Cities are the engines of growth. Cities are driving life in an urban setup. Cities are providing the citizens that which they come aspiring for – jobs, a better life, prosperity and dignity that they long for. But what describes a city includes its government, politics and planning. There have been generalized studies on metropolitan governance in recent years, but very few focused on the cities that are driving life across the globe. The problem that we confront while reading any scholarly work on the’ great cities’ is that its mostly by American scholars and is thus oriented towards American scene. But, here you have a book ‘Great Cities of the World’ where authors from across continents have come together with their experience and knowledge and have put together this volume presenting a picture which is so true and hits you straight in your face.
The Great Cities
The scope of the book has been deliberately kept worldwide, avoiding over-attention on European and North American cities. It’s not easy to find relevant information about a city all the time and that is evident while going through the book; nonetheless, authors seem to bring a true account of the cities they are writing about. A good aspect about the book is that it is not just about, locations, history, tourist sites but actually talks about the governance of the cities that makes them great and livable. Cities and towns have been founded, discovered, reinvented in the past but when we talk about great cities of the world in a modern phenomenon it brings its own import. The rising population numbering in millions in these cities would not have been possible without the railways, the cars, the cargo driven by steam or oil in the old days and now by aircraft. In these modern times, a great city is not about its history, monuments and places to visit. Today greatness is about a city’s ability to sustain itself. Isn’t it fascinating that a book was talking about garbage collection, sewage disposal service and others fifty years back while talking about great cities of the world? The cities described in the book cover a wide range of sizes related to the population and the territory contained. Zurich, with a population of half a million, then made to it to the list. Such a small population could be best described as a medium-sized city in the United States. But, the economic significance, commercial and financial power becomes a dominant factor. Equally important is its cultural eminence. Arts and science are al-ways strong pillars of a great city without which the quality of greatness gets weaker. But the political significance of a city is important but not paramount.
In the words of the authors, ‘the political importance of the great cities does not necessarily derive from their position as a national capital. Indeed, only fourteen of the twenty-seven cities dealt within this book, are national capitals. It arises rather from the massive concentration of highly organized power which the great city is able to exert. When the concentration of power and resources is associated with the prestige and authority of a capital, the result is formidable in the extreme’. There lies the problem. Many regard that potential dominance of the great cities in the context of national politics needs careful consideration because the western way of life tends to ignore the political problems that need urgent rethinking.
Culture, Industry and Government
In the modern sense of the term that describes a great city, it ought to be a metropolitan area. William and Robson say that ‘it must connect to commercial, industrial, cultural or governmental center surrounded by suburbs, housing estates, dormitory towns or villages. A large number of people who work in the city reside in these outlying areas beyond its boundaries’. The book takes you through Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, India, Italy and many more countries describing how they are governed through their municipalities, local governments and institutions. One of the famous authors on the metropolis Dr Victor Jones defines it as “a mother-city from and toward which people move to suburban aggregation on the periphery. Many of the people who live in the suburbs work in the central city; and they and their families use the cultural, recreational, trade, professional, and commercial of the mother-city al-most as freely as do those who live within its boundaries”.
In most metropolitan areas, the tendency is for suburban areas to grow more rapidly than the central city because the livable area is simply not available. The great cities distinguish themselves from others by their constitution vis-à-vis their relations either with national or state government. Paris could be as different from Tokyo, though both may be capital cities. London has a two-tier structure to govern the city but Delhi has three tiers of governance. The city governance in Rome differs from local governments of other Italian cities. However, one thing that comes across clearly is that financial power is heavily invested in the central government.
The separation of power is essential for the functioning of cities. It makes the city work and move forward. What separates national capitals and those cities that still make it to the list of great ones is that local governments are quite powerful. But there are always exceptions. Capital cities these days tend to enjoy a high level of local governance than other cities. You don’t have to travel far to seek an explanation. Capital city is the seat of national governance, has representatives of foreign countries, security is a key responsibility and on top of it, the possession of capital is crucial to exercise control over the country. But in these times cities are struggling. Local government councils have failed to remove obstacles in the standardization of emoluments and conditions of service.
Rapid urbanization and the importance of city council or municipality is the key to making a city great. What is required is to remove the inherent structural weakness of its social foundation. We need to remove the wreckage of past hopes and fears. Perhaps the answer lies in the devolution of power. In principle, a collection of agencies, both public and private would perform the task. The devolution of powers will have to be made with discretion and logic and will require active public participation; participation that would enable manage its own affairs and cannot be denied any further. This is crucial to defy the dangers of proliferation of the agencies. There must be a very firm hand to guide and coordinate their services over the city. What is significant is that there must be a pool of voluntary bodies to perform a leading role in the activities and must be supported by a highly trained cadre of technical and professional officers. In order to make our cities not just great but livable as well, we must bring the citizens at the core of it. Physical planning controls should rest with all users, local, state or center to ensure that they can make the city great.