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Megacities, not nations, are the world’s dominant, enduring social structures
- sspiff 11y agoArticle contains almost no data, no information to speak of to confirm its title. Instead it goes off and asserts the authors opinions and political views as facts. Perhaps it is intended to be an opinion piece, but the title is that of a PR message accompanying the release of a research paper.
- user10001 11y agoIt seems mostly like an advertisement for some guy's book, which is also mostly an opinion piece.
- clamprecht 11y agoNassim Taleb (author of Antifragile) has talked about this: http://www.economist.com/node/17509373 http://www.economist.com/node/17509373 https://theglobalobservatory.org/2014/09/risk-and-robustness-nassim-nicholas-taleb/ https://theglobalobservatory.org/2014/09/risk-and-robustness...
- danharaj 11y agoThere was an economist whose work focused on how cities act as the fundamental hub of economic activity that supports the rest of a region, but his/her name escapes me at the moment. Some names were mentioned in the article, but they did not ring a bell. Anyone know whom i'm talking about?
- maurycy 11y agoEdward Glaeser?
- verg 11y agoHis book, Triumph of the City, is a good read on urban economics.
- Sniffnoy 11y agoJane Jacobs?
- bmh_ca 11y agoI was going to post her name. Jane Jacobs wrote, among other books: - Cities and the Wealth of Nations - The Death and Life of Great American Cities - The Economy of Cities Her last book, in 2004, was ominously titled "Dark Age Ahead". Incidentally, I worked down the street from where she lived at the time of her death (the Annex, in Toronto). Her ideas were a recurring topic at the pub, the Duke of York.
- reneherse 11y agoPerhaps Jane Jacobs, "The Death and Life of Great American Cities"?
- garrickvanburen 11y agoYou may be thinking of Richard Florida - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Florida https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Florida - he talked about economic megaregions in his book 'The Rise of the Creative Class'.
- danharaj 11y agoIt was Jane Jacobs! But i think it's great that i went fishing for one reference and got many pertinent ones. Thanks HN.
- emeerson 11y agoOther than intuitive observation of the creative class economy, this article offers neither a definition of "dominant, enduring social structures" nor evidence outside of GDP as a metric. So far it's like "duh GDP in this day and age is a product of high-density geographic regions." Am I missing something here?
- ianai 11y agoPerhaps the bit about companies setting up near an airport. Thus they ensure global access and think of their "home city" as mostly yet another venue. That, I think, someone serves as an insular force for the present "big" localities - localities large enough to have an international airport.
- stegosaurus 11y agoIntuitively this seems like an obvious result of the network effect. (edit: I'm not intending to belittle anyone here and I apologise if it may seem that way). Axiomatically, socially the sum of two humans is greater than the two humans apart. And large cities, with metros, many villages that melt into one, employment opportunity, talks, bars, etc, are the embodiment of what it means to be social (with some exceptions - community feel being an important one). In the UK this is at the forefront of politics - it is obvious to anyone that the country is governed as 'London plus appendages'. The rail and road networks are basically built around the capital. Most public transport subsidies go to the capital. The important (in a status sense, not in an absolute sense) businesses are headquartered there.
- MagnumOpus 11y ago> Most public transport subsidies go to the capital Most public transport revenue also comes from the capital. While literally millions of London's commuters pay thousands of dollars a year each for the privilege of being herded into overfilled cattle cars twice a day, Welsh/Scots/Northerners don't actually use the public transport they demand and hence it runs at a massive loss until it inevitably gets shutdown yet again.
- stegosaurus 11y agoSure, I'm not making a value judgement, just stating how it is. In my opinion, it makes a lot of sense to do that anyway, at least viewed from outer space. Stepping away from 'the economy', London's public transport system is used because it's the only option. The roads are at capacity. I say this having driven basically every possible route in rush hour. They are full. I'm often surprised that we don't literally end up having gridlock and just all getting stuck forever. A metro system in my small northern hometown would be pointless because there's hardly any road traffic so everyone just jumps in their car and has their nice personal space. I find this quite interesting. Public transport has to be a better option for a critical mass to use it. This can happen either by it being much better (quicker), or by the alternatives simply ceasing to work.
