Which city can boast about being more than a world city, being THE world city, being the world's capital ? First of all, is there an epicenter, a place where everything starts and comes back to soon or later? Tough question! We should probably be very careful when it comes to that subject. Whereas New York, glooming of post-WW2 influence does not care so much about that, the subject is very sensitive in Europe. Indeed, London disparages Paris, which has still not accepted the fact that they lost the 2012 Olympics for the third consecutive time against its British rival.
The debate captivates us all but irritates the majors of these metropolises. After Paris during the 19th Century and New York during the 20th, London could be considered as the capital of the world of the new millennium. This is at least what people think and what studies conclude. In December 2007, a new study (1) found that London outperforms 60 of its global rivals as an economic and cultural powerhouse. Following months of research on demographics, financial markets, tourism trends, transport facilities and data relating to sports and art events, the study concludes that London is in fact the world's capital. New York, beaten out by two points, placed second on the list. Paris, which lags a full 10 points behind, came in third and won the title of Continental Europe's capital thanks to its financial clout and busy international airports. London’s mayor Ken Livingstone said that the research showed that one of the city’s biggest assets is its multicultural makeup (2). Following this victory and the overwhelming amount of praises London got in its aftermath, the British capital also considers its election for the next Olympics as a proof of its new glory, a completely assumed and demonstrated glory.
(1) This survey was carried out by The Independent and allows, for the first time, for a direct comparison of different global cities.
(2) Ken Livingston : “London is establishing itself as the world’s number one financial centre and greatest city in the world. Londoners are proud of our ‘unity in diversity’ and regard the multiculturalism of our city as one of its greatest strengths. With over 300 languages spoken here, London is literally the most international city in the world. Its financial sector, its creative industries and its tourism industry all rely, in different ways, on their relations with the rest of the world and, with the achievements of winning the Olympic Games and hosting major sporting events like the Tor de France, we have proved the success of becoming the city that embraces globalization.”
Just recently crowned as king of the world, London certainly doubts and fears that its crown could be stolen. New York was weakened by 9/11 but only for a short glimpse. Barely a delay, it collapsed in order to rebound better and faster than before. The Big Apple is back and how it is.... more surprising than ever, in a very decisive moment. Obama just brought the America of endless possibilities and the American dream back and, with it, soft power (3).
(3) soft power : the ability to obtain what you want through co-option and attraction rather than the hard power of coercion and payement. In that particular context, it refers to the cultural influence of the US that they can use to control the world. The other possibilty would be miltary (= hard power).
However this forecast come back of New York was done before October 2008. A new index of global cities has been calculated by the global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and the Newspaper FOREIGN POLICY. According to them, New York would be the world leader again soon. Dear Lord ! These new data transmits a new point of view: in 2008 more than 50% of the world population lives in a city. It also confirms that New York, London and Paris are the world's most global cities, but reveals that these top-ranking cities face increasingly strong competition from emerging cities such as Bejing, Moscow, Shanghai or Dubai.
Top 10
1. New York
2. London
3. Paris
4. Tokyo
5. Hong Kong
6. Los Angeles
7. Singapore
8. Chicago
9. Seoul
10. Toronto
Of course it could be said that New York has resurrected since 9/11 but what about Paris ? Is the French capital a dangerous competitor for London or ville musée stuck in the past because of its desire to remain beautiful? It is often said that the Sleeping Beauty is in a process of "muséification" (turning into a museum). WRONG ! In 2008, it reconfirmed its economic leadership in Europe. Paris Capitale is the biggest and wealthiest city of the Old Continent, placing even ahead of London, which even struggles to come out first for some international criteria. Does that mean that Paris remains in the race? Indeed. And even if it does not aim at the title of world's capital, Paris would remain more than satisfied of its European leadership. In this light, the following sentence of the London mayor seems then a bit pretentious: We don't think of ourselves as in competition with Paris. We've won that contest. We measure ourselves against New York.
LONDON
Nowadays, London stands for the future. That's for sure. New York remains very American, Paris is still very French. London, on the other hand, attracts workers from all over the world and welcomes millionaires by thousands, especially from emerging countries. After September 11, America tightened its orders, which have stopped scientists from working in the US, in spite of the famous "brain drain" that makes the country so strong. The UK's relatively open borders and the tax regime have become a competitive advantage. London is rather passport-blind.
