But we do want to observe that these five elements appear as a common thread between the globalizing cities of today and the trading cities of the past. This book is not about theory, but a short history. These five elements are not a definition of global cities. The ability to take advantage from geopolitical change, being ready for the next cycle and new markets and inventions.Discovery of new markets that is propelled these inventions.Innovation and the influence that comes from invention and advance.Openness, diverse and entrepreneurial populations that spawn sharing of knowledge and ideas.Trade and connectivity that foster city development and draw people in.And the cities they encouraged came to have five observable traits that repeated themselves from one cycle to another, over the past 5,000 years: These trade routes fostered city development.
Ancient innovations, from ports to currencies to maps to transport to insurance and banking, propelled the scale of trade forwards, and enabled those cities to grow and flourish.Ĭaravans, paper, algebra, gunpowder, banking, medicineĬommercial organisation, Shipbuilding, Banking This observation proves true not just in the recent past, but also in the distant and ancient trade routes where cities grew. Thus, trade fosters city growth, and trading cities foster innovation in transport, finance, law, language, and communication. Starting with the ancient equation between cities and trade, we make the observation that the imperative to trade creates the conditions for urbanization, and trading cities are forced to innovate to stay ahead.
Writing a short history of global cities is much harder than writing a long one.
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