- bograt 11y ago
- msellout 11y agoCircles in circles is a terrible chart. Humans have a very difficult time comparing relative areas of circles. Much better would be to add a separate bar chart comparing all the countries and each bar separated into stripes for the city vs total. Perhaps on a log scale. The chart they made might be more beautiful, but it's less informative.
- hackuser 11y agoMichael Bloomberg wrote an article in Foreign Affairs saying that cities are now the centers of public policy innovation, in part because state and Federal governments are either controlled or blocked by people who want no policy and no innovation. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2015-08-18/city-century https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2015-08-18/city-cent... My anecdotal, off-the-top-of-my-head memories bear that out: Almost all innovative policy, from biking to fighting obesity to climate change, seem to come from cities. State and Federal governments struggle with such useful policy issues as, should we have taxes and is climate change real.
- jameshart 11y agoAny region which isn't urban is, basically, Incapable of adaptation. It is totally beholden to the natural resources it has. Fertile soil? Shale oils? Nice beaches? Forests? The environment you have basically fixes your destiny. A government presiding over a rural area basically has to become like a corporation whose sole purpose is stewardship and exploitation of that natural resource. Whereas cities are human constructs and so governing them is about stewardship and exploitation of the population of the city, which is far more adaptable - and requires more sophisticated governance.
- unethical_ban 11y agoThat's a very insightful thought. I do find it interesting how people are coming to the idea that local governments are where new ideas are formed, but degrade the concepts of States' rights or smaller federal intervention as racism whenever it doesn't suit a liberal agenda.
- infosample 11y agoBecause "States' rights" has historically been used as a dog-whistle for racism, segregation, and voter suppression. Moreover, the article is referring to city/local government which is different from the state. I don't see how conflating local innovation with state oppression is a liberal agenda. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States%27_rights#States.27_rights_as_.22code_word.22 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States%27_rights#States.27_rig...
- sremani 11y agoGreater Delhi is entirely in Pakistan covering Islamabad and Lahore. Before any one picking pitchforks or tactical nuclear weapons, they should correct that in that map.
- roywiggins 11y agoI'm reminded of some of the descriptions of Discworld's Ankh-Morpork- it keeps getting invaded but in the end each wave of invaders ends up subsumed into the metropolis, and the city continues more or less unchanged.
- troels 11y agoFrom the article: "Today cities have become the world’s dominant demographic and economic clusters." Seeing that cities are essentially clusters of people, isn't this fairly self-evident?
- superuser2 11y agoNo. There was a period in the mid-late 20th century where it appeared that the future was really in car-oriented sprawl, and the cities were abandoned to the poor people and minorities who couldn't afford to get out. The population growth, wealth, voters, political power, consumers, and the American Dream itself were in metro areas but definitely not city limits. The idea of that cultural moment having ended is relatively new.
- panic 11y agoFor a deeper look into the role of cities in society, check out the work of Jane Jacobs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Jacobs#Works https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Jacobs#Works
- personjerry 11y agoThis reminds me of the ancient greek political philosophy arguments for the city-state republic as the primary form that government should be, for example Aristotle.[1] [1] http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-politics/ http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-politics/
- smegel 11y agoItaly seems a good example. Merchant cities that have stood alone for centuries, tolerating whatever ruling clan or invaders happen to be laying claim. Italy as a nation is basically a manufactured concept around these mini city states.
- tim333 11y agoI guess it makes sense if you think about it. Nations can change on a whim pretty much, think Scottish independence or the possible creation of Kurdistan. On the other hand city buildings like those in Rome are there for hundreds or thousands of years. Vid of Europe's changing borders and nations: https://youtu.be/uxDyJ_6N-6A?t=1m19s https://youtu.be/uxDyJ_6N-6A?t=1m19s