World cities

1. World cities Dominance and dependence Changing role of regional centres Demise of the small town

2. The relationship of dominance and dependence could be said to belong to the interaction between world cities and the other urban centres in proximity to them. World cities, whether they be characterised as dominant, major or secondary, are sites of world accumulation. Dominance and dependence

3. Technological dominance and innovation Financial dominance in the production and distribution of goods and services on a global scale. The cultural influence that arises from world cities is widespread, as is the level of strategic decision making. Dominance and dependence

5. Urban centres on the other hand, have functions that show dependence on the world cities. Accumulation and the production and distribution is only on the national scale Technology is often adopted, as there is a relatively lower degree of research and development. A limited cultural influence with some political control. Eg Perth’s financial system is dependent on Sydney Head Offices. Dominance and dependence

6. The hierarchy of world cities indicates that there is a level of dominance emulating from New York, London, Paris and Tokyo over the other world cities. They have a disproportionate concentration of top-level headquarters of the financial, industrial, commercial and producer service sectors. Many of the large industrial TNCs that account for nearly 70% of the international trade are headquartered in these cities. Dominance and dependence

7. The massive expansion of the global financial industry over the last 20 years has greatly increased the global significance of London, New York and Tokyo. The main financial transactions in shares, bonds, loans and foreign currency are dominated by these three cities. Together with Los Angeles, Frankfurt and Hong Kong they provide a 24-hours-a-day global coverage of financial transactions. Dominance and dependence

8. Dominance and dependence also exists between world cities and other urban centres. An example of this is Sydney’s role in contrast to the other Australian cities. Sydney, as a major world city has 27 head office locations for Australia’s 50 largest corporations. Dominance and dependence

9. Melbourne comprises 16 of these, while Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide have less than three in their respective cities. Sydney is the principal centre for smaller, Australian-controlled businesses. Nearly half of these have grown through national mergers and takeovers. Dominance and dependence

10. Sydney is the principal financial centre as countries like Japan prefer to locate trading, marketing and financial companies there. Although Melbourne dominates in the areas of manufacturing and mining, Sydney is the dominant link to the global economy as it represents a more recent period of capital accumulation associated with economic globalisation, especially in the financial sector. Dominance and dependence

11. The other urban centres that are also state capitals only play minor roles in national production let alone global accumulation. Cities like Brisbane, Darwin, Adelaide, Hobart, and Perth have functions that have been largely absorbed into Sydney and to a lesser extent Melbourne through corporate takeovers. These urban centres operate at an intrastate level of networking within Australia’s federal administrative structure. Further dominance would be exerted from Sydney over nearby urban centres like Newcastle and Wollongong. These relationships of dominance and dependence occur on a global scale and these roles are even more pronounced when the country has a greater number of urban centres and world cities that surround a dominant world city. Dominance and dependence

12. The United States presents clear trends of dominance and dependence whereby New York, with a group of world cities dependent on it, especially for financial transactions. Major world cities include Chicago, San Francisco, Miami, Boston and Los Angeles. Clustered around these world cities are the urban centres that have dependent relationships with their nearby world cities. In the case of Chicago, dependent urban places in close proximity include Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Kansas City. Dominance and dependence

13. The United Kingdom: London acts as a centre of dependence for other major cities across the nation especially for financial transactions. Cities such as Birmingham, Newcastle and Manchester rely on London for a variety of needs and allow them to subsequently be linked into the global network. Clustered around these major cities are the urban centers that have dependent relationship with their closest major city. Eg Manchester - dependent urban places in close proximity include Liverpool, Chester, Preston and Stockport. Dominance and dependence

14. There have been changes in the relative significance of settlements in rural areas at a regional and local level. Overall, countries like Canada, the United States and Australia have witnessed the growth of regional centres with a corresponding decline in population and economic activity throughout the surrounding small towns. Rural trends

15. Urban systems comprise of the national city (eg. Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne) that have a complex set of functions. These include wholesaling, retailing, manufacturing, finance and corporate management, education, entertainment and health services. Metropolitan areas perform these functions for smaller urban places and rural areas in their general vicinity. These metropolitan hinterlands vary greatly in size and shape depending on the type of services provided. Urban systems / metropolitan areas

