“All great global cities are melting pots,” Khanna told MIPIM attendees. (Photo: D'Halloy/I&Co.)

CANNES, FRANCE—“We are in the midst of an accelerating global connectivity revolution,`' keynote speaker Dr. Parag Khanna told a MIPIM 2017 audience on Tuesday. Titled “How Connectivity is Reshaping Global Affairs,” Khanna's presentation encouraged attendees at the world's largest property market to focus on the infrastructure of connectivity—transportation, energy and communication—with a view toward the ways in which the global economy is breaking down walls between countries and regions rather than putting them up. He noted that in 1989, the same year that the Berlin Wall came down, the World Wide Web was launched.

“Every day, I hear that globalization is in retreat,' said Khanna, bestselling author, CNN global correspondent and founder of consulting firm Hybrid Reality Pte. Ltd. “I see the exact opposite happening.” It's a continuation of a process that has been underway for the past 60,000 years of human history, he said.

For one thing, he pointed out, “Trade relations are expanding across every single continent.” China is now the leading trading partner for twice as many countries as the US, he said, while on a global basis trade is not shrinking but optimizing, notwithstanding such near-term hurdles as the protectionist policies that the Trump administration intends to implement.

In order for this revolution of connectivity to continue, though, investment in the infrastructure must increase, Khanna said. Fortunately, he told the MIPIM audience, “The economic stars are aligned”' for such investment to continue. Already, the annual global expenditure for building infrastructure—which today encompasses everything from high-speed rail to the `internet of things—exceeds the combined defense spending of all the world's military forces.

And as connectivity increases, “walls are coming down” in many parts of the world, said Khanna. People are gravitating toward urban clusters and regions that have made and continue to make high investment in infrastructure.

Mega-cities across the globe will be home to as much as 10% of the world's population by 2030, Khanna said. He showed attendees a map of such mega-cities, telling them that this was the only world map they really needed. For everyone in the auditorium, he said, the question was, “Are you in these places or are you not?”

And while many urban centers across the globe would like to make the claim, Khanna said there are really only eight global cities at present, based on their robust flows of goods, services, capital, people and data. They're New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, Dubai, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore.

All have gotten there, Khanna said, because they have invested in connectivity, via both the private and public sectors. They're also becoming increasingly diverse culturally, he noted. “All great global cities are melting pots.”

The Eurasia region is young and growing rapidly, Khanna pointed out. It's also home to about two-thirds of the world's population. “This is the single biggest geopolitical story of the 21st century, and ultimately it's about connectivity.”

And whether or not they fit Khanna's definition of a truly global city, there are 40 to 50 cities worldwide that realize that their economies depend on connectivity. “They don't see the world as a zero-sum chess board,” said Khanna.