Anglais Notion 4 : Spaces and exchanges :

Sujet du devoir

I am going to talk about the notion of spaces and exchanges. To introduce this theme,I am going to define the terms of this notion. What is a space ? A space is the dimension of height, depth and width within which all things exist and move. And, what is an exchange ? An exchange is an act of giving one thing and receiving another one whatever this “thing” may be.I will talk about global cities. A global city is a meeting point and the concentration of cultures, economies and polities. It is connected to the whole world and has a worldwide influence. The question is : what impact do global cities have on people’s everyday lives ? To answer the question, I will talk about two global cities. First of all, I will present the advantages of living in a global city and then The inconvenients of living in a global city and the solutions. Thus, now we will see the opportunities created by global cities. Indeed global cities are leaders in the world economy and international marketplaces which have created a business social class. Moreover those cities are dynamic hubs. That is why now we have a world well-connected and a lot of exchanges between countries.

I] The advantages of living in a global city

I am going to talk about global cities, as Singapore. Singapore has been a city and a state at the same time since 1965 when it took its independence from the British Empire. Formerly, it had been a British colony. This island has over 5M residents of whom almost the third are foreigners. Singapore as a powerful, vibrant city as we also leam that the name in Malay means “The Lion City”. Singapore has its advantage and weak sides. On the one hand, it is a powerful nation owing to its high income and quality education. Moreover, its attracts workers from all over the world with its health care and public services. In a nutshell, Singapore is an economic powerhouse. The diversity of the population is due to it's role such as an economics hub which attracts people all over the world. On the over hand, the city lacks natural resources, there is no oil, no gas, which makes it vulnerable. Yet, it is its vulnerability that makes people more motivated to accept limits on their freedoms. Indeed, it's forbidden to do many things in Singapore like using chewing gum, smoking or picking flowers. The lion city is one of the cleanest city in the world. Singapore is a «fine» city because if people don't respect the law they are finned of 1,000 dollars and we can say that it's a little excessive. So the city is very strict and the individual's freedom are limited. We can say that global cities likes Singapore wants to promote and respect the environment with the respect of the laws

II] The inconvenients of living in a global city and the solutions

Then  I am going to talk about the city of London during the Industrial Revolution. Charles Dickens, who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of the 19th century, describe a city of London during the Industrial Revolution, through two novels. These documents describe people crossing the Bridge by foot on their way home in London, there are warmly clothed with Edwardian clothes. The narrator shows the impact of bad weather pollution and overcrowding, we can have a gloomy vision of London at the turn of the XX century. Otherwise, a painting by Yoshio Markino in 1907, represents this vision. The atmosphere of this painting is dominated by shadows as well as grey and brown colors.In 1952, the Great Smog which took place in London, during the Christmas shopping season, where 12.000 people died and others were taken in hospitals. It is the drawbacks of big cities. So we can say that in the past global cities like London was affected by the pollution and especially the smog . But today, London became a greener city thanks to its initiatives. Indeed, London has set up a rental bike system, inspired by the Velib 'of Paris.It also puts in place clean and ecological neighborhoods: such as BedZed. This aim is to be carbon neutral, and the means used are solar panels, south-facing terraces, air chimneys and bio-energy. This is the reason why London became a global city.

 Conclusion: Urban space and exchanges are shaped by the ongoing transformation of the world. Global cities are not completely new phenomenon: London has long been of international importance; but new cities have emerged such as Singapore. But these urban concentrations create both opportunities to be exploited and problems to be solved. The growth of global cities has brought a wealth of cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversity helping enrich everyday life and open new possibilities of exchange. However the needs of such dense populations have led to serious problems in terms of environment. So global cities struggle to find solutions and thus to offer good living conditions to its population.

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