16. Further down the hierarchy are regional centres. In New South Wales, regional centres are defined as having populations of 11,000 to about 50,000. These centres perform a smaller amount of functions and these relate closely to the functions of each settlement. In the case of Sydney, regional centres would include Newcastle, Wollongong, Bathurst, Lismore, Tamworth and Dubbo. Regional centres

17. Below these in the hierarchy are the small hinterland towns with populations of less than 11,000 people. Taking the regional centre of Dubbo, among the many small hinterland towns would be Wellington, Nyngan, Bourke, Warren, Peak Hill and Dunedoo. Small towns

18. The trends of growth and decline are evident in the Dubbo district’s population changes. From the period 1976 to 1997, the Dubbo district grew by 56.5%, while Wellington and Warren decreased by 9.0% and 17.4% respectively over the same period. Growth and decline

19. The population of Dubbo grew from 28,064 to 30,102 between 1991 and 1996 and in 2003 grew again to reach 38,937; while Wellington went from 8648 in 1996 to 8142 in 2004 and Warren from 1,909 to 1786 over the same period. The same decline may be said for Bourke, Dunedoo and Nyngan. Growth and decline

20. Why do you think small towns are in decline while regional centres increase? Question

21. An account of these trends can be attributed to a complex set of factors that differ in each region. However, a common range of causes may begin with the recent developments in transport and communications making it difficult for small towns to survive. Business services are more centralised and this has cascaded through the whole urban system from the national to the local levels. Reasons for small town decline

22. For example, the widespread use of cars and the construction of sealed roads after 1960 in Dubbo has made it easier for people to travel longer distances to purchase from a wider variety of cheaper goods and services from regional centres instead of the local small town. A similar effect is in the rapid development in telecommunications (eg. e-commerce) and the possibility for people in rural areas to purchase goods globally. Reasons for small town decline

23. The result at the local level is the decline, demise even of towns, and certainly a marked reduction in services that are no longer economic in a competitive business environment. Regional centres absorb the decline in the population and activities of the smaller local centres. Reasons for small town decline

24. The economic restructuring in both the private and public sector has allowed the regional centres to become increasingly competitive in the primary and secondary industries (eg. food processing and the supply of frozen meat). This is not just on the national scale but also on the world market in terms of exporting success. The encouragement of economies of scale through lower operating and land costs has seen many businesses prosper in centres like Wagga Wagga. Reasons for small town decline

25. Retailing has also restructured with the growth of large regional shopping centres to the demise of the local, small town retailer. Public restructuring and the adoption of economic rationalism as a result of fiscal restraint have seen the rationalisation and centralisation of government services in the regional centres. Reasons for small town decline

26. It is well known that returns on agricultural production have reduced rural incomes relative to those families from the cities. As a result, some 431 centres with populations less than 4,000 will struggle to survive. Many of these towns are losing the infrastructure necessary to maintain a viable community. Drought has also been a major push factor from small towns. Reasons for small town decline

27. Between 1981 and 1998, more than a quarter of the bank branches in rural NSW were closed. More recently the ABC reported last year that St George has planned to close up to 84% of its rural banking over the counter firms. Reasons for small town decline

28. One response has been the development of Elders rural bank has now establish 400 over the counter branches in 3 years and over 200 through Bendigo Bank across Australia. At a joint conference in Adelaide between government officials and representatives of Rural Bank, Senator Chapman announced the success of both Elders Rural and Bendigo Bank in assisting with the development of community services and infrastructure in small rural towns. Responses

29. Another response to decline by communities and local councils is the diversification in the economic base of the small town. The Carrathool Shire Region has towns like Leeton and Ivanhoe and these have actively invested in infrastructure that would further promote tourism, especially Japanese tourists who seek a rural setting. The income from tourism helps to act as a safety net during periods of poor agricultural returns. This approach is important as thousands of jobs in agriculture are lost each year. Responses