IPS WORKING PAPERS No. 17

The Singapore Government has now explicitly stated its goal to turn the city-state into Asia's Global City.  In order to do so, it is important to understand what drives urban agglomeration and has led to the emergence of the established global cities like New York and London.  It is also important to grasp what explains the unique 'buzz' that attracts talent, money and creative activity in those settings.

This paper explains that process and the characteristics of global cities and asks the question of whether the emergence of a global city is necessarily a spontaneous phenomenon or can, as in the case of Singapore, be planned.

It introduces the idea of ‘intelligent design’ in urban development and what elements will need to be thrown into that the design as policy-makers in Singapore consider what they can do to facilitate its emergence as a global city. 

It also raises the question of how Singapore can 'bulk-up' in terms of its talent pool and creative activity to provide a critical mass to make the agglomeration of high-value services happen, yet avoid the costs of congestion in this tiny city-state.  An unusual solution for this is proposed at the end of the paper.

Sanjeev Sanyal. "Singapore: The Art Of Building A Global City", IPS Working Papers No. 17.  January 2007.