A global city[a] is a city that serves as a primary node in the global economic network. The concept originates from geography and urban studies, based on the thesis that globalization has created a hierarchy of strategic geographic locations with varying degrees of influence over finance, trade, and culture worldwide.[1] 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 global socioeconomic affairs.[2]
The criteria of a global city vary depending on the source.[3] Common features include a high degree of urban development, a large population, the presence of major multinational companies, a significant and globalized financial sector, a well-developed and internationally linked transportation infrastructure, local or national economic dominance, high quality educational and research institutions, and a globally influential output of ideas, innovations, or cultural products. Quintessential examples, based on most indices and research, include New York City, London, Paris, and Tokyo.
Origin and terminology
The term 'global city' was popularized by sociologistSaskia Sassen in her 1991 book, The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo.[4] 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 of Liverpool, by The Illustrated London News;[5] British sociologist and geographerPatrick Geddes used the term in 1915.[6] The term 'megacity' entered common use in the late 19th or early 20th century, the earliest known example being a publication by the University of Texas in 1904.[7] In the 21st century, the terms are usually focused on a city's financial power and high technology infrastructure.[8][9]
Competing groups have devised competing means to classify and rank world cities and to distinguish them from other cities.[6] Although there is a consensus on the leading world cities,[11] the chosen criteria affect which other cities are included.[6] Selection criteria may be based on a yardstick value (e.g., if the producer-service sector is the largest sector then city X is a world city)[6] 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.)[6] Although criteria are variable and fluid, typical characteristics of world cities include:[12]
Advisory firm Oxford Economics released 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, and governance) with more weight on economic factors. The top ranked cities in 2024 are:[25]
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.[26][27] The top 10 cities in 2023 are:[26]
Consultancy firm Resonance publishes the World’s Best Cities ranking. They are ranked in three categories: livability, lovability and prosperity, each of them using different factors. The top 10 cities in 2024 are:[28]
Estate agentKnight Frank LLP and the Citi Private Bank publish The Wealth Report, which includes a "Global Cities Survey", evaluating the most important cities to high-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.[31][32] The most important cities to UHNWIs in 2022 are:[33]
^ abcdeDoel, M., & Hubbard, P., (2002), "Taking World Cities Literally: Marketing the City in a Global Space of flows", City, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 351–368. Subscription required.
^"Struggling Giants". University of Minnesota Press. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
^Abrahamson, Mark (2004). Global cities(PDF) (1st ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 4. ISBN978-0195142044. Archived(PDF) from the original on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
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