A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Misc
Global city A
global city and
world city , or
world-class city , is a
city that has a direct and tangible effect on global affairs through socioeconomic,
cultural , and/or
political means. In recent years, the term has become increasingly familiar, because of the rise of
globalization (i.e., global
finance ,
communications , and
travel ). The term "global city", as opposed to
megacity , was first coined by
Saskia Sassen in a seminal 1991 work.
Though defining a global city must be partially subjective, these cities are generally seen as sharing the following characteristics:
* International, first-name familiarity; one would say "
Paris ", not "Paris,
France ", and likewise although there are numerous cities and other political entities with the name
Paris or variations on it, if one says "Paris" without giving any country or political subdivision, it is assumed that Paris, France is being referred to. Similar situations exist for other global cities such as
London and
Tokyo .
* Active influence and participation in international events and world affairs; for example,
New York City is home to the
United Nations headquarters complex and consequently contains a vast majority of the permanent missions to the UN
PERMANENT MISSIONS TO THE UNITED NATIONS , UN .
* A fairly large population (the center of a
metropolitan area with a population of at least one million, typically several million).
* A major international
airport (for example, London
Heathrow Airport ) that serves as an established hub for several international
airline s.
* An advanced transportation system that includes several
freeway s and/or a large
mass transit network offering multiple modes of transportation (
rapid transit ,
light rail ,
regional rail ,
ferry , or
bus ).
* In
the West , several international cultures and communities (such as a
Chinatown , a
Little Italy , or other
immigrant communities). In other parts of the world, cities which attract large foreign businesses and related expatriate communities; for example,
Singapore ,
Shanghai ,
Hong Kong ,
Tokyo , and
Moscow .
* International
financial institution s,
law firm s,
corporate headquarters (especially
conglomerates ), and
stock exchange s (for example the
New York Stock Exchange ,
Bourse de Paris ,
Tokyo Stock Exchange ,
NASDAQ and the
London Stock Exchange ) that have influence over the world
economy .
* An advanced communications infrastructure on which modern
trans-national corporations rely, such as
fiberoptics ,
Wi-Fi networks,
cellular phone services, and other high-speed lines of communications. For example,
Taipei is the very first Wi-Fi city in the world.
* World-renowned cultural institutions, such as
museum s and
universities .
* A lively cultural scene, including
film festival s (for example the
Toronto International Film Festival ), premieres, a thriving
music or
theatre scene (for example,
Broadway and
West End theatre); an orchestra, an
opera company ,
art galleries , and street performers.
* Several powerful and influential media outlets with an international reach, such as the
BBC ,
Associated Press ,
The New York Times ,
Le Monde ,
Agence France-Presse , and
Reuters .
* A strong
sport ing community, including major sports facilities, home teams in major league sports, and the ability and historical experience to host international sporting events such as the
Olympic Games ,
Football World Cup or
Grand Slam tennis events.
In
the Western view ,
London ,
New York City ,
Paris , and
Tokyo have been traditionally considered the 'big four' world cities – not coincidentally, they also serve as symbols of global
capitalism . However, many people have their own personal lists, and any two lists are likely to differ based on cultural background, values, and experience.
In certain
developed countries , the rise of
suburb ia and the ongoing migration of
manufacturing jobs to
developing countries has led to significant
urban decay . Therefore, to boost
urban regeneration ,
tourism , and revenue, the goal of building a "world-class" city has recently become an obsession with the governments of some mid-size cities and their constituents.
The phenomenon of world-city building has also been observed in
Buenos Aires ,
Frankfurt ,
Sydney ,
Mexico City and
Toronto : each of these cities has emerged as large and influential.
An attempt to define and categorise world cities was made in 1999 by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network (GaWC), based primarily at
Loughborough University in
Loughborough ,
Leicestershire ,
England . The roster was outlined in the GaWC Research Bulletin 5
GaWC Research Bulletin 5 , GaWC, Loughborough University , 28 July 1999 and ranked cities based on provision of "advanced producer services" such as accountancy, advertising, finance and law, by international corporations. The GaWC inventory identifies three levels of world cities and several sub-ranks.
