2007-09-13

Update on Readings - and the Power of Cities

Here are links to two of the readings for this week.

Anson Chan speech to the Asia Society:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dd9nk9p8_2d8qpr3

Donald Tsang speech to the Asia Society:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dd9nk

These and many of the readings are available on the WebCT POLI0019 course site, but the site is still configured for last year's course. I'm sorry for this. I cannot yet make any changes due to technical issues. To find the readings, look into the "Learning Modules" section and then click into the various modules and you will find a number of the readings posted.

I have put the William Overholt article on Hong Kong/Shanghai, Chun Yang's article on Hong Kong/Shenzhen, and Michael Davis's paper on Chinese Federalism on reserve in the PPA Department office, room 622, Meng Wah Complex.

In many cases, I have provided a URL to access readings available online. If any links don't work, please let me know.

For any other readings, please try the Library.

For this week, btw, I suggested books by Prof. Saskia Sassen who is now at Columbia University. She has been at the forefront of scholarship on the concept of the "global city" and the role of the city in the global economy. She was in Hong Kong in August to give a lecture. Last year, she wrote about Hong Kong in Newsweek magazine. I should have included this essay as required reading. You might also check out another article by Prof. Sassen on the power of big cities, also in Newsweek.

We will certainly talk more about cities and how they are becoming dynamic poles of growth. Effective and business-savvy leaders in cities across the world, from New York to Shanghai, from Denver to Dalian, are driving competition among them to attract investors and visitors. Hong Kong is in that race - and I am sure that Mike Rowse will talk about this on Tuesday.