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A global city (also called world city or sometimes alpha city or world center) is a city generally considered to be an important node in the global economic system. The concept comes from geography and urban studies and rests on the idea that globalization can be understood as largely created, facilitated, and enacted in strategic geographic locales according to a hierarchy of importance to the operation of the global system of finance and trade.

The most complex of these entities is the "global city", whereby the linkages binding a city have a direct and tangible effect on global affairs through socio-economic means. The use of "global city", as opposed to "megacity", was popularized by sociologist Saskia Sassen in her 1991 work, The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo though the term "world city" to describe cities that control a disproportionate amount of global business dates to at least the May 1886 description of Liverpool by The Illustrated London News. Patrick Geddes also used the term "world city" later in 1915. Cities can also fall from such categorization, as in the case of cities that have become less cosmopolitan and less internationally renowned in the current era.

Criteria

Global city status is considered to be beneficial and desired, and because of this many groups have tried to classify and rank which cities are seen as world cities or non-world cities. Although there is a consensus upon leading world cities, the criteria upon which a classification is made can affect which other cities are included. The criteria for identification tend either to be based on a yardstick value (e.g., if the producer-service sector is the largest sector then city X is a world city) or on an imminent determination (if the producer-service sector of city X is greater than the combined producer-service sectors of N other cities then city X is a world city.)

Economic characteristics

• Provide a variety of international financial services, notably in the FIRE industries, banking, accountancy, and marketing

Cultural characteristics

• Educational institutions; e.g., renowned universities, international student attendance, research facilities

Studies

GaWC study

The first attempt to define, categorize and rank global cities using relational data was made in 1998 by Jon Beaverstock, Richard G. Smith and Peter J. Taylor, who all worked at the time at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom. Together, Beaverstock, Smith and Taylor established the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. A roster of world cities was outlined in the GaWC Research Bulletin 5 and ranked cities based on their connectivity through four "advanced producer services": accountancy, advertising, banking/finance, and law. The GaWC inventory identifies three levels of global cities and several sub-ranks.

The 2004 rankings acknowledged several new indicators while continuing to rank city economics more heavily than political or cultural factors. The 2008 roster, similar to the 1998 version, is sorted into categories of "Alpha" world cities (with four sub-categories), "Beta" world cities (three sub-categories), "Gamma" world cities (three sub-categories) and additional cities with "High sufficiency" or "Sufficiency" presence. The following is a general guide to the rankings:

• Alpha++ cities are New York City and London, which are vastly more integrated with the global economy than any other cities.
• Alpha+ cities complement New York City and London by filling advanced service niches for the global economy.
• Alpha & Alpha- cities are cities that link major economic regions into the world economy.
• Beta level cities are cities that link moderate economic regions into the world economy.
• Gamma level cities are cities that link smaller economic regions into the world economy.
• Sufficiency level cities are cities that have a sufficient degree of services so as to not be obviously dependent on world cities.

Currently, the latest rankings are for 2012.

Global Cities Index

In 2008, the American journal Foreign Policy, in conjunction with the Chicago-based consulting firm A.T. Kearney and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, published a ranking of global cities, based on consultation with Saskia Sassen, Witold Rybczynski, and others. Foreign Policy noted that "the world’s biggest, most interconnected cities help set global agendas, weather transnational dangers, and serve as the hubs of global integration. They are the engines of growth for their countries and the gateways to the resources of their regions." The ranking was updated in 2010 and 2012.

#1 New York#2 London
#3 Paris#4 Tokyo#5 Hong Kong#6 Los Angeles#7 Chicago#8 Seoul#9 Brussels
#10 Washington, D.C.class=notpageimage| Top ten global cities

Rank 2012	Change	City	Rating
1		New York City	6.35
2		London	5.79
3	1	Paris	5.48
4	1	Tokyo	4.99
5		Hong Kong	4.56
6	1	Los Angeles	3.94
7	1	Chicago	3.66
8	2	Seoul	3.41
9	2	Brussels	3.33
10	3	Washington, D.C.	3.22
11	3	Singapore	3.20
12	3	Sydney	3.13
13	5	Vienna	3.11
14	1	Beijing	3.05
15	4	Boston	2.94
16	2	Toronto	2.92
17	5	San Francisco	2.89
18	1	Madrid	2.80
19	6	Moscow	2.77
20	4	Berlin	2.76
21		Shanghai	2.73
22		Buenos Aires	2.71
23	3	Frankfurt	2.69
24	2	Barcelona	2.59
25	1	Zürich	2.53

