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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.[1] 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,[2] 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.[3] Patrick Geddes also used the term "world city" later in 1915.[4] 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.
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.[4] Although there is a consensus upon leading world cities,[5] the criteria upon which a classification is made can affect which other cities are included.[4] 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)[4] 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.)[4]
Although what constitutes a world city is still subject to debate, standard characteristics of world cities are:[6]
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.[5] The GaWC inventory identifies three levels of global cities and several sub-ranks.[9]
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:[9]
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.[10] 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."[11] The ranking was updated in 2010, 2012 and 2014.[12]
Sources:[13][14]
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[13] 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.
Source:[15]
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".
Source:[16][17]
"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".
Source:[18]
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.
New York
London
Tokyo
Hong Kong
Singapore
Shanghai
Sydney
Dubai
Beijing
Paris
Chicago
Mumbai
Milan
Moscow
São Paulo
Frankfurt
Toronto
Los Angeles
Madrid
Mexico City
Amsterdam
Kuala Lumpur
Brussels
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
Our new ranking puts the Big Apple firmly on top.
Canada, Singapore, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Sweden
Long Island, Queens, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Staten Island
United Kingdom, City of London, Paris, Greater London, Australia
Miami-Dade County, Florida, Downtown Miami, University of Miami, Florida International University, Florida
United Kingdom, Japan, Beijing, United States, London