Mises Wire

Are Cities the New Countries?

Are Cities the New Countries?

The BBC News Magazine asks if the nation state is under threat from the rise of the super-city? The author seems to hope against this decentralization as he clings to his nationalist sentiment. But, at least he is willing to ask the question.

Sociology Professor Richard Sennett at the London School of Economics is one academic that has recognized the changing relationship between cities and the countries they are in.

"The most important place to London is New York and to New York is London and Tokyo," Dr. Sennett states. "London belongs to a country composed of itself and New York."

London Mayor Ken Livingstone was recently quoted as saying "...I think anything short of a fully independent city state is a lost opportunity, with its own foreign and defence policies thrown in."

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