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世纪最重要的特色是城市的崛起。全世界可能还在纠结于“中国世纪”是否将取代“美国世纪”。但真正的取代不是发生在国家之间——而是发生在它们的城市中心。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.
在人类历史上，城市居民人数首次超过了农村居民人数。到2050年，有65亿人将在城市生活工作，占总人口三分之二，而1950年时这个数字还不足10亿。
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.
但并非所有城市都一样。在商业、艺术和教育方面领先的全球性城市(Global city)将超越其他城市，它们的视野、雄心和影响力不仅将影响全球经济，还将影响全世界的思想、文化、政策和未来。
Big and connected, they transcend borders and disrupt international agendas. They are magnets for business, people, money and innovation.
全球性城市的庞大规模以及连通性，使它们超越了国界，也影响了国际议程，它们像磁铁一样吸引着商业、人力、资金和创新力。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.
现如今，当我们谈论非国家行为体时，我们往往会想到恐怖组织，比如基地组织和“伊拉克和黎凡特伊斯兰国”(ISIS)，或像苹果(Apple)、英国石油(BP)这样的全球性企业。但是，具备超越国家的真实力量的是城市。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.
实际上，当今的国际政治正开始像中世纪城市的汉萨同盟(Hanseatic League)，全球性中心城市的贸易方式，以及它们协力解决共同问题的方式，是大国无法办到的。全球性城市虽然没有主权，但越来越独立，它们正在推动能够引起更广泛改变的政策。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.
全球性城市推动着世界经济发展。全球前600大城市占全球GDP总和的60%以上。前20大城市是全世界三分之一大型企业的总部所在地，这些企业的收入占全球大企业总收入的近一半。在人口规模、经济活力以及企业总部数量上，东京均首屈一指，领先于纽约、伦敦和巴黎。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.
城市的面积仅占地球表面百分之二，但消耗全球78%的能源，温室气体排放量占全球60%。不过当各国还在争论如何应对气候变化时，全球最大、最重要的城市正团结起来共同采取行动。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便是它们的一项努力成果。这是一个由75个主要城市组成的集团，负责收集和交换数据，以便采取具体行动应对气候变化。从节能路灯到改善公共交通，大城市正从多种途径对全球变暖作出真正改变。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.
城市也越来越追求自己的外交政策。上海有自己的外事办公室，而圣保罗已经与几十个国家建立起外交关系，这些国家与首都巴西利亚的外交交涉反而不如与圣保罗的多。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，如伦敦、东京和巴黎等都是本国政府外交政策中不可或缺的一部分。但对于那些不是国家政府所在地的全球性城市来说，比如芝加哥或上海，则越来越需要形成自己的外交政策，通过协调其企业、顶尖学术中心、文化机构和民间团体的国际参与，让城市及其市民能整体受益。更大的战略方向，更多的合作，以及在此类国际参与上更好的协调，这些综合起来就相当于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.
总之，全球性城市正日益推动经济、政治、社会和文化方面的全球事务。它们不再仅是居住地，它们已经成为国际舞台上的主要角色。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务委员会(Chicago Council on Global Affairs)主席，该委员会近日与英国《金融时报》共同主办“芝加哥全球性城市论坛”(Chicago Forum on Global Cities)。