Rank 2012	Change	City	Rating
26	3	Amsterdam	2.45
27	4	Stockholm	2.43
28		Rome	2.36
29	2	Dubai	2.32
30	1	Montreal	2.32
31	2	Munich	2.31
32	NA	Melbourne	2.25
33	2	São Paulo	2.19
34	4	Mexico City	2.18
35	3	Geneva	2.13
36	2	Miami	2.13
37	4	Istanbul	2.10
38		Houston	2.08
39	1	Atlanta	2.06
40	1	Taipei	2.05
41	1	Milan	2.01
42	5	Copenhagen	1.99
43	7	Bangkok	1.93
44		Dublin	1.82
45	1	Mumbai	1.79
46	4	Tel Aviv	1.69
47		Osaka	1.57
48	3	New Delhi	1.55
49	1	Kuala Lumpur	1.49
50	7	Cairo	1.49

Rank 2012	Change	City	Rating
51		Manila	1.49
52		Johannesburg	1.48
53	4	Rio de Janeiro	1.31
54	1	Jakarta	1.30
55	1	Bogota	1.17
56		Nairobi	0.98
57	2	Caracas	0.89
58		Bangalore	0.85
59		Lagos	0.84
60	3	Guangzhou	0.82
61		Ho Chi Minh City	0.72
62	2	Karachi	0.66
63	1	Dhaka	0.65
64	1	Kolkata	0.63
65	3	Shenzhen	0.62
66	1	Chongqing	0.25

Global Economic Power Index

In 2012, the first Global Economic Power Index, a "survey of the surveys" written by Richard Florida, was published by The Atlantic (to be differentiated from a namesake list published by the Martin Prosperity Institute), with cities ranked according to criteria reflecting their presence on similar lists as published by other entities:

Rank	City	Score
1	New York City	48
2	London	43
3	Tokyo	37
4	Paris	25
4	Hong Kong	25
6	Chicago	20
7	Singapore	15
8	Shanghai	11
9	Los Angeles	10
10	Zürich	9
11	Seoul	6
11	Boston	6
11	Beijing	6
14	Washington, D.C.	5
15	Osaka	4
16	Brussels	2
16	Rhine-Ruhr	2
18	Toronto	1
18	Shenzhen	1

Global Power City Index

The Institute for Urban Strategies at The Mori Memorial Foundation in Tokyo issued a comprehensive study of global cities in 2012. The ranking is based on six overall categories, "Economy", "Research & Development", "Cultural Interaction", "Livability", "Environment", and "Accessibility", with 70 individual indicators among them. This Japanese ranking also breaks down top ten world cities ranked in subjective categories such as "manager, researcher, artist, visitor and resident."

Rank	City	Score
1	London	1452.5
2	New York City	1376.6
3	Paris	1349.6
4	Tokyo	1324.9
5	Singapore	1118.6
6	Seoul	1081.1
7	Amsterdam	1068.3
8	Berlin	1047.3
9	Hong Kong	1038.2
10	Vienna	1016.7
11	Beijing	978.3
12	Frankfurt	966.7
13	Barcelona	964.6
14	Shanghai	964.5
15	Sydney	962.8
16	Stockholm	961.2
17	Osaka	942.1
18	Zürich	937.9
19	Brussels	931.3
20	Copenhagen	929.7
21	Toronto	925.6
22	Madrid	908.6
23	Los Angeles	890.7
24	Vancouver	890.1
25	Istanbul	875.4
26	Geneva	867.8
27	Boston	858.4
28	Chicago	854.1
29	Milan	850.5
30	Washington, D.C.	836.5
31	San Francisco	833.3
32	Taipei	807.9
33	Fukuoka	790.3
34	Kuala Lumpur	788.1
35	Bangkok	781.4
36	Mexico City	781.0
37	Moscow	760.2
38	São Paulo	667.7
39	Mumbai	608.1
40	Cairo	601.0

