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The quest to become a world city: Implications for access to water

Nastar, Maryam LU (2014) In Cities 41. p.1-9
Abstract
The ambition to be recognized as a 'World City' or 'Global City' is rapidly increasing not the least among cities in the global south such as Hyderabad in India and Johannesburg in South Africa. While such a status seems promising for attracting foreign capital and for expanding the economic potential of urban areas, it may have adverse impacts on the hinterland and contribute to growing urban inequality. Therefore, in this paper, the government initiatives inspired by world-city visions in Johannesburg and Hyderabad are analyzed in order to explore the social and environmental implications of the rhetoric around becoming a world city. By demonstrating the disparity in water access, the paper argues that the promises of city development... (More)
The ambition to be recognized as a 'World City' or 'Global City' is rapidly increasing not the least among cities in the global south such as Hyderabad in India and Johannesburg in South Africa. While such a status seems promising for attracting foreign capital and for expanding the economic potential of urban areas, it may have adverse impacts on the hinterland and contribute to growing urban inequality. Therefore, in this paper, the government initiatives inspired by world-city visions in Johannesburg and Hyderabad are analyzed in order to explore the social and environmental implications of the rhetoric around becoming a world city. By demonstrating the disparity in water access, the paper argues that the promises of city development plans in terms of social integration and 'world-class service' provision for all citizens, have not been fulfilled. Instead, the narrative of world-class cities in Hyderabad and Johannesburg open new avenues for the accumulation of wealth among the financial and political elite. Hence, the quest to become world cities will likely exacerbate the inequality gap within urban areas in the two cities. (c) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Urban development plans, World city, Social inequality, Water provision, Hyderabad, Johannesburg
in
Cities
volume
41
pages
1 - 9
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000341553100001
  • scopus:84901915031
ISSN
0264-2751
DOI
10.1016/j.cities.2014.04.007
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a6587c46-ef30-471a-9cad-448eb8564a55 (old id 4467881)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:33:05
date last changed
2022-01-27 19:47:30
@article{a6587c46-ef30-471a-9cad-448eb8564a55,
  abstract     = {{The ambition to be recognized as a 'World City' or 'Global City' is rapidly increasing not the least among cities in the global south such as Hyderabad in India and Johannesburg in South Africa. While such a status seems promising for attracting foreign capital and for expanding the economic potential of urban areas, it may have adverse impacts on the hinterland and contribute to growing urban inequality. Therefore, in this paper, the government initiatives inspired by world-city visions in Johannesburg and Hyderabad are analyzed in order to explore the social and environmental implications of the rhetoric around becoming a world city. By demonstrating the disparity in water access, the paper argues that the promises of city development plans in terms of social integration and 'world-class service' provision for all citizens, have not been fulfilled. Instead, the narrative of world-class cities in Hyderabad and Johannesburg open new avenues for the accumulation of wealth among the financial and political elite. Hence, the quest to become world cities will likely exacerbate the inequality gap within urban areas in the two cities. (c) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.}},
  author       = {{Nastar, Maryam}},
  issn         = {{0264-2751}},
  keywords     = {{Urban development plans; World city; Social inequality; Water provision; Hyderabad; Johannesburg}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{1--9}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Cities}},
  title        = {{The quest to become a world city: Implications for access to water}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2014.04.007}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.cities.2014.04.007}},
  volume       = {{41}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}