Global Cities

Right time, right place

Tate Modern's massive Turbine Hall is an impressive but pretty daunting place to fill. The Global Cities exhibition is right at home though, thanks to the enormity of its subject matter. Focusing on the exponential growth of major cities, it questions the implications for the planet and those living on it.

A century ago only 10% of the world's population lived in cities. Today that figure is over 50%, with predictions of 75% by 2050. So how will we cope? One out of three city dwellers already lives in poverty – will we just see more? Cities also produce 75% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions, a figure we need to reduce not just allow to increase.

Garry Otte
Al Azhar Park, Cairo
© Courtesy Aga Khan Trust for Culture

London life

At a time when we are becoming increasingly aware of our impact on the environment, we're invited to examine what's happening on a grand scale. Look how London is faring in comparison to: Los Angeles, Mumbai, Sao Paulo and Tokyo. This is particularly timely as London examines the state of its infrastructure in the run up to 2012.

Anyone coming up to London for the exhibition and cursing how busy the city is should ponder on one of the exhibition's key facts. London has an average of just 4,700 people per square km; compared to Mumbai's 34,000 per square km. Likewise, London has around 50 times the green space of Cairo. Certainly food for thought! The huge aerial shot of London, think opening sequence of Eastenders on a mega scale, demonstrates the similarities and differences between cities perfectly.

Mixed mediums

Let's be clear that this isn't primarily a photography exhibition. Yes it has a great collection of impressive aerial photography and thought provoking images of city life. It's a real mixture of mediums though including: video installations, models, architectural drawings and not least some truly shocking statistics.

Francesco Jodice
Aerial view, Tokyo
© Francesco Jodice

Highlights include a serious film on the lack of sanitation in Mumbai, cleverly entitled Q2P. Plus Osman Bozhurt's film about families in Istanbul, risking their lives to enjoy a picnic on the only bit of grassland they can find.

Favourite photos

On the photo front Andreas Gursky offers a couple of great shots. Firstly of Copan, a vast modernist building in Sao Paulo where tenants appear to fight against a feeling of insignificance by stamping their identity on their homes with a technicolour display of different window dressings. His shot of the Los Angeles skyline at night, where the street lights give an ethereal glow, also has a strong wow factor.

Andreas Gursky
Los Angeles 1999
© Courtesy Monika Spruth Philomene Magers, Cologne Munich London

To sum up - don't go expecting wall to wall images. Instead immerse yourself in the exhibition's important message, as it's one we can't afford to ignore. For some light-heartedness amongst such hard hitting facts check out Nigel Coates' Mixtacity model. It depicts his take on the Thames Gateway, including a stack of bourbon biscuits representing the Canary Wharf tower!

Runs until 27th August 2007
Admission free
See website for further details