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A global city or world city is a concept promoted by the geography department at Loughborough University which postulates that globalisation can be broken down in terms of strategic geographic locales that see global processes being created, facilitated and enacted. 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 more than just socio-economic means, with influence in terms of culture, or politics. The terminology of "global city", as opposed to megacity, is thought to have been first coined by Saskia Sassen in reference to London, New York and Tokyo in her 1991 work The Global City.

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, and Chicago O'Hare 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, the World Bank, 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, 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, Frankfurt, Mexico City, Montréal, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto: each of these cities has emerged as large and influential.

Some cities can be termed global because they have entered the English language dictionaries because of their very special characterstics. e.g Bangalore, India (is a verb - Bangalored means losing the job to a thrid-world country), Shanghai, china (shanghaied means kidnapped).

GaWC Inventory of World Cities, 1999

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 (Official GaWC List)

• 12 points: London, New York, Paris, Tokyo
• 10 points: Chicago, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Milan, Singapore

Beta world cities / major world cities (Official GaWC List)

• 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 (Official GaWC List)

• 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, Glasgow, Hamburg, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur,Manchester, Manila, Miami, Minneapolis, Munich, Shanghai

Evidence of world city formation (Official GaWC List)

Strong evidence (Not to be altered)

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

Some evidence (Not to be altered)

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

Minimal evidence (Not to be altered)

• 1 point: Adelaide, Antwerp, Aarhus, Baltimore, Bangalore, Bologna, Brasília, Calgary, Cape Town, Colombo, Columbus, Dresden, Edinburgh, Genoa,Gothenburg, Guangzhou, Hanoi, Kansas City, Leeds, Lille, Marseille, Richmond, St. Petersburg, Tashkent, Tehran, Tijuana, Turin, Utrecht, Wellington

GaWC Leading World Cities, 2004

An attempt to redefine and recategorise leading world cities was made by PJ Taylor at GaWC in 2004.

Global Cities (Official GaWC List)

Well rounded global cities (Not to be altered)

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 (Not to be altered)

1. Economic: Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo.
2. Political and social: Brussels, Geneva, Strasbourg and Washington.

World Cities (Official GaWC List)

Subnet articulator cities (Not to be altered)

1. Cultural: Berlin, Copenhagen, Melbourne, Munich, Oslo, Rome, Stockholm.
   Political: Bangkok, Beijing, Vienna.
2. Social: Manila, Nairobi, Ottawa.

Worldwide leading cities (Not to be altered)

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.

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:

Selected criteria

See also

• List of most expensive cities
• Metropolis
• Megalopolis

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. PERMANENT MISSIONS TO THE UNITED NATIONS, UN, 29 April 2003
4. GaWC Research Bulletin 5, GaWC, Loughborough University, 28 July 1999
5. The World According to GaWC, GaWC, Loughborough University
6. Inventory of World Cities, GaWC, Loughborough University
7. Leading World Cities, GaWC, Loughborough University
8. ^ Template:PDFlink, "2004 Human Development Report" (page 99), UNDP, 2004
9. Template:PDFlink, "World Resources 1998-99", WRI, 1998
10. City Profiles, UN
11. Template:PDFlink, WBCSD
12. Template:PDFlink, UN, 2004
13. Template:PDFlink, "World Resources 1998-99", WRI, 1998.
14. Global Urban Indicators Database 2 (1998 data) (data sets in .ZIP), UN-HABITAT
15. World Indices, Bloomberg
16. J.V. Beaverstock, World City Networks 'From Below', GaWC, Loughborough University, 29 September 2005
17. World-wide quality of living survey, Mercer, 10 April 2006
18. Template:PDFlink, "THE STATE OF THE WORLD'S CITIES REPORT 2001", UN-HABITAT, 21 June 2006
19. ^ 2006 worldwide cost of living survey results released, Mercer, 26 June 2006
20. The World's Billionaires, Forbes, 2005
21. Mapping the Global Network Economy on the Basis of Air Passenger Transport Flows, GaWC, Loughborough University, 8 December 2004
22. Estimated Ridership of the World’s Largest Public Transit Systems, 1998
23. Template:PDFlink, October 2003
24. Traffic Intensity by International Urban Area: 1990
25. Largest seaports of the world
26. The World's Best Skylines
27. Template:PDFlink (registration required)
28. K. O'Connor, International Students and Global Cities, GaWC, Loughborough University, 17 February 2005
29. World Heritage List, UNESCO
30. P. De Groote, Economic and Tourism Aspects of the Olympic Games, GaWC, Loughborough University, 21 September 2005
31. http://www.iaurif.org/en/doc/studies/airports/INTRO.pdf
32. Template:PDFlink, International Financial Services, December 2004
33. Forbes reports billionaire boom, BBC, 10 March 2006
34. 500 richest in Russia, Finance Magazine, published by RBC. February 2006.
35. PriceWaterhouseCoopers, "UK Economic Outlook, March 2007", page 5. ""Table 1.2 – Top 30 urban agglomeration GDP rankings in 2005 and illustrative projections to 2020 (using UN definitions and population estimates)"" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-03-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

External links

• 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
• "U.S. Cities in the 'World City Network'", by Peter J. Taylor and Robert E. Lang, February 2005 (Full Report in PDF)

• City
• Metropolitan areas
• Loughborough University