Global city

"World city" redirects here. For other uses, see World city (disambiguation).

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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 refer to 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.)

Characteristics

Although what constitutes a world city is still subject to debate, standard characteristics of world cities are:

• A variety of international financial services, notably in finance, insurance, real estate, banking, accountancy, and marketing
• Headquarters of several multinational corporations
• The existence of financial headquarters, a stock exchange and major financial institutions
• Domination of the trade and economy of a large surrounding area
• Major manufacturing centres with port and container facilities
• Considerable decision-making power on a daily basis and at a global level
• Centres of new ideas and innovation in business, economics, culture and politics
• Centres of media and communications for global networks
• Dominance of the national region with great international significance
• High percentage of residents employed in the services sector and information sector
• High-quality educational institutions, including renowned universities, international student attendance and research facilities
• Multi-functional infrastructure offering some of the best legal, medical and entertainment facilities in the country

Variants

GaWC study

A map showing the distribution of GaWC-ranked world cities (2010 data)

Together, Jon Beaverstock, Richard G. Smith and Peter J. Taylor established the Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC). 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 London and New York City, which are vastly more integrated with the global economy than all other cities.
• Alpha+ cities complement London and New York City by filling advanced service niches for the global economy.
• Alpha and 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 not to be obviously dependent on world cities.

The rankings for 2012 were:

Cate­gory	Cities
Al­pha++	London New York City
Al­pha+	Hong Kong Paris Singapore Shanghai Tokyo Beijing Sydney Dubai
Al­pha	Chicago Mumbai Milan Moscow São Paulo Frankfurt Toronto Los Angeles Madrid Mexico City Amsterdam Kuala Lumpur Brussels
Al­pha−	Seoul Johannesburg Buenos Aires Vienna San Francisco Istanbul Jakarta Zürich Warsaw Washington, D.C. Melbourne New Delhi Miami Barcelona Bangkok Boston Dublin Taipei Munich Stockholm Prague Atlanta

Cate­gory	Cities
Beta+	Bangalore Lisbon Copenhagen Santiago Guangzhou Rome Cairo Dallas Hamburg Düsseldorf Athens Manila Montreal Philadelphia Tel Aviv Lima Budapest Berlin Cape Town Luxembourg Houston Kiev Bucharest Beirut
Beta	Ho Chi Minh City Bogotá Auckland Montevideo Caracas Riyadh Vancouver Chennai Manchester Oslo Brisbane Helsinki Karachi Doha Casablanca Stuttgart Rio de Janeiro Geneva
Beta−	Guatemala City Lyon Monterrey Panama City San José Bratislava Minneapolis Tunis Nairobi Cleveland Lagos Abu Dhabi Seattle Hanoi Sofia Riga Port Louis Detroit Calgary Denver Perth Kolkata San Diego Amman Antwerp Manama Birmingham Nicosia Quito Rotterdam Belgrade Almaty Shenzhen Kuwait City Hyderabad Edinburgh

Cate­gory	Cities
Gam­ma+	Zagreb Lahore Saint Petersburg Jeddah Durban Santo Domingo Baltimore Islamabad Guayaquil St. Louis San Salvador Cologne Phoenix Adelaide Bristol Charlotte George Town Osaka Tampa
Gam­ma	Glasgow San Juan Marseille Guadalajara Leeds Baku Vilnius Tallinn Raleigh Ankara Belfast San Jose Colombo Valencia Cincinnati Milwaukee Muscat Ljubljana
Gam­ma−	Nantes Tianjin Accra Algiers Gothenburg Porto Columbus Utrecht Orlando Ahmedabad Asunción Kansas City Seville Turin Dar es Salaam Portland Kraków Managua Pune Leipzig Malmö La Paz

Cate­gory	Cities
High suffi­cien­cy	Southampton Indianapolis Porto Alegre Strasbourg Gaborone Chengdu Richmond Pittsburgh Tijuana Austin Qingdao Nassau Tegucigalpa Lille Curitiba The Hague Hartford Wrocław Edmonton Lausanne Dhaka Nuremberg Lusaka Kampala Bilbao Douala Abidjan Salt Lake City Hangzhou Poznań Wellington Ottawa Dakar Querétaro Dresden Newcastle Skopje Nanjing Tirana Chongqing Belo Horizonte

