Critical Reading Response

Reflection on Week 2: Troubling Global City Imaginaries Student Name Institution Professor Name Course Date Reflection on Week 2: Troubling Global City Imaginaries The ‘global city’ concept has been central to urban analysis for many years. It has tended to portray cities such as New York, London, and Tokyo as the epitome of urbanization. However, in the Week 2 readings and discussions, we encountered some problems with this idea, especially as articulated by Jennifer Robinson and Doreen Massey. Their insights present an alternative to the mainstream understanding of global cities and new ideas for analyzing urban environments, particularly those in the Global South. These readings helped me think about how cities are constructed, the ranking systems employed to assess them, and the effects of these discourses on urbanism. Challenging the Dominance of the Global City Concept In her book Ordinary Cities, Jennifer Robinson argues that the global city framework is partial and economistic. She also notes that the concentration on cities such as New York, London, and Tokyo sets a normative model that erases towns in the Global South. According to Robinson (2002), the global city concept does not capture the richness and variety of urban experiences worldwide today. This critique was very much on point with me as it seeks to deconstruct the Western way of perceiving cities. I also understood how much of my knowledge of towns had been influenced by this paradigm that inherently privileges some cities while marginalizing others.  Robinson’s postcolonial approach shows how the global city framework assesses cities in the Global South in terms of developmentalism. It means that cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America are viewed as ‘deficient’ versions of cities in the North, defined by what they are ‘lacking’ rather than what they bring to global urbanism (Robinson, 2002). For example, Lusaka in Zambia is not considered in the global city literature. However, it is involved in the global economy by extracting and exporting copper, among other minerals (Robinson, 2002). From Robinson’s critique, I understood that all cities, including small and less economically influential ones, are essential actors in the global urban system. I mostly agreed with the author when I tried to apply Robinson’s ideas to my own experiences. I have been to cities in North America that are vibrant, active, and creative in ways not fully recognized by dominant urban theories. For instance, cities like Detroit showcase remarkable innovation in governance, urbanism, and community-driven revitalization efforts, often overlooked in mainstream global city research. These cities may not fit the conventional ‘global city’ mold, but they play an equally significant role in shaping the future of urban spaces. Ordinary Cities: A New Lens for Understanding Urban Spaces Robinson’s (2002) idea of the ‘ordinary city’ is a valuable counterpoint to the global city paradigm. She suggests that all cities, big or small, in the developed or the developing world, with or without economic muscle, ...