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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 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.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 though the term "world city" to describe cities which control a disproportionate amount of global business dates to at least Patrick Geddes' use of the term in 1915. ³

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 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")³ or on an "imminent determination" ("if the producer-service sector of city X is greater than the producer-service sector of N other cities, then city X is a world city"). ³

The characteristics sometimes chosen include

• 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 London or variations on it, one would say "London", not "London, United Kingdom".
• Active influence on and participation in international events and world affairs; for example, Washington, Berlin, Brussels are major capitals of influential nations or unions.
• 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 highways 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, a Tehrangeles or other immigrant communities); for example, New York City, Los Angeles, 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, Hong Kong, Moscow, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo.
• International financial institutions, law firms, corporate headquarters, international conglomerates, and stock exchanges (for example the World Bank, or the New York 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 Berlinale or 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, 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.

2008 Global Cities Index

In October 2008, the journal Foreign Policy, in conjunction with 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 "[t]he 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."⁵

The rankings are based on the evaluation of 24 metrics in five areas: business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience, and political engagement. The top thirty of the 60 cities ranked were:

Rank	City	Country	Best category (position in that category)
1	New York City	United States	Business Activity and Human Capital (1st)
2	London	United Kingdom	Cultural Experience (1st)
3	Paris	France	Information Exchange (1st) Business activity (3rd)
4	Tokyo	Japan	Business Activity (2nd)
5	Hong Kong	China	Business Activity and Human Capital (5th)
6	Los Angeles	United States	Human Capital (4th)
7	Singapore	Singapore	Business Activity (6th)
8	Chicago	United States	Human Capital (3rd)
9	Seoul	South Korea	Information Exchange (5th)
10	Toronto	Canada	Cultural Experience (4th)
11	Washington, D.C.	United States	Political Engagement (1st)
12	Beijing	China	Political Engagement (7th)
13	Brussels	Belgium	Information Exchange (2nd)
14	Madrid	Spain	Information Exchange (9th)
15	San Francisco	United States	Human Capital (12th)
16	Sydney	Australia	Human Capital (8th)
17	Berlin	Germany	Cultural Experience (8th)
18	Vienna	Austria	Political Engagement (9th)
19	Moscow	Russia	Cultural Experience (6th)
20	Shanghai	China	Business Activity (8th)
21	Frankfurt	Germany	Business Activity (11th)
22	Bangkok	Thailand	Political Engagement (13th)
23	Amsterdam	Netherlands	Business Activity (10th)
24	Stockholm	Sweden	Information Exchange (13th)
25	Mexico City	Mexico	Cultural Experience (9th)
26	Zürich	Switzerland	Information Exchange (8th)
27	Dubai	United Arab Emirates	Information Exchange (14th)
28	Istanbul	Turkey	Political Engagement (8th)
29	Boston	United States	Human Capital (9th)
30	Rome	Italy	Cultural Experience (15th)

GaWC global cities index

One attempt to define, categorize, and rank global cities was made in 1999 by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network (GaWC) based at the geography department of Loughborough University. The roster was outlined in the GaWC Research Bulletin 5 and ranked cities based on their provision of "advanced producer services" such as accountancy, advertising, finance, and law.⁴ The GaWC inventory identifies three levels of global cities and several sub-ranks. This roster generally denotes cities in which there are offices of certain multinational corporations providing financial and consulting services rather than denoting other cultural, political, and economic centres.

An attempt to redefine and re-categorise leading global cities was made by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network (GaWC) in 2004. This new roster acknowledged several new indicators but still retained a stark focus on economics rather than on political or cultural importance. The roster is reproduced below:

Global Cities⁶

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. Financial: Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo
2. Political and social: Brussels, Geneva and Washington, D.C.

World Cities

Subnet articulator cities

1. Cultural: Berlin, Copenhagen, Melbourne, Munich, Oslo, Rome, Stockholm
   
2. Political: Bangkok, Beijing, Vienna
3. 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, 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:

Selected criteria

See also

• Financial Centre
• List of most expensive cities for expatriate employees
• Megalopolis
• Metropolis
• Primate city

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Global City

• 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)
• http://standards.emporis.com/?nav=worldcitystandards&lng=3 GaWC world cities in combination with building information of Emporis)