Note that this roster generally denotes cities in which there are offices of certain multinational companies providing financial and consulting services rather than other cultural, political, and economic centres. There is a schematic map of GaWC cities at their website.
The World According to GaWC , GaWC, Loughborough University Alpha world cities (full service world cities) * 12 points:
London ,
New York ,
Paris ,
Tokyo * 10 points:
Chicago ,
Frankfurt ,
Hong Kong ,
Milan ,
Los Angeles ,
Singapore ** Refer to Official GaWC List.
Inventory of World Cities , GaWC, Loughborough University Beta world cities (major world cities) * 9 points:
San Francisco ,
Sydney ,
Toronto ,
Zürich * 8 points:
Brussels ,
Madrid ,
Mexico City ,
São Paulo * 7 points:
Moscow ,
Seoul Gamma world cities (minor world cities) * 6 points:
Amsterdam ,
Boston ,
Caracas ,
Dallas ,
Düsseldorf ,
Geneva ,
Houston ,
Jakarta ,
Johannesburg ,
Melbourne ,
Osaka ,
Prague ,
Santiago ,
Taipei ,
Washington * 5 points:
Bangkok ,
Beijing ,
Montreal ,
Rome ,
Stockholm ,
Warsaw * 4 points:
Atlanta ,
Barcelona ,
Berlin ,
Budapest ,
Buenos Aires ,
Copenhagen ,
Hamburg ,
Istanbul ,
Kuala Lumpur ,
Manila ,
Miami ,
Minneapolis ,
Munich ,
Shanghai Evidence of world city formation Strong evidence * 3 points:
Antwerp ,
Athens ,
Auckland ,
Edmonton ,
Dublin ,
Helsinki ,
Luxembourg ,
Lyon ,
Mumbai ,
New Delhi ,
Philadelphia ,
Rio de Janeiro ,
Dubai ,
Vienna Some evidence * 2 points:
Abu Dhabi ,
Almaty ,
Birmingham (UK),
Bogotá ,
Bratislava ,
Brisbane ,
Bucharest ,
Cairo ,
Cleveland ,
Cologne ,
Detroit ,
Algiers ,
Ho Chi Minh City ,
Kiev ,
Lima ,
Lisbon ,
Manchester ,
Montevideo ,
Oslo ,
Riyadh ,
Rotterdam ,
Seattle ,
Stuttgart ,
The Hague ,
Vancouver Minimal evidence * 1 point:
Adelaide ,
Aarhus ,
Baltimore ,
Bangalore ,
Bologna ,
BrasÃlia ,
Cape Town ,
Colombo ,
Columbus ,
Dresden ,
Edinburgh ,
Genoa ,
Glasgow ,
Gothenburg ,
Guangzhou ,
Hanoi ,
Kansas City ,
Leeds ,
Lille ,
Marseille ,
Richmond ,
St. Petersburg ,
Tashkent ,
Tehran ,
Tijuana ,
Turin ,
Utrecht ,
Wellington An attempt to redefine and recategorise leading world cities was made also by GaWC in 2004.
This ranking list is referred to as the Official GaWC List.
Leading World Cities , GaWC, Loughborough University Global Cities Well rounded global cities :1. Very large contribution:
London and
New York City .:Smaller contribution and with cultural bias:
Los Angeles ,
Paris ,
San Francisco , and
Toronto .:2. Incipient global cities:
Amsterdam ,
Boston ,
Chicago ,
Madrid ,
Milan , and
Moscow .
Global niche cities - specialised global contributions :1. Economic:
Hong Kong ,
Singapore , and
Tokyo .:2. Political and social:
Brussels ,
Geneva , and
Washington .
World Cities Subnet articulator cities :1. Cultural:
Berlin ,
Copenhagen ,
Melbourne ,
Munich ,
Oslo ,
Rome ,
Stockholm .:2.Political:
Bangkok ,
Beijing ,
Vienna .:3. Social:
Manila ,
Nairobi ,
Ottawa .
