城市的崛起 21世紀中國的崛起

The most important characteristic of the 21st century is the rise of cities. The world may obsess over whether a “Chinese century” is replacing an American one. But the real action is not in nations — but in their urban centres.

21世紀最重要的特色是城市的崛起。全世界可能還在糾結於“中國世紀”是否將取代“美國世紀”。但真正的取代不是發生在國家之間——而是發生在它們的城市中心。

For the first time in human history, more people now live in cities than in rural areas. By 2050, 6.5bn people, two-thirds of all humanity, will live and work in cities. In 1950 fewer than one billion did so.

在人類歷史上，城市居民人數首次超過了農村居民人數。到2050年，有65億人將在城市生活工作，佔總人口三分之二，而1950年時這個數字還不足10億。

But not all cities are equal. Global cities — leaders in commerce, the arts and education — rise above the rest. They have the scope, ambition and clout to shape not just the world’s economy but also its ideas, its culture, its policies and its future.

但並非所有城市都一樣。在商業、藝術和教育方面領先的全球性城市(Global city)將超越其他城市，它們的視野、雄心和影響力不僅將影響全球經濟，還將影響全世界的思想、文化、政策和未來。

Big and connected, they transcend borders and disrupt international agendas. They are magnets for business, people, money and innovation.

全球性城市的龐大規模以及連通性，使它們超越了國界，也影響了國際議程，它們像磁鐵一樣吸引着商業、人力、資金和創新力。

Today, when we talk about non-state actors, we tend to think of terrorist groups, such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis), or global corporations, such as Apple and BP. But it is in cities that the real power beyond the state resides.

現如今，當我們談論非國家行爲體時，我們往往會想到恐怖組織，比如基地組織和“伊拉克和黎凡特伊斯蘭國”(ISIS)，或像蘋果(Apple)、英國石油(BP)這樣的全球性企業。但是，具備超越國家的真實力量的是城市。

Indeed, today’s international politics is beginning to resemble the Hanseatic League of medieval cities, with global centres trading and working together to address common problems in ways that large nations do not. While not sovereign, global cities are increasingly independent — driving policies that stimulate wider change.

實際上，當今的國際政治正開始像中世紀城市的漢薩同盟(Hanseatic League)，全球性中心城市的貿易方式，以及它們協力解決共同問題的方式，是大國無法辦到的。全球性城市雖然沒有主權，但越來越獨立，它們正在推動能夠引起更廣泛改變的政策。

They drive the world’s economy. The 600 biggest cities account for more than 60 per cent of global gross domestic product. The top 20 are home to one-third of all large corporations, and almost half of their combined revenues. Tokyo leads the pack — in population size, economic punch and number of corporate headquarters — ahead of New York, London and Paris.

全球性城市推動着世界經濟發展。全球前600大城市佔全球GDP總和的60%以上。前20大城市是全世界三分之一大型企業的總部所在地，這些企業的收入佔全球大企業總收入的近一半。在人口規模、經濟活力以及企業總部數量上，東京均首屈一指，領先於紐約、倫敦和巴黎。

Cities only cover two per cent of the earth’s surface, but they consume 78 per cent of the its energy and account for 60 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions. And while nations debate over what to do about climate change the largest and most important cities are getting together and doing something about it.

城市的面積僅佔地球表面百分之二，但消耗全球78%的能源，溫室氣體排放量佔全球60%。不過當各國還在爭論如何應對氣候變化時，全球最大、最重要的城市正團結起來共同採取行動。

One such effort is the C40, a group of 75 major citiesthat gathers and exchanges data to enable concrete actions to tackle climate change. In thousands of ways, from energy efficient street lighting to improved public transportation, big cities are making a real difference on global warming.

C40便是它們的一項努力成果。這是一個由75個主要城市組成的集團，負責收集和交換數據，以便採取具體行動應對氣候變化。從節能路燈到改善公共交通，大城市正從多種途徑對全球變暖作出真正改變。

Cities are also increasingly pursuing their own foreign policies. Shanghai has its own foreign affairs office, while São Paulo has established diplomatic relations with dozens of states. These nations, in turn, have larger diplomatic representations there than they have in the capital Brasília.

城市也越來越追求自己的外交政策。上海有自己的外事辦公室，而聖保羅已經與幾十個國家建立起外交關係，這些國家與首都巴西利亞的外交交涉反而不如與聖保羅的多。

Major capital cities, such as London, Tokyo and Paris, are integral to the foreign policies of their national governments. But global cities that are not national seats of government, such as Chicago or Shanghai, increasingly need to forge foreign policies of their own by co-ordinating the global engagement of its corporations, top academic centres, cultural institutions and civic bodies in ways that benefit the city and its citizens as a whole. Greater strategic direction, more co-operation and better co-ordination of such global engagement would constitute the equivalent of a foreign policy for Chicago.

主要首都城市，如倫敦、東京和巴黎等都是本國政府外交政策中不可或缺的一部分。但對於那些不是國家政府所在地的全球性城市來說，比如芝加哥或上海，則越來越需要形成自己的外交政策，通過協調其企業、頂尖學術中心、文化機構和民間團體的國際參與，讓城市及其市民能整體受益。更大的戰略方向，更多的合作，以及在此類國際參與上更好的協調，這些綜合起來就相當於是芝加哥的外交政策。

In short, global cities are increasingly driving world affairs — economically, politically, socially and culturally. They are no longer just places to live in. They have emerged as leading actors on the global stage.

總之，全球性城市正日益推動經濟、政治、社會和文化方面的全球事務。它們不再僅是居住地，它們已經成爲國際舞臺上的主要角色。

The writer is president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, which together with the Financial Times is hosting the Chicago Forum on Global Cities

注：本文作者是芝加哥全球事務委員會(Chicago Council on Global Affairs)主席，該委員會近日與英國《金融時報》共同主辦“芝加哥全球性城市論壇”(Chicago Forum on Global Cities)。