century is a city made up of mobile, jet
setting international constituents. It
citizenry are not rooted to any single
place call "the country" as the global
stage is their domain. As long as there
is business to be conducted and
international deals to be struck, they will
be there. New parameters are defining
these cities as they are plugged into
fast growing economies of the world.
It is difficult for one to make sense of
all that is happening. International
boundaries and sovereignty are no
longer important issues nor are the lack
of natural resources and factors of
productions; in international business.
With the advent of air travel and
modern communication distance is no
longer a constraint. Factories can be
located in China with R&D and back
room operations in India, while call
centres and technical support are out
source to the Philippines. All these are
held together at the centre where
co-ordination, treasury and
management functions are located.
We find a proliferation of MNC and
large corporate HQ located in theses
cities. It is a natural tendency for top
executives to locate to one of these
cities having a vibrant international
community; where fine dining,
entertainment and good schools can be
found for their children. Security and
safety are paramount concerns in
today's uncertain world.
Hong Kong, Singapore, etc have all
undergone economic transformation.
Physically they appear homogeneous
with high rise offices and international
brands in all major malls. Culturally they
are very different, distinct traits can be
found in all of them; free trade, free flow
of capital, free movement of people and
ownership of assets; physical and
intellectual. The essentials ingredients
for its survival.
Property prices within these CBDs has
defied local economic realities. With
these global cities traditional macro
economics paradigms have already
shifted and a new animal has evolved.
For instance in Singapore, sixty five
percent of property sales within the prime
districts are taken up by foreigners who
are willing to pay premium prices to be
where the action is.
These drivers of change are going to
affect how we invest in the future. Cities
and governments holding on to
protectionist and nationalistic policies are
going to lag behind forward and outward
looking global cities. The local economy
will play a lesser role in the overall
prosperity of these cities as they
decoupled from it. It has a life of it's own
as it extends partnership and networking
across the globe grappling for it's space
in this globalized world.