Ottawa a Tier One Global City

In the face of globalization and an ever growing global economy, it is inevitable under capitalism that certain cities will emerge economically and become more prominent and powerful than others around the world. Such cities that become dominant both economically and socially over the global economy are frequently referred to as world or global cities. Global cities are not necessarily the largest cities on a spatial scale but they do have a dominating control over the global economy and over less influential cities. Ken Gray wrote an article entitled “Ottawa ranks as global city: prominent residents: TD Bank report uses author's 1989 criteria to reach definition” which was printed in the Ottawa Citizen to which he interviews many prominent and influential citizens in Ottawa in order to make a case for Ottawa being seen as a global city. He uses criteria from the TD Bank report from 1989 as well as generally accepted characteristics of global cities to reinforce his argument. Increased economic competition on the global scale has led to cities of the developed world making extensive strives towards becoming globalized to better compete in the global economy.
Ken Gray’s article is written concerning the possibility of Ottawa being ranked as a tier one global city and what it will need to be able to establish itself as one. It is well documented throughout the article that most economists and CEO’s do not see Ottawa as being fully a global city, but do believe that it is well on its way. Elements that many believe do make it a global city include the cities technological core, the Corel Center and quality of life. Undisputed factors however that hold Ottawa back from being declared a global city include the low level of convention space, international events and its relatively low population as compared to other global giants such as New York and London. As discussed in the article, “there is not enough diversity in industry and not much manufacturing to push Ottawa to the top echelons” (Gray: 2007, Ottawa Citizen) which provides a clean summary as to why many cities similar to Ottawa have trouble establishing themselves globally.
Although Gray’s article is able to intelligently sort out what elements and limits construct an effective global city, he is far too ambitious in his claim to establish Ottawa as a tier one global city. Gray is able to stray from the incorrect but often cited definition of a global city which is almost entirely concerned with population and density. He instead focuses more on the widely accepted definition which as geographer Michael Pacione states, “Global cities are not measured by their population size (as in the case of megacities), or their status as capital cities of larger countries, but rather by the range and strength of their economic power.” (Pacione: 2005, 297). However he does not make a convincing case for Ottawa becoming a tier one global city to compete against such globally competitive cities as New York, London and Tokyo. The diversity of industry, international status and location of finance and business in these cities is why Ottawa will never reach this tier. It is not absurd however to think of Ottawa competing on a second tier level with cities such as Toronto and Chicago, and it is perhaps this focus that the article should have been narrowed to.
In an increasingly global economy cities are beginning to fall behind others as economic competition has exploded onto the global scale. Cities of various land and population size are beginning to discover the successes that are being accomplished from cities that are focusing themselves globally. It is through this process that developed cities of various scales are taking considerable steps to meet the criteria of a truly global city. As more cities are continuing to deindustrialize and attempt to rise in the hierarchy of global cities, the global economy becomes even further manifested on the urban scale which makes its even more difficult for non-global cities to compete economically. Michael Pacione illustrates, “At the urban scale, economic globalisation is manifested on the one hand in the rise of global cities, and in the deindustrialization and decline of older industrial cities on the other.” (Pacione: 2005, 285). With the further integration of the global economy, cities will continue to push for global status amongst the superpowers that currently dominate it.
Global cities will continue to emerge over the next decade at a pace that may constitute a four tier system due to the increase in global economic activity. Although Ottawa will most likely never be seen in the same terms as New York or London, it still has substantial steps to carry out to establish itself as more of a global player. Many may argue that this form of globalization is rather a case of internationalization; it cannot be argued that as global activity becomes increasingly vital at the urban scale so too does the role of the city in managing it.

Source
The Ottawa Citizen
http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/pqdweb?index=2&did=236854801&SrchMode=1&sid=4&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1200278708&clientId=5220

Pacione, Michael (2005) The economy of cities. Urban Geography: A Global Perspective, Second Edition. New York and London: Routledge, pp.285-307

Posted by Nick Michael 2nd Blog