refuge. This is the reason why I have
become so engaged with the whole issue of
corporations buying big parts of our cities.”
What will happen to the ‘powerless’ in
cities if the buying of property by largescale
investors continues? What is this
process of expulsion going to mean for the
citizens in the city?
“This is indeed a very serious issue and that is
why I called my latest book Expulsions: more
and more are becoming marginalised, and
are increasingly invisible to the economic
eye. Even though we see more and more
very low-wage jobs, these are not enough
for meaningful livelihoods. Also, and more
importantly to the social fabric of cities: these
in today’s world
large cities
become places
where those
expelled from
rural areas can
still find refuge
are jobs that will always stay in the same
income bracket. There is no upward mobility,
no matter how hard you work. The ladders
are gone.”
Are local politicians failing to understand
what will be the effect of foreign investors
buying property in a city? Are they able to
influence or change this development?
“Local politics is an enormously varied
domain – for example it depends on the
type of authority and resources granted to
cities. But yes, I think that they matter and
they do what can be done. More often than
not this is a grey zone, and we might be able
to do much more than we think we can do.
For instance, the environmental question
has made the rights of bikers an increasingly
prominent issue in cities that never had much
biking. There is probably much more room to
innovate in most cities than we think.”
Photo:
Alex MacNaughton
Hacking Uncertainty