Global city

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For a city spanning an entire planet, see Ecumenopolis

A global city (also known as a world city or world-class city) is a city which has a direct and tangible impact on global affairs through socioeconomic, cultural, and/or political means. In recent years, the term has become increasingly familiar, due to the rise of globalization (i.e. global finance, worldwide communications and travel). Though defining a global city must be partially subjective, these cities are generally seen as meeting most of the following criteria:

Several powerful and influential media outlets with an international reach are based in world cities, such as the BBC, The New York Times, Le Monde, The Chicago Tribune, and The Times.

In the Western World, London, New York, Paris, and Tokyo have been traditionally considered the "big four" world cities – not incidentally, they also serve as symbols of global capitalism. However, many people have a personal list, and any two lists are likely to differ based on cultural background, values, and experience.

In certain developed countries, especially the United States, the rise of suburbia and the ongoing migration of manufacturing jobs to developing 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, albeit with slightly more success, has also been observed in Sydney, Buenos Aires, Frankfurt, and Toronto: each of these cities has emerged as large and influential.

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GaWC Inventory of World Cities

An influential attempt to define and categorise world cities, and a useful starting point for discussion, was made by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network (GaWC) [1], based primarily at Loughborough University in England. The roster was outlined in the GaWC Research Bulletin 5 [2] and ranked cities based on their provision of "advanced producer services" such as accountancy, advertising, banking/finance and law. The Inventory identifies three levels of world city, termed Alpha, Beta and Gamma for their relative influence. Each level contains two or three sub-ranks. There is also a fourth level of cities that show potential to become world cities in the future.

The most influential cities in the world have been ranked into three classes; Alpha, Beta and Gamma. The cities are also divided into sub-rankings within their class, based on the points given to them in the GaWC study.

Note that this roster is weighted toward financial criteria and generally denotes Western and East Asian cities in which there are offices of certain multinational companies providing financial and consulting services rather than other cultural, political and economic centres elsewhere in the world.

Alpha World Cities

Beta World Cities

Gamma world cities

As mentioned, there is also an unauthoritative fourth categorization of cities which are showing potential in attaining world status.

Evidence of World City Formation

There is a schematic map of the GaWC cities at their website, [3]. The GaWC is a somewhat subjective ranking, as is any other, but the top four listed cities at least match those commonly considered the major world cities.

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External Links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_city"
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