Global city
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A global city (also called world city) is a city deemed to be an important node point in the global economic system. The concept comes from geography and urban studies and rests on the idea that globalisation 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.[1] 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.[2]
Characteristics
Global City or world city status is seen as beneficial, and because of this many groups have tried to classify and rank which cities are seen as 'world cities' or 'non-world cities'. [3] Although there is a general consensus upon leading world cities, [4] the criteria upon which a classification is made can affect which other cities are included. [3]
- International, first-name familiarity; whereby a city is recognized 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 on and participation in international events and world affairs; for example, New York City is home to the United Nations headquarters complex and consequently contains the vast majority of the permanent missions to the UN.[5]
- 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 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); for example, Toronto, Chicago, San Francisco, São Paulo and Vancouver. 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, international conglomerates, and stock exchanges (for example the World Bank, or 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.
- World-renowned cultural institutions, such as museums and universities.
- A lively cultural scene, including film festivals (such as the Toronto 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, Reuters, The New York 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.
Studies
The concept of the global city is sometimes associated with the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network (GaWC) based at the geography department of Loughborough University, which aims to provide a categorization and ranking of world cities. An attempt to define and categorise world cities was made in 1999. 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.[4] 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.[6]
Alpha world cities / full service world cities[7]
- 12 points: London, New York City, Paris, Tokyo
- 10 points: Chicago, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Milan, Singapore
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, D.C.
- 5 points: Bangkok, Beijing, Montreal, Rome, Stockholm, Warsaw
- 4 points: Athens, 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: Auckland, Dublin, Helsinki, Luxembourg, Lyon, Mumbai, New Delhi, Philadelphia, Rio de Janeiro, Tel Aviv, Vienna
- Some evidence
- 2 points: Abu Dhabi, Almaty, Birmingham, Bogotá, Bratislava, Brisbane, Bucharest, Cairo, Cleveland, Cologne, Detroit, Dubai, Ho Chi Minh City, Kiev, Leeds, Lima, Lisbon, Manchester, Montevideo, Oslo, Riyadh, Rotterdam, Seattle, 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, Lille, Marseille, Richmond, St. Petersburg, Tashkent, Tehran, Tijuana, Turin, Utrecht, Wellington
An attempt to define and recategorise leading world cities was made by GaWC in 2004.
Global Cities [8]
- Well rounded global cities
- Very large contribution: London and New York City.
Smaller contribution and with cultural strengths: Los Angeles, Paris, and San Francisco. - Incipient global cities: Amsterdam, Boston, Chicago, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Toronto.
- Global niche cities - specialised global contributions
- Financial: Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo.
- Political and social: Brussels, Geneva and Washington, D.C.
World Cities
- Subnet articulator cities
- Cultural: Berlin, Copenhagen, Melbourne, Munich, Oslo, Rome, Stockholm.
Political: Bangkok, Beijing, Vienna. - Social: Manila, Nairobi, Ottawa.
- Worldwide leading cities
- Primarily economic global contributions: Frankfurt, Miami, Munich, Osaka, Singapore, Sydney, Zurich
- Primarily non-economic global contributions: Abidjan, Addis Ababa, Atlanta, Basel, 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:
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Selected criteria
See also
- Financial Centre
- List of most expensive cities for expatriate employees
- Megalopolis
- Metropolis
- Primate city
References
- ^ Sassen, Saskia - The global city: strategic site/new frontier
- ^ Sassen, Saskia - The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo. (1991) - Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-07063-6
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ a b GaWC Research Bulletin 5, GaWC, Loughborough University, 28 July 1999
- ^ PERMANENT MISSIONS TO THE UNITED NATIONS, UN, 29 April 2003
- ^ The World According to GaWC, GaWC, Loughborough University
- ^ Inventory of World Cities, GaWC, Loughborough University
- ^ Leading World Cities, GaWC, Loughborough University
- ^ a b Template:PDFlink, "2004 Human Development Report" (page 99), UNDP, 2004
- ^ Template:PDFlink, "World Resources 1998-99", WRI, 1998
- ^ City Profiles, UN
- ^ Template:PDFlink, WBCSD
- ^ Template:PDFlink, UN, 2004
- ^ Template:PDFlink, "World Resources 1998-99", WRI, 1998.
- ^ Global Urban Indicators Database 2 (1998 data) (data sets in .ZIP), UN-HABITAT
- ^ World Indices, Bloomberg
- ^ J.V. Beaverstock, World City Networks 'From Below', GaWC, Loughborough University, 29 September 2005
- ^ World-wide quality of living survey, Mercer, 10 April 2006
- ^ Template:PDFlink, "THE STATE OF THE WORLD'S CITIES REPORT 2001", UN-HABITAT, 21 June 2006
- ^ a b 2006 worldwide cost of living survey results released, Mercer, 26 June 2006
- ^ The World's Billionaires, Forbes, 2008
- ^ Mapping the Global Network Economy on the Basis of Air Passenger Transport Flows, GaWC, Loughborough University, 8 December 2004
- ^ Estimated Ridership of the World’s Largest Public Transit Systems, 1998
- ^ Template:PDFlink, October 2003
- ^ Traffic Intensity by International Urban Area: 1990
- ^ Largest seaports of the world
- ^ The World's Best Skylines
- ^ Template:PDFlink (registration required)
- ^ K. O'Connor, International Students and Global Cities, GaWC, Loughborough University, 17 February 2005
- ^ World Heritage List, UNESCO
- ^ P. De Groote, Economic and Tourism Aspects of the Olympic Games, GaWC, Loughborough University, 21 September 2005
- ^ http://www.aci.aero/aci/aci/file/Press%20Releases/2007_PRs/PR_180707_TOP10.pdf
- ^ Template:PDFlink, International Financial Services, December 2004
- ^ Forbes reports billionaire boom, BBC, 10 March 2006
- ^ 500 richest in Russia, Finance Magazine, published by RBC. February 2006.
- ^ 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.
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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)