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NyLon

NyLon is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand NyLon rather than just read about it. In short: NyLon is the concept of New York City and London as twin cities—the financial, commercial, and cultural capitals of the Anglo-American world. There is a community of high-earning professionals who commute between these cities on the busy transatlantic air route.

NyLon — main illustration
NyLon — illustration

Key takeaways

  • NyLon belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect NyLon to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of NyLon from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

NyLon is the concept of New York City and London as twin cities—the financial, commercial, and cultural capitals of the Anglo-American world. There is a community of high-earning professionals who commute between these cities on the busy transatlantic air route. To satisfy the tastes of this common community, businesses such as Time Out and Conran establish branches in both cities. The magazine Nylon explicitly covers this scene with articles about the two cities.

Economics, finance & global influence New York and London are considered the economic epicenters of their respective countries, with Wall Street and Midtown Manhattan in New York, as well as the City of London and Canary Wharf in London, being among the preeminent central business districts in the world. Likewise, the NYSE and LSE are among the largest stock exchanges in the world (with NYSE being the largest). Additionally, according to the GaWC, London and New York are considered the only two Alpha++-ranked global cities in the world. The dominance of these twin cities was acknowledged by Christine Lagarde who, as French finance minister, wanted Paris to become a similar international financial centre. Other cities which are becoming city-states in the same class include Dubai and Shanghai. But since the financial crisis and following recession, there has been a decline in travel between the two cities. In 2008, news magazine Time coined the term "Nylonkong" which encompasses the cities of New York City, London, and Hong Kong as the eperopoles of the Americas, Euro-Africa, and the Asia-Pacific, respectively. The global city network is made up of numerous pairings or city dyads. When the service flows between these dyads were ranked in 2015, NyLon was first. The top 10 were:

London – New York London – Hong Kong New York – Hong Kong London – Paris London – Singapore New York – Paris New York – Singapore London – Tokyo London – Shanghai New York – Tokyo

Recreation, culture & arts Both cities are home to significant cultural centers and landmarks in their respective nations. The two of them are considered among the greatest centers for live theatre and the performing arts in the world. For example, their respective theatre districts – Broadway in New York and the West End in London – together represent the highest pinnacle of live theatre in the English-speaking world and are considered counterparts of one another. Also, both cities host many performing arts, concert, and sports venues, such as The Apollo Theatre, Madison Square Garden, Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, Barclays Center, Lincoln Center, and BAM in New York and the O2 Arena, Brixton Academy, The National Theatre, the Young Vic, the Old Vic, Shakespeare's Globe, and Barbican Arts Centre in London. Likewise, both cities host world-famous museums, such as The Met, the MoMA, the Guggenheim, the Brooklyn Museum and the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the Tate Britain, The British Museum, The National Gallery, the V&A, and the Natural History Museum in London. Both cities are considered fashion capitals and play host, respectively, to one of the "Big Four" fashion weeks: New York Fashion Week and London Fashion Week. Both also host several famous sporting events, including the U.S. Open and Wimbledon.

Parks, transportation & cityscape While London has significantly more greenspace (with 3,000 parks compared to New York's 1,700), both cities are home to some of the most famous and well-manicured parks in the world, such as Central Park, Riverside Park, Washington Square Park, Prospect Park, Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, and Pelham Bay Park in New York and Hyde Park, Regents Park, Hampstead Heath, Kensington Gardens, and Richmond Park in London. Place and neighborhood names repeat in both cities, such as Chelsea, London and Chelsea, New York; Soho, London and Soho, New York; and Kensington, London and Kensington, New York. Likewise, several areas demonstrate marked similarities, such as Times Square in New York as compared to Leicester Square or Piccadilly Circus in London. Additionally, residents of both cities rely heavily on public transportation, with the New York Subway and the London Underground being the main form of transport for New Yorkers and Londoners respectively.

See also Global citizenship Jet set NY-LON—a TV drama set in the two cities NYLON—a magazine titled by the concept Special Relationship Nylonkong

References

Illustrations

NyLon: A "telectroscope" was installed in 2008 to visually link London's Tower Bridge with New York's Brooklyn Bridge.
A "telectroscope" was installed in 2008 to visually link London's Tower Bridge with New York's Brooklyn Bridge.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with NyLon

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what NyLon claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to NyLon before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about NyLon ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of NyLon

In research
NyLon appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses NyLon in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
NyLon is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Culture in London, Culture of New York City, Diaspora studies, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for NyLon outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.
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How to study NyLon in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what NyLon means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain NyLon out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is NyLon in simple terms?

NyLon is the concept of New York City and London as twin cities—the financial, commercial, and cultural capitals of the Anglo-American world. There is a community of high-earning professionals who commute between these cities on the busy transatlantic air route.

Why does NyLon matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study NyLon?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on NyLon.

Tags

  • Culture in London
  • Culture of New York City
  • Diaspora studies
  • Economy of London
  • Economy of New York City
  • Globalism
  • Residency
  • Tourism campaigns
  • Twin cities

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