National Borders Fading: City States Make a Comeback

“They’re regional power blocks, a lot of the much smaller units have been swallowed up by the larger ones and have become more viable states for that reason” continues Nighman. So the future city state would in fact be larger than the city itself. With small regional power blocks there is no need for a national government. Instead, a supra national organization to oversee the economy would take the place of a national government. As Nighman pointed out, the small regional power blocks would be able to govern themselves as well.

Moreover, the small scale territories would allow for the government machine to be quick and efficient in gathering information and implementing policy. It is simple really, the smaller number of people in a given jurisdiction, the easier it will be to set policies that are mutually beneficial for everyone. Today Singapore and Hong Kong are some of the most successful and reputable cities in the world to do business within. Singapore is a true city state whereas Hong Kong has special autonomous privileges from mainland China. Danielle Goldfarb, Associate Director of the Global Commerce Centre at the Conference Board of Canada, discusses these two cities and the success they have had due to their size. “It’s much easier for them to make economic policies, both those cities have been examples of very successful economic policies, because whereas India, an amazing growth story but is now kind of hung up by a lot of political uncertainty.” Both the cities and India have and are continuing to cash in on their economic potential, but the sheer size of India and all of its constituents makes governance more difficult, but far from impossible.

Not only are city states progressive and well-rounded in their demographics, they are more or less free from overbearing national governments. There were certainly figures like Genghis Khan who made his power felt over much of Asia in the early thirteenth century, but their interference with the daily activities within independent cities remained minimal, so long as its inhabitants were not hostile. This level of laissez-faire intervention also lent the city states a great deal of freedom in carrying on with their unique modes of operation. Another pay off to having a small region to govern, is that there are less variables to consider than on a national scale that encompasses many cities.

City States Today

While the nation state dominates the political theatre in the twenty first century, there are still city states that thrive, such as Singapore and Hong Kong. Although not plentiful, city states are still capable of living up to their reputations set in centuries past. A recent study done by the Asia-Pacific based business strategy firm Solidiance, suggests that the rise of the ‘new city state’ is upon us. The study ranked the top sixteen innovative cities in the Asia-Pacific region with six criteria; human talent, knowledge creation, technology, society, government, and global integration. Of the top five on the list, Singapore and Hong Kong are in 1^st and 4^th places respectively.

Damien Duhamel, managing partner and author of the study, suggests that comparing the innovativeness of cities as opposed to their respective nations is a far more accurate indicator of the city’s overall health and viability as a place to do business. Duhamel believes that “Competition is no longer at a country level but rather, at a city level. This refers to competition for the best things: jobs, talent, education, lifestyle, R&D, business environment, sustainable urban hub, etc.” This lends credence to the argument that national borders are becoming faded and playing less of a role in determining a city’s economic success.