Abstract
Singapore’s success as a ‘global city’ focused on the free trade of goods, services and human capital into, and out of, the island nation is barely questioned by international policy and business practitioners today. The reason for this is clear; Singapore continued to attract high-quality global enterprises based on the provision of high-quality governance, human capital, communication and technology, transportation, logistical and other key infrastructure. None of this came about by accident, being the result of decade-long planning centred on turning Singapore into a truly ‘global city’ attracting the best ‘talent’ (corporate and individual) from within strategic sectors (wealth management, biotechnology, advanced manufactures, research-focused tertiary education). However, recent economic events, most notably the global financial crisis (GFC), have revealed structural cracks in this ‘global city’ planning that has seen the long-ruling (1959–current) People’s Action Party (PAP) suffer two of its worst election results (2011 general election and 2013 by-election). Various political and policy opponents to the ruling elite have successfully highlighted that the ‘global city’ model has come at the cost of growing inequality and a real sense of displacement amongst citizens. In examining Singapore, nominally one of the truly great benefactors of globalisation, the author highlights that key factors in this processes, including free trade and human mobility, must always be constantly secured through the ascent of the polity if it is to be sustainable.
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Notes
- 1.
The concept of the global city in economic terms incorporates the free flow of commercial activity, trade and professional skills into, and out of, the city in a highly efficient manner. Quality airports, ports and internal transport facilitate the presence of corporate headquarters and manufacturing/innovation centres and are supported by high-quality education, medical, sporting and cultural infrastructure. ‘Its simple definition is that it is a city that is an important nodal point in the global economic system…A global city has to be global in all its dimensions, not just in its economic and infrastructure characteristics. And it cannot be a derivative of other cities. It has to be unique in a number of ways, so as to give a competitive edge internationally’ (da Cunda 2012a, pp. 17 & 20).
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Austin, I.P. (2015). Singapore as a ‘Global City’: Governance in a Challenging International Environment. In: Djajadikerta, H., Zhang, Z. (eds) A New Paradigm for International Business. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-499-3_9
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