Cate­gory

Cities

Suffi­cien­cy

Florence Pretoria Toulouse Aarhus San Antonio Bremen Nashville Bologna Canberra Nagoya Sacramento Providence Luanda Dalian Liverpool Jacksonville Puebla Kaohsiung Minsk Linz Tbilisi Las Vegas Maputo Harare Cardiff Xiamen Birmingham León Port of Spain Penang Memphis Aberdeen Abuja Hanover Surabaya Bern Halifax Ciudad Juárez Alexandria Bordeaux Phnom Penh Winnipeg Cali Greensboro Genoa Medellín Santa Cruz Montpellier Córdoba Wuhan Graz Jerusalem New Orleans Rochester Nice Busan Windhoek Dammam Christchurch Recife Tashkent Hamilton Reykjavík Naples Tulsa Ludwigshafen Kingston Brasília Johor Baharu Xi'an Macau Fukuoka Sheffield İzmir Nottingham Des Moines Campinas Chisinau Haifa Madison Yerevan Cebu Labuan Salvador

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, 2012 and 2014.

#1 New York

#2 London

#3 Paris

#4 Tokyo

#5 Hong Kong

#6 Los Angeles

#7 Chicago

#8 Beijing

#9 Singapore

#10 Washington, D.C.

#11 Brussels

#12 Mumbai

#13 Toronto

#14 Sydney

#15 New Delhi

#16 Vienna

#17 Moscow

#18 Shanghai

#19 Berlin

#20 Buenos Aires

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Top twenty global cities

Rank 2014	Change	City	Rating
1		New York City	61.7
2		London	58.1
3		Paris	52.3
4		Tokyo	47.2
5		Hong Kong	41.3
6		Los Angeles	38.0
7		Chicago	36.8
8	6	Beijing	35.1
9	2	Singapore	34.3
10		Washington, D.C.	33.4
11	2	Brussels	32.9
12	4	Seoul	32.6
13	3	Toronto	32.4
14	2	Sydney	32.3
15	3	Madrid	31.8
16	3	Vienna	30.3
17	2	Moscow	29.5
18	3	Shanghai	29.4
19	1	Berlin	29.4
20	2	Buenos Aires	28.9
21	6	Boston	28.6
22	5	San Francisco	27.2
23		Frankfurt	26.7
24		Barcelona	26.7
25	7	Melbourne	26.7
26		Amsterdam	26.3
27	2	Dubai	26.3
28	9	Istanbul	26.0
29	7	Miami	25.5
30		Montreal	25.4

Rank 2014	Change	City	Rating
31	6	Zürich	25.4
32	4	Rome	24.1
33	6	Stockholm	23.5
34	1	São Paulo	23.4
35	1	Mexico City	23.0
36	3	Atlanta	22.7
37	6	Munich	22.4
38		Houston	22.3
39	4	Geneva	21.7
40		Taipei	21.3
41	4	Mumbai	20.9
42	1	Bangkok	20.7
43	1	Copenhagen	20.6
44	3	Milan	20.0
45	1	Dublin	18.1
46	NA	Budapest	17.5
47	NA	Prague	17.5
48	NA	Vancouver	17.5
49	1	Cairo	17.5
50	NA	Dallas	17.4
51	3	Tampa	17.2
52	3	Bogotá	16.4
53	4	Kuala Lumpur	16.3
54	8	Tel Aviv	15.9
55	8	Osaka	15.8
56	3	Rio de Janeiro	15.6
57	9	New Delhi	15.2
58	NA	Santiago	14.7
59	7	Johannesburg	14.2
60	NA	Warsaw	13.6

Rank 2014	Change	City	Rating
61	NA	Lima	13.6
62	NA	Abu Dhabi	13.3
63	12	Manila	12.7
64	NA	Doha	12.4
65	NA	Riyadh	11.5
66	6	Guangzhou	11.0
67	12	Caracas	10.9
68	12	Nairobi	10.5
69	11	Bangalore	10.2
70	9	Ho Chi Minh City	8.9
71	NA	Cape Town	8.9
72	NA	Chennai	7.6
73	8	Shenzhen	7.2
74	15	Lagos	7.2
75	12	Dhaka	7.1
76	14	Karachi	6.9
77	NA	Manama	6.8
78	NA	Casablanca	6.3
79	15	Kolkata	6.0
80	NA	Addis Ababa	5.7
81	NA	Tunis	5.3
82	NA	Lahore	4.8
83	NA	Kinshasa	4.7
84	18	Chongqing	3.8

