Global city

"World city" redirects here. For hypothetical planetwide cities, seeEcumenopolis.For other uses, seeWorld city (disambiguation).

New York City(top) andLondon(bottom) are the only two cities ranked in theAlpha ++ categoryby theGlobalization and World Cities Research Network.Both citiesare considered leadingfinancial,commercial and cultural centers.

Aglobal city,also known as apower city,world city,Alpha city,orworld center,is acitythat serves as a primary node in theglobal economic network.The concept originates fromgeographyandurban studies,based on the thesis thatglobalizationhas created a hierarchy of strategicgeographic locationswith varying degrees of influence overfinance,trade,andcultureworldwide.The global city represents the most complex and significant hub within the international system, characterized by links binding it to other cities that have direct, tangible effects on globalsocioeconomicaffairs.

The criteria of a global city vary depending on the source.Common features include a high degree ofurban development,a large population, the presence of majormultinational companies,a significant and globalizedfinancial sector,a well-developed and internationally linkedtransportation infrastructure,local or national economic dominance, high quality educational andresearch institutions,and a globally influential output of ideas, innovations, or cultural products. Quintessential examples, based on most indices and research, includeNew York City,London,Paris,andTokyo.

Origin and terminology

The term 'global city' was popularized bysociologistSaskia Sassenin her 1991 book,The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo.Before then, other terms were used for urban centers with roughly the same features. The term 'world city', meaning a city heavily involved in global trade, appeared in a May 1886 description ofLiverpool,byThe Illustrated London News;British sociologist andgeographerPatrick Geddesused the term in 1915.The term 'megacity' entered common use in the late 19th or early 20th century, the earliest known example being a publication by theUniversity of Texasin 1904.In the 21st century, the terms are usually focused on a city'sfinancial powerandhigh technologyinfrastructure.

Criteria

Manhattan,the core area ofNew York City,an Alpha++ global city, where there are several characteristic elements of global citieslike worldwide influential economic (New York Stock Exchange) and cultural (Broadway) centers, headquarters of international political organizations (UN headquarters), world renowned museums (the Met Museum,MOMA,Guggenheim Museum), and worldwide-known landmarks (Times Square,Empire State Building,Central Park)

Competing groups have devised competing means to classify and rank world cities and to distinguish them from other cities.Although there is a consensus on the leading world cities,the chosen criteria affect which other cities are included.Selection criteria may be based on a yardstick value (e.g., if the producer-service sector is the largest sector then cityXis a world city)or on an imminent determination (if the producer-service sector of cityXis greater than the combined producer-service sectors ofNother cities then cityXis a world city.)Although criteria are variable and fluid, typical characteristics of world cities include:

• The most prominent criterion has been providing a variety ofinternational financial services,notably infinance, insurance, real estate,banking,accountancy,andmarketing;and their amalgamation of financial headquarters, astock exchange,and other major financial institutions,
• Headquartersof numerousmultinational corporations,
• Domination of the trade and economy of a large surrounding area,
• Major manufacturing centers withportandcontainerfacilities,
• Considerabledecision-making powerdaily and at a global level,
• Centers of new ideas andinnovationin business, economics, and culture,
• Centers ofdigitaland other media and communications forglobal networks,
• The dominance of the national region with great international significance,
• The high percentage of residents employed in theservices sectorandinformation sector,
• High-quality educational institutions, including renowned universities andresearchfacilities; and attracting international student attendance,
• Multi-functionalinfrastructureoffering some of the best legal, medical, and entertainment facilities in the country,
• High diversity in language, culture, religion, and ideologies.

General rankings

Global city rankings are numerous.New York City,London,Tokyo,andParisare the most commonly mentioned.

GaWC study

Main article:Globalization and World Cities Research Network

New York

Paris

London

Tokyo

Beijing

Hong Kong

Singapore

Shanghai

Dubai

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Top global cities per the GaWC 2020 rankings. Shown are "Alpha ++" cities (marked in gold) and "Alpha +" cities (marked in red).

