La città Globale. La condizione urbana come fenomeno pervasivo/The Global City. Urban condition as a pervasive phenomenon

he urbanisation that has characterised Europe, in particular, over the centuries, has now become a widespread phenomenon which embraces all continents. The new scenario has generated unprecedented economic dynamics, radical social transformations and epochal cultural innovation as well has new historiographical readings that have partly contested Europe-centric interpretations. These have shed new light not only on cities but also on their historical transformation, their adaptation strategies and their possible future developments. And because over half of the world’s population lives in towns and cities, we can speak of an “urban condition” as a shared, global experience. This situation is not the result of the mere growth of cities, which “exploded” after the Second World War, but of that combination of multiform and multiple phenomena we refer to when we use the term “globalisation”. Globalisation has involved not only the organisation of the world’s financial system but has also made it possible to talk about new types of urban agglomeration impacting the very concept of urban, in all its forms and articulations. The phenomenon extends to the social and political sphere, culture, arts, education and research. Particularly in the latter, we see a strong tendency towards sharing and a transversality between a variety of disciplines, made possible by the dramatic technological revolutions that have taken place in recent decades. On this matter, it is worth mentioning how, in terms of access to services and resources, we can identify new peripheries which, having emerged on the fringes of globalisation, are demanding our attention. This contribution discusses as global city requires a reformulation of urban studies and a rethinking of methodological approaches, raising urgent questions about urban heritage too.