Global Economic Power Index

Sources:

In 2015, the second Global Economic Power Index, a "survey of the surveys" compiled 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 5 separate lists as published by 5 different entities. These are the cities that scored at least 5 total points in 2015:

Rank (2015)	City	Score
1	New York City	48
2	London	40
3	Tokyo	29
4	Hong Kong	21
5	Paris	19
6	Singapore	17
7	Los Angeles	13
8	Seoul	11
9	Vienna	10
10 (tie)	Stockholm	9
10 (tie)	Toronto	9
12	Chicago	8
13	Zurich	6
14 (tie)	Sydney	5
14 (tie)	Helsinki	5

Global Power City Index

Source:

The Institute for Urban Strategies at The Mori Memorial Foundation in Tokyo issued a comprehensive study of global cities in 2014. 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 2014	Change	City	Score
1		London	1485.8
2		New York City	1362.8
3		Paris	1292.4
4		Tokyo	1276.1
5		Singapore	1138.6
6		Seoul	1117.8
7		Amsterdam	1055.5
8		Berlin	1054.9
9	2	Hong Kong	1012.8
10	1	Vienna	1004.3
11	1	Frankfurt	988.1
12	3	Zürich	973.8
13		Sydney	968.7
14		Beijing	960.3
15	3	Shanghai	958.3
16		Stockholm	954.3
17	1	Toronto	938.5
18	2	Copenhagen	921.7
19	2	Madrid	914.8
20	2	Los Angeles	912.0
21	6	Istanbul	901.2
22	2	Vancouver	894.1
23	2	Brussels	884.6
24	2	Washington, D.C.	884.4
25	5	Milan	874.3
26	3	Osaka	872.5
27	8	Barcelona	869.3
28	3	Geneva	860.4
29	3	Bangkok	851.0
30	1	Boston	846.7
31	2	Chicago	840.9
32	4	San Francisco	832.0
33	1	Taipei	816.3
34		Kuala Lumpur	786.7
35	1	Moscow	760.3
36	1	Fukuoka	747.4
37		Mexico City	711.7
38		São Paulo	692.8
39		Mumbai	615.3
40		Cairo	537.5

The Wealth Report

Source:

"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 Cities 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 Cities 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 2015	City
1	London
2	New York City
3	Hong Kong
4	Singapore
5	Shanghai
6	Miami
7	Paris
8	Dubai
9	Beijing
10	Zürich
11	Tokyo
12	Toronto
13	Geneva
14	Sydney
15	Taipei
16	Frankfurt
17	Moscow
18	Madrid
19	San Francisco
20	Vienna
21	Milan
22	Los Angeles
23	Jakarta
24	Munich
25	Amsterdam
26	Mumbai
27	Dublin
28	Johannesburg
29	Istanbul
30	Kuala Lumpur
31	São Paulo
32	Mexico City
33	Berlin
34	Washington, D.C.
35	Boston
36	Cape Town
37	Auckland
38	Buenos Aires
39	Rio de Janeiro
40	Tel Aviv

Global City Competitiveness Index

Source:

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

Gallery

Alpha++

• 
  New York
• 
  London

Alpha+

• 
  Tokyo
• 
  Hong Kong
• 
  Singapore
• 
  Shanghai
• 
  Sydney
• 
  Dubai
• 
  Beijing
• 
  Paris

Alpha

• 
  Chicago
• 
  Mumbai
• 
  Milan
• 
  Moscow
• 
  São Paulo
• 
  Frankfurt
• 
  Toronto
• 
  Los Angeles
• 
  Madrid
• 
  Mexico City
• 
  Amsterdam
• 
  Kuala Lumpur
• 
  Brussels

Alpha–

• 
  New Delhi
• 
  Johannesburg
• 
  Buenos Aires
• 
  Vienna
• 
  San Francisco
• 
  Istanbul
• 
  Jakarta
• 
  Zürich
• 
  Warsaw
• 
  Washington D.C.
• 
  Melbourne
• 
  Miami
• 
  Barcelona
• 
  Bangkok
• 
  Boston
• 
  Dublin
• 
  Taipei
• 
  Munich
• 
  Stockholm
• 
  Atlanta

See also

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

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
• UN-HABITAT.:. The State of the World’s Cities