Sample Exam on Globalization

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Below is a sample of a final examination regarding the nature of globalization, some important key terms a class on this subject might use, and a few short essays that focus on San Diego as a "global city", demonstrating the diverse features offered by Ultius.

Final Exam: Globalization

Part I: Short Answers/Identify

1. System maintenance: System maintenance refers to the basic living utilities that a government provides for the people that live under its jurisdiction.  This can include such services as:

• Water
• Sewer
• Electricity
• Solid waste (garbage)
• Libraries 
• Education

This is important because these services are not only necessary for basic livable conditions for the people of the region, but they also provide a government with a source of revenue as well as a way to keep their respective establishments (town, city, village, etc.) tidy and orderly.

2. Localism: Localism is the ideology of keeping the workings of an area within a local setting. This means an area and its people will give preference to that which is near (or local) to them when it comes to such areas as:

• Government
• Production
• Consumption
• History
• Culture
• Identity

An example of localism at work is for a small township to elect their own government officials, of which all of born and raised in that particular area, who prioritize legislature that preferentially helps the local community. This ideology is significant for two aspects.

1. It promotes a community to be self-reliant in all of its workings.  
2. It limits the concept of fragmentation within a community.

3. Global City: A global city is one that is a command and control center of the global economy with a specified list of characteristics including:

• A larger and growing population
• Physical beauty (either natural or designed)
• Being a tourist ‘mecca’ or a place to which people will want to visit and vacation
• Possessing effective public services
• Have financial, manufacturing, commercial, and trade centers
• Own sports teams and stadiums
• Possess certain cultural aspects, which all make a global city a desirable location  

An example of a global city would be New York City, which possesses all of these traits. This type of city is significant because it serves as a central hub for the global economy as well as its nation’s economy.  

4. Feminine Space: Generically, feminine space is any location where a woman feels safe and comfortable.  Traditionally, this meant being in the home, but in today’s world, it has evolved into:

• The middle-class
• A single-family home
• Large supermarkets
• Shopping malls
• Beauty and nail parlors
• Health spas
• Pre-schools (both as a client or on the staff)
• Secretarial or administrative assistants 

Still perhaps, the most identified area labeled as ‘feminine space’ is that of the home of the individual. This concept is significant because it sheds light on the difference of gender roles and helps generate discussion of where people should feel comfortable and if they are being oppressed in their gender identity. 

5. Masculine Space: Masculine space is the area where men have traditionally congregated more commonly than women.  These types of locations can include:

• Sports stadiums
• Bars
• The corporate world
• Professional sports teams
• Certain types of professions 

Basically, masculine space can be extended anywhere outside of the home. Like feminine space, masculine space is significant for the discussion it generates. Should a man ever feel uncomfortable in a certain area, and is gender segregation permissible and if so where are just some of the important topics that can be examined and discussed when speaking of this particular term. 

Part II: Short Essays

Globalization: Globalization has been suggested as one of the solutions for combating the challenges that urban decline has presented.

Globalization, or the interdependence of world economies including the movement of information, people, money, and goods across national boundaries is a definite way to stop urban decline.  

The very nature of globalization is that of the communities of the globe coming together. Though it is not possible for different nations of the world to physically join up, in order to effectively globalize, an urban area needs to have a population that is thriving and not declining. Globalization is process that takes a joint effort from all those involved and cannot be accomplished without effort that is fits a model quite opposite of urban decline.     

Urban Decline: From a general point of view, one can argue that globalization is an effective method for dealing with urban decline because its principle suggestions counteract the challenges the urban decline possesses.

Urban decline is a process where the general population leaves a city by moving usually to the surrounding metropolitan area.  

By globalizing in the U.S., a population will have incentive to remain in the urban area because of the influx of economic production that globalization can often bring.  The same basic idea holds true with dealing with any urban pathology. When globalization is able to run its course smoothly, the generated benefits, both socially and economically, will be able to combat almost all of the urban pathologies that a city faces. This is why the process of globalization should be promoted, as it not only benefits people on a worldwide scale, but it also benefits the people on the domestic front that live in the cities that are able to globalize.

San Diego    

The city of San Diego cannot currently be labeled as a true ‘global city.’ The definition of ‘global city’ indicates that the city possesses the aforementioned attributes. Though San Diego does indeed possess many of these qualities, it misses out on one of the most important aspects of what makes a city ‘global.’  San Diego is not a command and control center of global economics and business practices.  It does not possess a major stock exchange, such as New York City or London, nor is it a major port city in the same way that Los Angeles is.  

Potential for the future

San Diego, however, could one day become a global city. It already meets many of the criteria that one usually classifies a global city as possessing, and it should be noted that global cities are not specifically built; they emerge. As the future progresses, San Diego could develop into an area with a large influence on world economics, at which point they would indeed be worthy of being called a global city. At this current time, however, the city of San Diego cannot make these claims, and therefore cannot be labeled as a global city. What it can be labeled is as a thriving city that has a real potential to become a global city under the right conditions, but in the meantime, it can be seen as one of the most beautiful, well run cities in the United States. While that may not give San Diego the same prestige as a global city, it certainly places it on the radar for a potential emerging global city of the future.