Worldwide leading cities :1. Primarily economic global contributions:
Frankfurt ,
Miami ,
Munich ,
Osaka ,
Singapore ,
Sydney ,
Zurich :2. Primarily non-economic global contributions:
Abidjan ,
Addis Ababa ,
Atlanta ,
Basle ,
Barcelona ,
Cairo ,
Denver ,
Harare ,
Lyon ,
Manila ,
Mexico City ,
Mumbai ,
New Delhi ,
Shanghai This conference
2006 Global Cities Conference took place at
Liverpool Hope University , starting on
29 June 2006 and chaired by Dr. Lawrence Phillips of the Global Cities Conference at the university. Its aim was to establish what is meant by a 'global city', by examining criteria such as images, narratives, economics, planning and people's experiences. It also looked at whether the perceived 'big four' â€" London, Paris, New York, and Tokyo â€" are in fact the only candidates for global city status, or if they should in fact be joined by fast-growing cities in
Asia or the
developing world .
The GaWC list is based on specific criteria and, thus, may not include other cities of global significance or elsewhere on the spectrum. For example, cities with the following:
*Large populations, proper and agglomerated Chapter 5: Globalization and cultural choice , "2004 Human Development Report " (page 99), UNDP Chapter 9: Urban Data , "World Ressources 1998-99", WRI City Profiles , UN Mobility 2001 , WBCSD WORLD URBANIZATION PROSPECTS: THE 2003 REVISION , UN Urban Characteristics,City Level, 1993 , "World Ressources 1998-99", WRI GDP Global Urban Indicators Database 2 (1998 data) , UN-HABITAT Stock market indicesWorld Indices , Bloomberg market capitalisation Headquarter s for multinational corporation s[J.V. Beaverstock, ]World City Networks 'From Below' , GaWC, Loughborough University , 29 September 2005; e.g., banks , accountancy World-wide quality of living survey , Mercer , 10 April 2006 The city development index , "THE STATE OF THE WORLD'S CITIES REPORT 2001", UN-HABITAT , 21 June 2006 2005 worldwide cost of living survey results released , Mercer , 20 June 2005 The World's Billionaires , Forbes , 2005 Airport s with significant passenger traffic Mapping the Global Network Economy on the Basis of Air Passenger Transport Flows , GaWC, Loughborough University , 8 December 2004cargo movements Extensive and popularEstimated Ridership of the World's Largest Public Transit Systems, 1998 mass transit systemsCOMMUTER RAIL (SUBURBAN RAIL, REGIONAL RAIL) IN THE UNITED STATES: INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT , October 2003 Traffic Intensity by International Urban Area: 1990 Largest seaports of the world *Significant technological capabilities/infrastructure:The World's Best Skylines [[]1 ] (registration required) international student attendance[K. O'Connor, ]International Students and Global Cities , GaWC, Loughborough University , 17 February 2005world religions international organization sUNESCO World Heritage Site s of historical and cultural significanceWorld Heritage List , UNESCO ''Notable museums and galleries Notable opera Notable orchestra sfilm centres and film festival ssports events ; e.g., Olympic Games sites[P. De Groote, ]Economic and Tourism Aspects of the Olympic Games , GaWC, Loughborough University , 21 September 2005
Table of the cities of the world For selected criteria *
List of most expensive cities *
Metropolis *
Megalopolis
*
"U.S. Cities in the 'World City Network'" , by Peter J. Taylor and Robert E. Lang, February 2005 (
Full Report in PDF )
*
Repository of Links Relating to Urban Places *
World Cities article by Jennifer Curtis of Charles Sturt University
*
The World-System's City System: A Research Agenda by Jeffrey Kentor and Michael Timberlake of the University of Utah and David Smith of University of California, Irvine
*
The State of the World's Cities, 2001 , UN Human Settlements Programme
