Nylonkong, a contraction of New York–London–Hong Kong, is a

neologism A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...

coined to link

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

as the

ecumenopolis Ecumenopolis (from el, οἰκουμένη ''oecumene'' 'world', and ''polis'' 'city', thus 'a world city'; plural ''ecumenopolises'' or ''ecumenopoleis'') is the hypothetical concept of a planetwide city. Description The word was invented in ...

of the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

, Euro-Africa, and

Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Isla ...

that first appeared in the magazine ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' in 2008. The article suggests that the cities share similarities, especially in being globalised financial and cultural centres, and are the most remarkable cities in the 21st century.

History

Nylonkong, from ''NY'' (

), ''Lon'' (

), and ''Kong'' (

) first appeared in ''

'' article ''A Tale of Three Cities'' in 2008. According to ''Time'', these cities share similarities in cultural and economic establishments. They are influential in cultural industries, including art auctions,

movies A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

, and

pop songs Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...

. In addition, the cities are top international

financial centre A financial centre ( BE), financial center ( AE), or financial hub, is a location with a concentration of participants in banking, asset management, insurance or financial markets with venues and supporting services for these activities to ta ...

s located in different

time zones Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

. ''Time'' further described the cities as the three most remarkable international cities in the 21st century, and one could better understand the world through understanding Nylonkong.

Financial Development Index The World Economic Forum publishes a Financial Development Index annually, which measures and analyses the factors enabling the development of financial systems among different economies An economy is an area of the production, distribution and ...

ranks Hong Kong, USA, and UK as the first to third places of the table, accordingly.

Influence

An extended range of responses was observed in media and academia after the term was coined, such as in the Mingpao Daily. The term was first quoted in academia by Yin Pak Andrew Lau in the Liberal Studies Youth Summit on Basic Law, and

Sing Tao Daily The ''Sing Tao Daily'' () (also known as ''Sing Tao Jih Pao'') is Hong Kong's oldest and second-largest Chinese language newspaper. It is owned by Sing Tao News Corporation, of which Kwok Ying-shing () is chairman. Its English language sister p ...

suggested that the term is a profound sign of globalization. The influence is substantial and long-lasting, and has imposed a constant check on the achievement of the three financial hubs. In 2016,

Lam Hang-chi Lam or LAM may refer to: Organizations * Laguna Art Museum, California, US * Lam Eng Rubber, a Malaysian manufacturer * Lam Research, American semiconductor equipment company * LAM Mozambique Airlines, flag carrier airline of Mozambique * Librar ...

, an economist, for example, suggested that Nylonkong would fade out if the financial hubs were not constantly competitive. In late 2016,

Tai Kung Pao ''Ta Kung Pao'' (; formerly ''L'Impartial'') is the oldest active Chinese language newspaper in China. Founded in Tianjin in 1902, the paper is state-owned, controlled by the Liaison Office of the Central Government after the Chinese Civil War ...

suggested that Hong Kong should not compare itself with New York and London, as the Asian financial center is politically and socially autonomous when compared to the other two, which were only cities; the passage further argues that the autonomous entity of Hong Kong requires more diversified economic development like other

Four Asian Tigers The Four Asian Tigers (also known as the Four Asian Dragons or Four Little Dragons in Chinese and Korean) are the developed East Asian economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. Between the early 1960s and 1990s, they underwent ra ...

economies.

References

{{Reflist Time (magazine) − Culture of New York City Culture in London Culture of Hong Kong 2008 neologisms

History

Influence

See also

References