The Wealth Report

"The Wealth Report" (a global perspective on prime property and wealth) is made by the London based estate agent Knight Frank LLP together with the Citi Private Bank. The report includes a "Global City Survey", evaluating which cities are considered the most important to the world’s HNWIs (high-net-worth individuals, having over $25million of investable assets). For the Global City Survey, Citi Private Bank’s wealth advisors, and Knight Frank’s luxury property specialists were asked to name the cities that they felt were the most important to HNWIs, in regard to: "economic activity", "political power", "knowledge and influence" and "quality of life".

Overall rank	City	Economic activity	Political power	Quality of life	Knowledge & influence
1	New York City	1	7	6	2
2	London	2	5	8	1
3	Paris	4	8	11	4
4	Tokyo	3	6	23	13
5	Hong Kong	7	10	26	6
6	Singapore	8	23	22	3
7	Sydney	17	12	3	7
8	Washington, D.C.	14	1	19	23
9	Toronto	12	15	4	15
10	Zürich	11	24	1	22
11	Berlin	10	4	18	9
12	Brussels	27	3	25	21
13	Seoul	28	11	28	10
14	Boston	19	25	24	5
15	Beijing	6	2	40	27
16	Vancouver	38	19	7	16
17	Chicago	13	29	20	14
18	Vienna	23	27	13	8
19	Amsterdam	16	26	14	19
20	Los Angeles	21	30	15	10
21	Stockholm	22	28	9	18
22	Melbourne	30	35	2	12
23	Frankfurt	9	33	5	36
24	Shanghai	5	17	39	35
25	San Francisco	15	34	27	20
26	Miami	29	20	17	34
27	Geneva	26	38	10	24
28	Oslo	20	32	21	32
29	Dubai	18	18	36	29
30	Moscow	24	9	37	31
31	Montreal	37	31	16	17
32	Auckland	33	40	12	33
33	Tel Aviv	39	13	30	38
34	Milan	31	37	29	25
35	Buenos Aires	40	14	35	28
36	São Paulo	32	16	33	37
37	Abu Dhabi	25	21	38	40
38	Mumbai	36	22	32	39
39	Kuala Lumpur	34	36	31	30
40	Bangkok	35	39	34	26

Global City Competitiveness Index

In 2012, the Economist Intelligence Unit (The Economist Group), ranked the competitiveness of global cities according to their demonstrated ability to attract capital, businesses, talent and visitors.

Rank	City	Score
1	New York City	71.4
2	London	70.4
3	Singapore	70.0
4	Hong Kong	69.3
4	Paris	69.3
6	Tokyo	68.0
7	Zürich	66.8
8	Washington, D.C.	66.1
9	Chicago	65.9
10	Boston	64.5
11	Frankfurt	64.1
12	Toronto	63.9
13	Geneva	63.3
13	San Francisco	63.3
15	Sydney	63.1
16	Melbourne	62.7
17	Amsterdam	62.4
18	Vancouver	61.8
19	Los Angeles	61.5
20	Seoul	60.5
20	Stockholm	60.5
22	Montreal	60.3
23	Copenhagen	59.9
23	Houston	59.9
25	Dallas	59.8
25	Vienna	59.8
27	Dublin	59.5
28	Madrid	59.4
29	Seattle	59.3
30	Philadelphia	58.5
31	Atlanta	58.2
31	Berlin	58.2
33	Oslo	57.2
34	Brussels	57.1
35	Hamburg	56.8
36	Auckland	56.7
37	Birmingham	56.6
37	Taipei	56.6
39	Beijing	56.0
40	Dubai	55.9

