The Impact of the Economic Globalization on Urban and Rural Spaces The world is experiencing the largest wave of urban growth in history. For the first time ever, more than half of the world’s population lives in cities. This rapid urbanization trend is fueled by globalization and should concern all of us because it will continue to effect the way we live for many years to come. In order to survive in the globalizing world we need to become educated of the global economy and figure out how to benefit from it. With this in mind we first need to understand how the globalizing economy impacts cities and rural places worldwide. Many cites around the globe are continuing to expand and integrate themselves into the global economy. Likewise, processes related to economic globalization continue to extend and affect even the remotest rural places. Thus, challenging the distinction between urban and rural spaces. To understand how the globalization economy impacts cities we need to be familiar with the economic globalization. This term refers to the process which integrates economies between cities which has lead to the emergence of a global market. In other words it’s the rapid increase of interdependence between national economies worldwide facilitated by the increasing movement of goods, services, technology and capital internationally. The new global economy calls for highly specialized markets and firms which are concentrated in global cities. This makes cities places of power that control the global economy. Saskia Sassen defines global cities as the strategic sites for the management of the global economy and the production of the most advanced services and financial operations that have become key inputs for that work of managing global economic operations. These advanced services and financial operations create jobs for many highly skilled professionals who receive high incomes for their work. The city is alluring for those in rural areas they see the opportunity and want to become part of the city. But those who are successful in the city are people who are highly educated professionals not the undereducated individual from a rural community. The most successful cities are the ones that adapt best to the global economy. These cities can be found all over the globe even in materially poor countries. For example Sau Paulo, Brazil is a very successful and well adapted city in a materially poor country. The video titled “City Life (Sao Paulo, Brazil) “showed that cites are powerful places of growth and expansion, often times more powerful than the nation’s economy. The success of cities in the globalizing economy depends on their ability to adapt. Places that once prospered in international trade, manufacturing and extraction of natural resources are no longer at the top. They need to transform their infrastructure in order to keep up in the global economy which entails the development vast global markets and highly specialized corporate services. Over the past thirty years urbanization has improved the quality of life and incomes all over the globe. The spread of ideas and the facets of globalization have helped to increase economic productivity, improve literacy, health care, and life expectancy in countries all around the world. These advancements are funded by the revenue generated in urban places. This economic surplus can be measured by the growth of foreign direct investment (FDI) . Increasing foreign investment can be used as one measure of growing economic globalization This growth of the global economy is causing transformations in not only urban places but also rural areas and in their relationship with each other. Economies all over the world especially in material poor countries are integrating rapidly into the global economy. This has facilitated the flow of capital to those regions in the form of FDI. These investments are mainly in the manufacturing industry in urban areas where it creates employment and attracts more migrants from the rural areas. Cities worldwide increase FDI by improving their infrastructure and services. In return this widens the gap between urban and rural areas in terms of infrastructure and services. Conversely, globalization is also diminishing the traditional divide between urban and rural places. Improvements in communication and transportation have brought the urban and rural areas closer together due to the increased rate in exchange of local knowledge. In other circumstances globalization is physically closing the gap between urban and rural places due to the construction of highways over farm land and suburban sprawl. You may recall The group who did the presentation global urban and rural interfaces. They introduced some of these tensions and conflicts by explaining the urban encroachment into rural land and the growing links between the two using examples from the hwy 41 expansion project in the fox valley area. When rural economies can no longer support the people and families of rural areas, They migrate to cites. As urban populations continue to grow in the decades to come from rural to urban migration, urban economies will have to manage the influx in people, many of them poor. The politicians of cities will continue to face an enormous challenge when trying to accommodate the growing population. This includes helping them to gain access to the financial infrastructure and services, and create new employment opportunities. The goal for global cities worldwide is to make cities a better place for the majority of people.