Hank Savitch School of Urban & Public Affairs University of Louisville WHAT MAKES A GREAT CITY GREAT? PUTTING AMERICA IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT

London is not a pleasant place; it is not an agreeable place, or a cheerful place or easy or exempt from reproach. It is only magnificent. -- Henry James

GREATNESS DOES NOT EQUAL COMFORT Parisian new towns vis-a-vis Paris New York Suburbs vis-a-vis New York City Tampa, Phoenix, Salt Lake City are comfortable, pleasant places but not great

HISTORICAL VIEW Jerusalem & Rome: Religion and Politics 6 th to First Centuries, CE Athens & Alexandria: Intellectual (Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Ptolemy) 6 th to First Centuries, CE (respectively) Venice & Amsterdam: Seaport Trading, 13 th and 17 th Century (respectively) Florence and Paris: Art 14 th to 16 th and 19 th (respectively) New York and Hong Kong: Commerce (20 th and 21 st centuries) LA (Hollywood), Seattle & Bangalore: Creativity, Innovation

Greatness Amplitude, majesty, intensity, prominence Inner ability to generate unique strength and attributes Outer ability to project uniqueness

Four Cs of Urban Greatness

Concurrency Encompass the dominant values, drives and temper (zeitgeist) of the times –Jerusalem: Birth of 3 religions in religious era –Athens: Philosophy in a time of searching –Florence: Art, Birth of Renaissance –London: Economic prowess re industrial revolution –Seattle: Microsoft and digital age

Cosmopolitanism Gateway to a larger world through trade, culture, immigration, other appeals Ethnic diversity and multi culturalism -- Athens focal point of Greek City States -- Rome center of a Mediterranean empire -- Venice opening to the Orient -- London foreign business and immigration

Concentration Centeredness through density and clustering (Jacobs, Porter) Radial Concentric City Monocentric and conical spatial form of -- Athens Agora -- Romes Coliseum -- Venices Ports -- Paris Golden Triangle

Charisma Unique and magnetic appeal The character of a city that signals immediate recognition Logos -- Jerusalems Old City -- Athens Parthenon -- Venices Canals -- Paris Eiffel Tower

Application to American Cities Revising the definition of greatness -- Cities still belong to nations -- Nations are limited in number of great cities -- Cities still project national economies National level great cities as regional cores -- Scaled down yet still outstanding -- Possessing concurrency, cosmopolitanism, concentration and charisma

Four Cities New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco Basis of Selection -- Taylor and Laing, highest GNC scores (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco) -- Boschkins K cluster of seven variable (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and San Francisco)

Global Network Connectivity Rankings: US, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Latin America Cities United StatesAsiaEurope New York, NY - 2Hong Kong (SAR), China - 3London, UK - 1 Chicago, IL - 7Tokyo, Japan - 5Paris, France - 4 Los Angeles, CA - 9Singapore, Singapore - 6Milan, Italy - 8 San Francisco, CA - 17Taipei, Republic of China - 20Madrid, Spain - 11 Middle EastAfricaLatin America Manama, Bahrain - 90Johannesburg, South Africa - 43Sao Paulo, Brazil - 16 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - 91Cairo, Egypt - 59Mexico City, Mexico - 18 Tel Aviv, Israel - 92Cape Town, South Africa - 95Buenos Aries, Argentina - 23 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - 96Nairobi, Kenya - 100Santiago, Chile - 57 Adapted: Taylor & Lang 2005, and GAWC Connectivity Data

The 4Cs in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco

Concurrency NYCs financial power in a global and transnational era LAs film and television presence in an age of media SFs banks, insurance and visual character in a time of tourism Chicagos niche position as the second city with a little bit of everything

Cosmopolitanism NYC as the immigrant/multi cultural city as both un American and typically American LA as the Western gateway for Asians and Latin Americans SF as the great tourist attraction combined with its being the gay capital of America Chicago, again the second city; niche position with a little bit of everything

Concentration NYC with two central business districts (mid town and lower Manhattan); highest central city density in the country Chicago mid level skyline SF smaller and lower and skyline; compact CBD and waterfront LA is the outlier as a low density and poly nucleated (LA School claim to post modernism)

Charisma NYC first city to visit, move to or make a career (The Big Apple) LAs celebrities, its de-centered, outdoor life style (Sunny LA) SFs urbane beauty, charm and nostalgia coupled to left leaning politics and social tolerance (City on the Bay) Chicago history (gangsters, stockyards, machine politics, sports teams) coupled to a current combination of amenities (The Windy City).

The 4 C's Ranking New York, NY Chicago, IL San Francisco, CA Los Angeles, CA Concurrency GMP (US $Billion)1, / / / /25 Employment Total3,712,931 1/251,249,185 3/25405,303 11/251,782,153 2/25 Cosmopolitanism Immigrants3,038,139 1/25599,802 3/25270,357 9/251,507,032 2/25 Foreign Tourist7,646,000 1/251,147,000 8/252,270,000 4/252,652,000 2/25 Concentration Central City Density (Sq Mile)26,403 1/2512,750 3/2516,634 2/257,877 8/25 Size of Downtown (Sq Miles)7.82 1/ / / /25 Charisma Google Hits (millions)1,100 1/ /253155/ /25 Top 10 Most Desirable Cities21%3/1013%5/1013%5/1040%1/10

Conclusions Not all cities can be Great Cities -- need 4C requisites -- it is enough to be a good city -- cities still attempt copy cat, superficial efforts (convention centers, sports stadia, invented museums) Niche positioning possible -- meeting 4C requisites (structural issue) -- skillful development strategy (agency issue) -- Chicago City Greatness is dynamic -- conditions change and so do cities -- shifted greatness in ancient, medieval and modern cities -- future shifts to Beijing, Mumbai and Sydney