Rank	City	Score
41	Abu Dhabi	55.8
41	Barcelona	55.8
43	Miami	55.2
43	Shanghai	55.2
45	Kuala Lumpur	55.0
46	Prague	53.7
47	Doha	52.9
47	Milan	52.9
47	Osaka	52.9
50	Nagoya	52.3
50	Rome	52.3
52	Shenzhen	51.7
53	Warsaw	51.3
54	Monaco	51.0
55	Budapest	50.4
56	Incheon	50.2
57	Lisbon	49.5
58	Moscow	49.4
59	Tel Aviv	49.3
60	Buenos Aires	49.2
61	Bangkok	49.0
62	São Paulo	48.3
63	Fukuoka	47.7
64	Busan	47.4
64	Guangzhou	47.4
66	Kraków	47.3
67	Johannesburg	47.1
68	Delhi	46.7
68	Santiago	46.7
70	Mumbai	46.6
71	Mexico City	46.2
72	Athens	46.1
73	Cape Town	45.9
74	Istanbul	45.5
75	Tianjin	45.4
76	Bucharest	44.9
76	Rio de Janeiro	44.9
78	Panama City	44.8
79	Bangalore	44.6
80	Kuwait City	44.2

Rank	City	Score
81	Jakarta	44.1
82	Dalian	44.0
83	Chengdu	43.5
84	Suzhou	43.4
85	Manila	43.2
86	Muscat	43.0
87	Chongqing	42.9
88	Lima	42.5
89	Bogotá	42.3
90	Monterrey	42.2
91	Qingdao	42.1
92	Ahmedabad	41.9
93	Hangzhou	41.6
94	Durban	41.2
95	Ankara	40.9
96	Medellín	40.0
97	Pune	39.8
98	Belo Horizonte	39.4
98	Hyderabad	39.4
100	Almaty	39.3
100	Saint Petersburg	39.3
102	Guadalajara	39.0
102	Porto Alegre	39.0
104	Hanoi	38.8
105	Chennai	38.1
106	Kolkata	37.8
106	Riyadh	37.8
108	Kiev	36.9
109	Ho Chi Minh City	36.5
110	Surabaya	35.9
111	Colombo	35.6
112	Karachi	35.5
113	Cairo	35.0
114	Bandung	34.8
115	Nairobi	34.6
116	Alexandria	31.8
117	Beirut	30.6
118	Dhaka	27.7
119	Lagos	27.6
120	Tehran	27.2

See also

• Metropolis
• Megalopolis (city type)
• List of cities by GDP
• Primate city
• Financial centre
• Ecumenopolis
• Ranally city rating system
• Index of urban studies articles

References

1. Sassen, Saskia - The global city: strategic site/new frontier
2. Sassen, Saskia - The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo. (1991) - Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-07063-6
3. "UK History". History.ac.uk. 18 December 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
4. ^ Doel, M. & Hubbard, P., (2002), "Taking World Cities Literally: Marketing the City in a Global Space of flows", City, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 351-368. Subscription required
5. ^ GaWC Research Bulletin 5, GaWC, Loughborough University, 28 July 1999
6. J.V. Beaverstock, World City Networks 'From Below', GaWC, Loughborough University, 29 September 2010
7. K. O'Connor, International Students and Global Cities, GaWC, Loughborough University, 17 February 2005
8. "The World According to GaWC 2012". Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) Study Group and Network. Loughborough University. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
9. ^ "The World According to GaWC". GaWC. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
10. "2012 Global Cities Index and Emerging Cities Outlook" (PDF). Retrieved 9 May 2012.
11. The main parameters are "Business activity" (30%), "Human capital" (30%), "Information exchange" (15%), "Cultural experience" (15%) and "Political engagement" (10%). "The 2008 Global Cities Index". Foreign Policy (November/December 2008). 21 October 2008. Retrieved 31 October 2008.
12. Richard Florida (8 May 2012). "What Is the World's Most Economically Powerful City?". The Atlantic Monthly Group. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
13. "The Top 10 most powerful cities in the world". Yahoo! India Finance. 11 May 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
14. "Global Power City Index 2012". Tokyo, Japan: Institute for Urban Strategies at The Mori Memorial Foundation. October 2012. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
15. "The Wealth Report 2013". Knight Frank LLP.
16. "The Global City Competitiveness Index" (PDF). Managementthinking.eiu.com. 12 March 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.

External links

• Repository of Links Relating to Urban Places
• 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

• Use dmy dates from May 2012
• City
• Metropolitan areas
• Loughborough University
• Lists of cities
• Globalization-related indices