Jon Beaverstock,Richard G. Smith,andPeter J. Taylorestablished theGlobalization and World Cities Research Network(GaWC). They rank world cities by 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,although the authors caution that "concern for city rankings operates againstthe spirit of the GaWC project"[emphasis in original].The 2004 rankings added several new indicators while continuing to rank city-economicsmore heavily than political and cultural factors. The 2008 version of the list, 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 cities with High sufficiency and Sufficiency presence. The cities in the top three classifications in the 2022 edition are:

Alpha ++

• London
• New York City

Alpha +

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

Alpha

• Amsterdam
• Brussels
• Chicago
• Frankfurt
• Istanbul
• Jakarta
• Kuala Lumpur
• Los Angeles
• Luxembourg City
• Madrid
• Mexico City
• Milan
• Mumbai
• São Paulo
• Seoul
• Sydney
• Toronto
• Warsaw

Global Cities Index (Kearney)

In 2008, the American journalForeign Policy,working with the consulting firmA.T. Kearneyand theChicago Council on Global Affairs,published a ranking of global cities based on consultation withSaskia Sassen,Witold Rybczynski,and others.Foreign Policynoted 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 is based on 27 metrics across five dimensions: business activity,human capital,information exchange, cultural experience, and political engagement.Since 2015, it has been published with a separate index, the Global Cities Outlook, which is a projection of a city's potential based on rate of change in 13 indicators across four dimensions: personal well-being, economics, innovation, and governance. The top ranked cities in 2023 are:

1. New York City
2. London
3. Paris
4. Tokyo
5. Beijing
6. Brussels
7. Singapore
8. Los Angeles
9. Melbourne
10. Hong Kong

Global Cities Index (Oxford Economics)

Advisory firmOxford Economicsreleased its Global Cities Index in 2024, ranking the world's largest 1,000 cities based on 27 indicators across five categories (economics,human capital,quality of life,environment, andgovernance) with more weight on economic factors. The top ranked cities in 2024 are:

1. New York City
2. London
3. San Jose
4. Tokyo
5. Paris
6. Seattle
7. Los Angeles
8. San Francisco
9. Melbourne
10. Zurich

Global Economic Power Index

The Global Economic Power Index reflecting three dimensions of economic power was introduced in 2012.In 2015, the second Global Economic Power Index, a meta list compiled byRichard Florida,was published byThe Atlantic(distinct from a namesake listpublished by theMartin Prosperity Institute), with city composite rank based on five other lists.The top global cities in 2015 are:

1. New York City
2. London
3. Tokyo
4. Hong Kong
5. Paris
6. Singapore
7. Los Angeles
8. Seoul
9. Vienna
10. Stockholm&Toronto

Global Power City Index

The Tokyo-based Institute for Urban Strategies at The Mori Memorial Foundation, issued a study of global cities in 2008. They are ranked in six categories: economy, research and development, cultural interaction,livability,environment, and accessibility, with 70 individual indicators among them. The top ten world cities are also ranked by subjective categories, including manager, researcher, artist, visitor and resident.The top 10 cities in 2023 are:

1. London
2. New York City
3. Tokyo
4. Paris
5. Singapore
6. Amsterdam
7. Seoul
8. Dubai
9. Melbourne
10. Berlin

Financial rankings

Global Financial Centres Index

Main article:Global Financial Centres Index

Strength as afinancial centerhas become one of the pre-eminent indicators of a global city's ranking. As of 2024,the cities representing the top ten financial centers according to theGlobal Financial Centres Indexby the think tankChina Development Instituteand analytics firmZ/Yenare:

1. New York City
2. London
3. Singapore
4. Hong Kong
5. San Francisco
6. Shanghai
7. Geneva
8. Los Angeles
9. Chicago
10. Seoul

The Wealth Report

Estate agentKnight Frank LLPand theCiti Private BankpublishThe Wealth Report,which includes a "Global Cities Survey", evaluating the most important cities tohigh-net-worth individuals(HNWIs, having over $25 million of investable assets each). Criteria are economic activity,political power,knowledge and influence, and quality of life.The most important cities to UHNWIs in 2022 are:

1. London

2. Paris&New York City

4. Los Angeles

5. Tokyo

6. Chicago

7. Singapore

8. Hong Kong

9. Toronto

10. Beijing

Social rankings

The World's Most Talked About Cities

London-basedbuilt environmentcommunications firm ING Media ranked 250 cities by total online mentions acrosssocial mediaand online news. A fifth of digital mentions were for Tokyo, New York City, London, and Paris, identifying these as the world's super brands.Top cities in the 2019 edition are:

1. Tokyo
2. New York City
3. London
4. Paris
5. Madrid
6. Dubai
7. Rome
8. Barcelona
9. Seoul
10. Osaka

See also

• Caput Mundi
• City quality of life indices
• Ecumenopolis
• Financial centre
• Metropolitan and urban regions with the largest foreign-born populations
• Globalization
• List of cities by GDP
• Megalopolis
• Metropolis
• Primate city
• Ranally city rating system

External links

• Repository of Links Relating to Urban Places
• The World-System's City System: A Research AgendaArchived27 May 2006 at theWayback Machineby Jeffrey Kentor and Michael Timberlake of theUniversity of Utahand David Smith of University of California, Irvine
• UN-HABITAT.:. The State of the World's Cities