Abstract
In his seminal 1972 ‘global city’ speech, Singapore’s Foreign Minister S. Rajaratnam argued that the world was Singapore’s economic hinterland. Since then, the ‘global city’ has become an integral component of Singapore’s self-identity. Indeed, it has been noted that Rajaratnam’s vision prefigured the later development of academic ‘global city’ concepts. However, in recent years, this identity has had to share public discursive space with Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative. The latter has become no less dominant in Singapore’s self-image than older longstanding identities. This paper interrogates the intersection and the tensions between Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative and its ‘global city’ identity. At the same time, this paper hopes to shed some light on the degree of overlap between the broader ‘smart city’ and ‘global city’ concepts. There is not much literature at present that specifically interrogates the intersection between the ‘smart city’ and ‘global city’ concepts. But this intersection is worth exploring for the very simple reason that there could be tensions between the multiple goals and self-images pursued by ambitious cities. For example, it has been shown that the ‘smart city’ concept does not completely map onto the ‘sustainable city’ concept. The pursuit of one particular urban objective may thus work to the detriment of the pursuit of another. Finally, this paper also highlights the value of allowing history to inform attempts to determine the degree and the nature of the intersection and the tensions between the ‘smart city’ and the ‘global city’ concepts.
Presenters
Benjamin ChooSenior Lecturer, College of Interdisciplinary and Experiential Learning, Singapore University of Social Sciences, Singapore
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Vectors of Society and Culture
KEYWORDS
SMART CITY, GLOBAL CITY, NATION-BUILDING, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, PUBLIC IMAGININGS
