Globalization is the process of integrating industries, cultures, economies, policy making and markets around the globe. In the past, globalization usually used to focus on the economic side of the world. This involved trade, international capital flows and foreign direct investment. In recent times, the scope has been broadened to include a variety of activities and areas such as technology, socio-cultural, media, political, culture and biological factors.
Localization on the other hand refers to that process whereby a product or a service is adjusted in order to meet the functional properties of a given area. Some of the characteristics that these products are expected to meet include language, political, legal and cultural aspect. The main driver of localization is the fact that different regions usually have different expectations. Therefore, what works in one place will not necessary work elsewhere.
The concern in urban development is with how policy instruments can best be implemented to encourage sustainable urban development.
It’s clear that globalization has both positive and negative effects on the urban environment. On the one hand, globalization fosters economic growth, and consequently improves living standards. Among the negative impacts of globalization are resource exploitation. Globalization also contributes to environmental degradation. Land use and farming practices used to meet global production levels can lead to negative health effects, along with global warming.
Localization has its own set of positive and negative impacts. Since the people involved in the planning process are community conscious and want sustainability for as long as possible, these attitudes prevent exhaustion of raw materials. They also contribute to environmental protection, as it’s easier to control things like deforestation and emission of greenhouse gases through localization. But there are many negative effects of localization, as well.
Localization restricts the choice of services and goods available in the urban environment. This tends to limit the freedom of choice for members of the community. It also limits the transfer of technology from one region to another. An important side effect here is that individuals in a community become very rigid and unwilling to accept any changes in the way they do their things. This attitude contributes to slowing down general progress for the region by creating policy differences at the local and global levels. Trying to make them compatible leads to conflict. That, in turn, makes it very difficult for a region to become sustainable while operating solely on its own.
So in the end both globalization and localization have their negative sides. The best way forward is to combine both approaches. Compactly, we must think globally but act locally.