Using Sassen’s theory to explain the phenomenon of cluster

According to Sassen (1991, 1994), the theory of “global city” means that the new role of the city in the global economy and defines a city in terms of the strategy function and the connection in the world network. Sassen also mentions about the reason of the phenomenon of increasing clusters in this connected digital world. The answer is specialized function. For example, over 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies have their headquarters in New York City. A lot of these firms are not in New York and over 60 percent of their revenue in overseas sales. This is not only in terms of the design-oriented manufacturing, but also in terms of highly specialized services, such as financial, accounting, design and management consulting and so on.

Base on this theory to examine the fieldwork in Cicheng, we also can see the same situation. The local government uses the history of 1000 years and ancient architectures in this old town and also inivite specialized consultant to provide the local companies the new opportunity to created new business. They tried to integrate the local heritage and the resources of traditional industries to build up a theme economy of DIY and new brand image for both of them. A new theme cluster is constructing.