Why has London become so international? It should be said that London does not have the luxury of being the de facto capital of a continental economy. Instead of being Europe's center, the city profits from its geographical advantage : center of the world and part of the world's largest market, The European Union. From London, one can talk to Tokyo in the morning and America (even Los Angeles) in the afternoon. A businessman can get on plane from Bombay and be in London in seven hours and from Bejing in nine. This is one of the many reasons why London has turned itself out into an international marketplace while New York has remained essentially a domestic financial capital.
Until now, New York still dominates. Nevertheless, the British capital already leads the Big Apple in some new and growing areas. London's financial workforce has been growing while New York's has been shrinking. Indeed, the City added 13 000 jobs between 2002 et 2005 (+ 4,3 %). The London Stock Exchange is an extremely international market place: around 500 companies listed on the stock exchange from more than 60 different countries.
Economically, both are outstanding global centers but culturally (in its popular meaning), London clearly wins. In the capital of a great empire such as the British one used to be, colonial influences are still discernible. You can eat at a great Indian or a fine Libanese place. You can also find a typical and tasteful custard pie from Lisbon or a French gastronomic restaurant. London in itself is a mini-world. The world manages to fit in one city: London is historically made up of immigrants. The true and pure Londoner is a rare species. Be it Roman, Vicking, Anglo-saxon, Norman, Hugenot or Jamaican, the city has assimilated ethnically diverse people. Wherever you are from, whoever you are, you will feel at home in London. Moreover, London has been imposing itself for a few years as a major place for the prêt à porter, being a direct competitor to Paris, New York and Milan. Walking down the street would remind you of how London is and people sometimes wear themselves as if they were in a fashion show. Finally, the city is driven by its proximity to continental Europe, Russia and the Middle East.
This attractiveness worries France, which explains why Nicolas Sarkozy, as presidential candidate, came to London to chase the votes of young advertising executives and derivates traders who had quit Paris in order to benefit from a higher standard of living. London has become the fifth largest French city : 300 000 live and work there.
The irony is that London today seems so vibrant and cosmopolitan thanks largely to US influences. London might be winning against Paris because it is English-speaking. Without American soft power, London would have never imposed itself as the world's capital.
NEW YORK
"Hello Upper East Siders.... Gossip Girl here, your one and only source into the scandalous life of Manhattan's elite...." This sentence is already a myth for a whole generation : every episode of the CW's Gossip Girl begins that way every monday night. The City where it is shot, New York, has something to do with the success of the show and vice versa. The show La série a balayé the old Beverly Hills 90210 or 7th heaven, which were shot in California. From now on, NY is a must, NY's high society (consequently the world's) is "in".... Who are these "Upper East Siders" ? Are there any Serena Van de Woodsen, Blair Waldorf, Chuck Bass and Nate Archibalt ? These young rich proliferate. The Upper East Side consists of the three richest postal codes of the whole country. Manhattan has become a zoo for rich people. The Upper East Siders fights against the absurd life with chic clubs, elitist schools, hundreds of slaves taking care of all their desires and co-ops (4)
(4) buildings for which you should have the agreement of the other owners in order to have the privilege to move in.
Blake Lively, Gossip Girl's heroine for the cover of Vogue US (February)....
You were not sure but from now on, it is a fact : the world city has regained its creative capacity. In the Big Apple, perpetual movement is the norm. One can enjoy New York thoroughly every day even if you have lived in the city forever. No one ever gets sick of the Big Apple.
Apart from having these obvious assets of a global city, New York imposes itself as the city where each of us can succeed. Far away from powerful and rigid Parisian and London hierarchical social structures, that have been inherited from centralizing monarchies of divine right, New Yorkers don't care where you are from or where you want to go. Of course one could argue that the city culturally remains less innovate than other more vibrant metropolises but if you want to succeed in art, medias, business, finance or diplomacy, all roads have been leading to and still are leading to.... New York. It is for sure the capital of success and achievement. It stands for the American dream. Millions of thirsty people live there and give to the city its highly creative and chameleon makeup.
