GLOBAL CITIES (6 Programs)
The globalization of the world's economy has brought with it the largest movement of people in history. Everywhere millions are on their way to something new - no wall or barrier is strong enough to stop migrants as they cross international borders on a journey to where the action is - the GLOBAL CITIES.
The six 30-minute programs in the series are:
TORONTO: A World in a City
More than half of Toronto's 4.5 million inhabitants were born outside of Canada. This program shows that as we enter the age of globalization, Toronto is a guide for the shape of things to come. Viewers discover that while other global cities are struggling to deal with a newly arrived ethnically and culturally diverse workforce, Toronto is already the most multicultural city in the world. But there are critics who claim multiculturalism is promoting too much diversity at the expense of unity and is driving a wedge between Torontonians of different ethnic backgrounds. This program investigates claims that multiculturalism is not really working, claims of intercultural racism, claims of an undercurrent war between Toronto's tolerant policy on homosexual rights and religious zealots of all stripes, claims of a labor market where professionals from other countries find it difficult to access jobs, claims of the appearance of ethnic ghettos where newcomers find themselves at the bottom of the socio-economic scale.
FRANKFURT: The Euro City
Frankfurt is the German city with the largest foreign population. One out of every three inhabitants is foreign-born. This video examines how Frankfurt is responding to the challenge of incorporating an ethnically and culturally diverse workforce into the fabric of the city. It shows how attitudes to immigration are changing as Frankfurt switches from an old industrial economy to a new technology-driven economy and the resulting labor shortage. Viewers learn that there is resistance to this change on the part of some Germans and how immigrants of different religions, cultures and colors feel about being in Germany. It shows Germany's zero growth immigration policy of the last quarter century has only encouraged the business of smuggling illegal immigrants, while leaving cities such as Frankfurt with a critical shortage of unskilled labor.
LONDON: The Imperial City
Although no longer the capital of an empire that rules the world, London retains its power and importance as a global city. This program shows that, as it has done for centuries, London still attracts entrepreneurs like a magnet, and with globalization it is also attracting thousands of foreign migrants in search of good wages, a better future for their children or freedom. But for the economic migrants of the age of globallization, London can be a city full of risks and hardship.
NEW YORK: The World's City
This program shows that the latest ingredients - much spicier immigrants - Latinos, Asians, Indians, Africans - are proving slow to melt in the American pot. It documents how their efforts to maintain a bit of home is profoundly changing the cultural identity of New York City. This journey of discovery will follow the route of the N.7 subway line: Manhattan to Flushing. The train stops with maddening frequency, every few blocks, yet each station brings a new and distinct ethnic experience. In these ethnic enclaves New York has abandoned its melting pot function. Nobody even tries to Americanize the new Americans in the age of globalization.
TOKYO: The Neon City
Tokyo is not escaping the worldwide effects of the greatest movement of people in history. This program documents how Tokyo is attempting to open its labor market to foreign migrants without appearing to do so. It looks at elaborate licensing systems, ostensibly to regulate migration, but actually designed to keep foreign migrants at the bottom of the labor market. It takes viewers inside the lives of foreign migrants to find out where they fit in Tokyo's plans to remain the leading Asian metropolis in the age of globalization.
MEXICO CITY: The Impossible City
Mexico City is an urgent, overcrowded global city. The most populated metropolis in the world, 20 million people call Mexico City home. This is a city of contrasts; the high-tech world of globalization, and a world of slums and open air markets. As opposed to other global cities, where migrants come from foreign countries, the face of Mexico City is being changed by millions of Indian peasant migrants who come from the rural regions in Mexico.
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