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A global city and world city, or world-class city, is a concept which postulates that some cities have a direct and tangible effect on global affairs through socioeconomic, cultural, and/or political means, whilst others do not. This leads to the need to develop rules to categorise cities as global or non-global, and to sub-categorise global cities in various ways.

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.

General characteristics

It has been argued that global cities are those sharing the following characteristics:

• International, first-name familiarity; whereby a city is recognised without the need for a political subdivision. For example. although there are numerous cities and other political entities with the name Paris or variations on it, one would say "Paris", not "Paris, France".
• 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.
• A fairly large population (the centre 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 airlines.
• An advanced transportation system that includes several freeways 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 institutions, law firms, corporate headquarters (especially conglomerates), and stock exchanges (for example the London Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange or the Tokyo 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.
• World-renowned cultural institutions, such as museums and universities.
• A lively cultural scene, including film festivals (for example the Toronto International Film Festival), premieres, a thriving music or theatre scene (for example, West End theatre and Broadway); 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, Reuters, The New York Times, The Times, or Agence France-Presse.
• A strong sporting 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.

To some, 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 countries, the rise of suburbia and the ongoing migration of manufacturing jobs to these 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, Santiago, Frankfurt, Montréal, Sydney, Mexico City and Toronto: each of these cities has emerged as large and influential.

GaWC Inventory of World Cities (1999 Edition)

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 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.

Alpha world cities (full service world cities)

• 12 points: London, New York, Paris, Tokyo
• 10 points: Chicago, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Milan, Singapore
  • Refer to Official GaWC List.

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: Athens, Auckland, Dublin, Helsinki, Luxembourg, Lyon, Mumbai, New Delhi, Philadelphia, Rio de Janeiro, Tel Aviv, Vienna

Some evidence

• 2 points: Abu Dhabi, Almaty, Birmingham (UK), Bogotá, Bratislava, Brisbane, Bucharest, Cairo, Cleveland, Cologne, Detroit, Dubai, Ho Chi Minh City, Kiev, Lima, Lisbon, Manchester, Montevideo, Oslo, Riyadh, Rotterdam, Seattle, Strasbourg, Stuttgart, The Hague, Vancouver

Minimal evidence

• 1 point: Adelaide, Antwerp, Aarhus, Baltimore, Bangalore, Bologna, Brasília, Calgary, 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

GaWC Leading World Cities (2004 Edition)

An attempt to redefine and recategorise leading world cities was made by PJ Taylor at GaWC in 2004.
This ranking list is referred to as the Official GaWC List.

Global Cities

Well rounded global cities

1. Very large contribution: London and New York City. Smaller contribution and with cultural bias: Los Angeles, Paris and San Francisco.

2. Incipient global cities: Amsterdam, Boston, Chicago, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Toronto.

Global niche cities - specialised global contributions

1. Economic: Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo.

2. Political and social: Brussels, Geneva, Strasbourg and Washington.

World Cities

Subnet articulator cities

1. Cultural: Berlin, Copenhagen, Melbourne, Munich, Oslo, Rome, Stockholm. Political: Bangkok, Beijing, Vienna.

2. 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

Global Cities Conference 2006

This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.

This 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' — London, Paris, New York, and Tokyo — 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.

Other criteria

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:

Table of the cities of the world

For selected criteria

See also

• List of most expensive cities
• Metropolis
• Megalopolis

References

1. PERMANENT MISSIONS TO THE UNITED NATIONS, UN, 29 April 2003
2. GaWC Research Bulletin 5, GaWC, Loughborough University, 28 July 1999
3. The World According to GaWC, GaWC, Loughborough University
4. Inventory of World Cities, GaWC, Loughborough University
5. Leading World Cities, GaWC, Loughborough University
6. 2006 Global Cities Conference
7. ^ Chapter 5: Globalization and cultural choice, "2004 Human Development Report" (page 99), UNDP, 2004 Template:PDFlink
8. Chapter 9: Urban Data, "World Ressources 1998-99", WRI, 1998 Template:PDFlink
9. City Profiles, UN
10. Mobility 2001, WBCSD Template:PDFlink
11. WORLD URBANIZATION PROSPECTS: THE 2003 REVISION, UN, 2004 Template:PDFlink
12. Urban Characteristics,City Level, 1993, "World Ressources 1998-99", WRI, 1998 Template:PDFlink
13. Global Urban Indicators Database 2 (1998 data) (data sets in .ZIP), UN-HABITAT
14. World Indices, Bloomberg
15. J.V. Beaverstock, World City Networks 'From Below', GaWC, Loughborough University, 29 September 2005
16. World-wide quality of living survey, Mercer, 10 April 2006
17. The city development index, "THE STATE OF THE WORLD'S CITIES REPORT 2001", UN-HABITAT, 21 June 2006 Template:PDFlink
18. ^ 2005 worldwide cost of living survey results released, Mercer, 20 June 2005
19. The World's Billionaires, Forbes, 2005
20. Mapping the Global Network Economy on the Basis of Air Passenger Transport Flows, GaWC, Loughborough University, 8 December 2004
21. Estimated Ridership of the World’s Largest Public Transit Systems, 1998
22. COMMUTER RAIL (SUBURBAN RAIL, REGIONAL RAIL) IN THE UNITED STATES: INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT, October 2003 Template:PDFlink
23. Traffic Intensity by International Urban Area: 1990
24. Largest seaports of the world
25. The World's Best Skylines
26. (registration required) Template:PDFlink
27. K. O'Connor, International Students and Global Cities, GaWC, Loughborough University, 17 February 2005
28. World Heritage List, UNESCO
29. P. De Groote, Economic and Tourism Aspects of the Olympic Games, GaWC, Loughborough University, 21 September 2005
30. http://www.iaurif.org/en/doc/studies/airports/INTRO.pdf
31. INTERNATIONAL PRIVATE WEALTH MANAGEMENT, International Financial Services, December 2004 Template:PDFlink
32. Forbes reports billionaire boom, BBC, 10 March 2006
33. 500 richest in Russia, Finance Magazine, published by RBC. February 2006.

External links

• "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

• Cities
• Metropolitan areas
• Loughborough University