Just like our world, in New York, money rules and structures everything : money you want, money you spend without keeping track, money you don't have, money that buy us, etc... With the weak dollar and the euro stability, Europeans go in more than ever for New York. Indeed, London is absurdly expensive : the cost of living in New York is nearly half of what it is in London (before the pound became that weak because since a few weeks, Europeans compulsively go to the capital of mass shopping and take advantage of a more than attractive exchange rate).
PARIS
Paris is definitely out of competition. Don't be too sure about this! The city is not just a heaven for tourists but also Europe's major financial powerhouse. Paris' life corresponds to the famous Metro, boulot, dodo (commuting, working and sleeping). Why is Paris urban are Europe's biggest city economy (and the fifth in the world after Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles et Chicago)? The city is very influential in education, entertainment, media, fashion, science and the arts. Many international organizations have their seat in Paris like the UNESCO, the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) and so does the International Chamber of Commerce. Paris attracts more international investments than London.
What makes the French capital that attractive? Its stability. A huge part of Parisian wealth accrues from tourism. Indeed, the most popular destination in the world welcomes over 30 millions foreign visitors per year. As for property prices, they have remained fairly steady. Among the top 10 investments hotspots in the world, the French capital came fourth. (source : AFIRE, Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate). Paris as a major business and cultural center can be explained by the prestige that the capital city enjoys: the Champs Elysées is full of offices staffed by only one or two people, located there with the sole purpose of having the prestigious address. In 2005, Paris was the only European city where both sectors (industrial and service) grew. 6 000 jobs were created through foreign investments, more than in London and Barcelona taken together. In 2006, among the 500 biggest companies in the world, 27 were located in Paris : behind Tokyo (52) but before New York (24), London (23) and Bejing (15).
The Parisian Business area is divided into several districts but L'opéra (9ème arrondissement) is home to the capital's densest concentration of offices, banks and businesses. The Stock Exchange, Palais de la bourse, and financial giants are tucked in with department stores and cafés. And last but not least, La défense, the largest purpose-built business district in Europe lies on the western edge of Paris, on the axis of the Louvre and the Champs Elysées. Some 30 000 make a daily commute to this skyscraper forest. For a few years, the property parc of La défense has been tremendously extending, thanks to many projects for new edifices.
Finally, whereas London's money comes from international finance, which is more and more unreliable in the face of the crisis, the luxury business is one of the most successful and developing markets. Suits are paradoxically more than rentable (a palace is rentable when minimum 60% of the rooms are occupied). As a consequence, new luxurious hotels and shops are popping up and luxury stores are sprouting in the chic Paris..... The new Bvlgari Store on George V Avenue is a huge twin store of almost 1 500 square meters. The "institut Dior" in the Athénée Plaza (one of the six luxurious hotels of the capital) just opened. Three new luxurious hotels are being built in western Paris. Among the six existing, four have been renewed to face the arrivals of 400 new rooms.
.... To conclude ?
Relicts from the past.....
London is sparkling and thanks to its financial heart, the City has gained its influence back. It should not be forgotten that the City was once the world's economic heart.... Paris benefits from a prestige in fashion, gastronomy, luxury and culture (literature, museums, cinema,...). This current prestige is inherited from the past as well : not from the colonial empire but from the cultural supremacy that France used to have. This supremacy was natural at first: France was the most populated, powerful and admired country in Europe. The French royal court was exemplary for all courts of the continent, from Vienna to Saint Petersburg. This cultural supremacy continued during Enlightenment and the French Revolution, which made France a precursor for human rights and universal democracy. Finally, this supremacy went military under Napoleon Bonaparte.
In the name of the rights of nation to self-determination and thus in the name of French revolutionary ideas, European nations rebelled against the invader. That way, Paris has always tried to diffuse the French values and culture, whether by force (the French colonial empire which was supposed to bring civilization) or through its cultural influence. After WW2, France succeeded to stay on stage thanks to intellectuals such as Sartre, De Beauvoir or Camus.
Paris lags behind.....
Nowadays, except for its famous "exception culturelle", Paris is no longer the world's intellectual center and no longer the world's center. Paris does not have the means to be a world's capital in comparison with our two English-speaking giants.
