Tingting CHENG, Kyushu University, Japan
Information power is a new phenomenon and geopolitical theory following sea power, land power, air power and space power. This theory was developed in the 1990s as the emergence of information capitalism, in which the competition of information power has become the key to gain competitive advantages over other cities and reshape the spatial pattern of global wealth. Cities, where the concentration of information infrastructure and the agglomeration of professional information tend to happen in, have become key actors of information power competition, reshaping the competitive advantages of cities and the global urban system. This paper therefore tries to interpret the new concept of information power, and further through empirical analysis of China's urban system to provide a reference for future relevant studies.
Firstly, this paper defines information power as the ability of actors to exert influence on other actors with the information resources they own. Cities can improve their competitiveness and position in the global economy through information power. Secondly, the empirical research is carried out to build an indicator system of information power and examine information power of 50 smart cities in China. By comparing with the existing urban system research, it can be found that Hangzhou and Nanjing rise to the same level as traditional first-tier cities like Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, while some traditional major cities like Tianjin have significantly lower information power ranking than their urban competitiveness ranking. Finally, based on the above results, this paper selects Hangzhou to carry out an empirical case study to discuss how political, market, social and other actors can actively enhance the information power of the city, and on this basis, putting forward relevant policy suggestions for urban development.
Keywords: Information Power|Geopolitics|Urban System|China|Hangzhou
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