Global cities and big businesses: contours of partnership for sustainable development

Abstract

The article reveals the permanent expansion in the number of actors aimed at proper solution of the sustainable development goals, among which the largest TNCs with huge material, financial, human and other resources play a special role. The increased territorial concentration of the structures of transnational businesses gives particular weight in the global economy to individual cities that have received the name of global centers, whereas their openness to partnership with municipal authorities provides a serious foundation for sustainable development. The growing importance of studying cities in the context of globalization and the active branching of large businesses is emphasized not so much as hubs for home-based TNCs, but as localization areas for divisions of largest corporations from other countries. The scale of the presence of foreign companies in the US global cities is revealed, the main features of the industry composition and geographical structure of these companies in the country’s agglomerations are reasoned and visualized. The ambiguity of the modern approach of TNCs in supporting cities sustainable development goals is considered. Sustainability agenda is significant for the success and business reputation of companies but often perceived as a source of financial costs. Based on an analysis of the data of The US Cities Sustainable Development Goals Report, the Forbes 2000 ranking and the official websites of leading TNCs, a number of methods are used to test the hypothesis on the degree and nature of the impact of big businesses, represented by home-based TNCs and branches of foreign companies, on sustainability of the US global cities. It has been determined that global cities have a number of common problems and have not yet achieved sustainable development goals; there is no direct correlation between the success of their implementation and the status of cities in the global ranking, and both local and foreign businesses take a very modest part in this process. A radical and massive change in business strategies can provide a breakthrough in sustainable development of cities and the country.

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