Paris overshadows London and threatens its title.... not with an eye on taking the crown away from the world's capital but with an eye on maintaining its European leadership. London could be the center of the world from afar if Paris could be the center of Europe. Paris does definitely not have the same weight than its English-speaking competitors but its importance doesn't help London to win the competition either.
Paris should now gamble on the strength of its economic competitiveness in order not only to "be" Europe's major financial powerhouse but also " have the image" of being such. Paris is not being helped by its image of world's tourist capital nowadays. Paris has remained the world's capital for culture and has not succeeded to get rid of this image in the eyes of international business. However, it is not over yet. Our superficial and esthetic-centered world cannot abandon a city, which has the reputation of being the most beautiful. Woody Allen left New York for London that he judged to be too "American". From now on in love with Europe (since he has been shooting in Barcelona), his dream is about to come true : shooting a movie in Paris from the coming summer on.... which could not make France any happier.
Two english-speaking cities neck and neck.....
In New York and in London, the central business districts are called "the city" which is pretty symptomatic (5). Of course, both have imposed themselves as centers of the city before being worldwide epicenters. It is from the City in London, that the economic empire where "the sun never sets" was directed, and Manhattan was the place where settlers arrived before populating the North American continent, later to become the world’s superpower.
(5) City = nickname of Manhattan and name of the Londoner business district
World's capital vs global capital.....
We could conclude with such a play on words: both cities rank first but although New York remains the world's capital, London is the global capital. Let me explain. The world's capital is to be taken in its totality. It is a complete capital, which also includes the fanciful part. The United Nations are in New York and the Americanization of the world does not have to be proved anymore. On the other hand, London, first global city, is the world's capital in a post-financial globalization definition. New York stands for Americanization and lives off of the American dream that everyone adopts. Contrary to that, London does not impose its values. The city rather reflects "global,” multicultural values that make it more of a mini-me world than a center of our planet, which generates culture. While NY defines the metropolitan, London defines the cosmopolitan. Therefore, both cities are capitals, each one a capital of a different kind, but de facto a world's capital.
Three decisive cultural centers that complete each other.....
The Queen Mother, once exhausted and in a slow down, is now resurrecting. The Queen New York has become aware of the fragility of its preeminence, preeminence which is far from being taken for granted. As for the French cousin, she shouldn't be underestimated. The three cities are cultural world's capital. And Paris has successfully defended its position of European capital, which guarantees the title of historic and therefore cultural capital (in its noble meaning). The prestige of the artistic and intellectual Paris is not just a vestige from the past : the offer for exhibitions and museums in Paris proves it. London is the cultural capital in its most basic meaning: multiculturalism and internationalism are celebrated as values of high importance. Finally, New York is and has always been capital of the arts industry (work of art, television,...) and more generally capital of the mass culture that molds our thoughts and conditions our imaginary.
Fight to death......
War has been declared but let's not overdramatize. Each city will survive! First of all, a competition between NY and London can only be positive, encouraging them to outstrip the rivals.
Paris would have the assets for becoming a world capital but does not have the shoulders for it: structurally speaking, Paris cannot welcome the world and its diverse influences. ... Thank god! We should be grateful for the fact that Paris has not succeeded to be excessively globalized. Who would want Paris to be internationalized and so English-speakinged, starbucksed etc ? Who would want Paris to push its borders out and abandon its Hausmanian urbanism which of course cannot evolve this much but which also makes the city of the most beautiful if it is not THE most beautiful. Who would like an endless Greater Paris without architectural coherence? A Greater Paris is not as useful as we might think. Nevertheless, an entity must very soon be created, independent from the Region Ile de France, in order to coordinate huge projects and restructuration of "Paris Capitale". Paris Capitale would be better than a Grand Paris (=Paris intra muros and its very close suburbs). Paris Capitale would include the whole urban area, which represents a relevant conceptual scale for our 21st Century. Such an instance would have a worldwide power as its budget would be huge.... the one of the fifth GPD of any city worldwide.
Matching these big cities and supposing them fighting over a crown is an illusion; rankings evolve, criteria change. Nowadays, fashion, economy and people are so unpredictable that no ranking is definite. Even better. We are looking forward to see how the situation is going to evolve and we wish good luck to the three majors in taking up the challenges of the new century.
