【By Liu Bai, Observer News】From July 14 to 15, the Central Urban Work Conference was held in Beijing again after 10 years. This time, the Central Urban Work Conference further pointed out, "to walk a new path of urban modernization with Chinese characteristics."

Adam Tooze, professor of history at Columbia University and director of the European Research Center, wrote on July 31 that in the past, people believed globalization would give rise to more international metropolises like New York and London, which integrate populations, ideas, and capital from all over the world. However, the development of China's megacities has shown different characteristics, such as modern infrastructure and deep integration into the world economy, but with a very low proportion of foreign residents.

Tooze believes this phenomenon stems from people overestimating the power of globalization and ignoring the specific networks of capital, population, and idea flows formed by a country's historical heritage, especially for a country of China's massive scale. He also mentioned China's "dual circulation" strategy, emphasizing the coexistence of domestic consumption and innovation with international trade, reflecting a new model of global economic development.

In his article, he wrote that people once thought the future of globalization would be cities like New York, Paris, London, and Hong Kong. These places, although with national characteristics, have integrated populations, ideas, and capital from around the world.

Many of these cities were once capitals of empires. Cities like London and New York once suffered heavy economic restructuring in the 1970s, but they regained vitality and achieved transformation through global growth.

Tooze said that theoretically, the unstoppable force of globalization would give rise to more such cities. Digital networks and global air travel have closely connected them.

The early 21st century was the peak of this future vision. Large Asian cities like Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, Mumbai, and Bangalore were included in the list of "global cities." The skyline of Shanghai is well known worldwide.

On July 25, a special laser light show was held at the north section of the Bund in Shanghai IC Photo

However, the 2008 financial crisis broke the link between growth and trade. Although global GDP continued to grow, the share of trade in GDP remained stable. Banks contracted their operations, and the European financial industry declined. The subsequent pandemic gave free globalization a fatal blow.

"If you visit China today, you will see a scene that was not anticipated twenty years ago," Tooze described, "megacities with tens of millions of people, featuring stunning modern technology and infrastructure, deeply integrated into the global economy, but rarely showing signs of foreign residents."

In Beijing, foreigners account for only 0.3% of the total population; in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, among 20 million residents, foreign population accounts for only 0.08%.

He pointed out that various signs indicate that people overestimated the power of globalization in shaping the traditional characteristics of global cities, while neglecting the specific networks of capital, population, and idea flows formed by a country's historical heritage.

Even Japan, a large wealthy economy actively involved in trade, never had a high ratio of trade to GDP. The same applies to the United States and the European Union. Excluding intra-EU trade, Europe's trade with the rest of the world accounts for only 23%, which is not particularly significant.

China's massive scale reinforces this logic. As China continues to consolidate its position as the largest production system in history, the importance of the world economy to it will become increasingly smaller.

Western languages such as English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese once provided channels and paths for global mobility, giving rise to cities like Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Sydney, and Hong Kong. However, the "Sinic cultural circle" has its own cultural and linguistic logic.

Tooze wrote that Chinese is a huge barrier for foreign immigrants. But the universality of simplified Chinese simultaneously creates a common cultural foundation for at least one-eighth of the global population, paving the way for large-scale internal migration. While Beijing may have few foreign residents, nearly 40% of its population comes from other parts of China.

Similarly, in Bangalore, India's tech hub, the number of foreign residents is negligible, but more than half of the city's residents have migrated from other parts of India.

These cities may not be the global metropolises envisioned in the past, but they have become hubs of innovative societies, increasing their share in the global economy.

The online life of these cities' residents further reflects these trends. Residents of China's super-cities live on smartphones, consuming news, gossip, and daily necessities 24 hours a day, all in Chinese. The appeal of Chinese and China's social media system naturally shapes the Chinese internet ecosystem.

Finally, Tooze mentioned that when China proposed the "dual circulation" vision in May 2020, it was seen as a grand geopolitical economic plan to compete with the United States. That is, China would establish dual cycles of domestic consumption and innovation and international trade.

But now, this vision is more of an objective description of a new model of global economic development than a policy blueprint.

He described that Chinese cities are not melting pots that blend the world, but rather, as giant countries and regional hubs, they interact deeply with the broader world while maintaining a certain distance.

On October 31 last year, on World Cities Day, Lin Jian, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that while independently exploring a path for high-quality urban development, China actively shares urban development experiences and cooperates with many countries and regions in areas such as smart transportation, building energy conservation, and green and low-carbon development, providing Chinese wisdom for global sustainable urban development. "We support the establishment of the Global Sustainable Development City Award (Shanghai Award) by the UN Human Settlements Programme, and create public goods such as the Shanghai Application Index for global urban monitoring frameworks, helping countries improve urban governance efficiency and share the results of sustainable development."

This article is an exclusive piece by Observer News. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7533623000059462178/

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