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.
The term 'global city' was popularized by sociologist Saskia 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 geographer Patrick 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]
Global city rankings are numerous. [15] New York City, London, Tokyo, and Paris are the most commonly mentioned. [16] [17]
The Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) is a think tank that studies the relationships between world cities in the context of globalization . It is based in the geography department of Loughborough University in Leicestershire , United Kingdom . GaWC was founded by Peter J. Taylor in 1998. [18] Together with Jon Beaverstock and Richard G. Smith , they create the GaWC's biennial categorization of world cities into "Alpha", "Beta" and "Gamma" tiers, based upon their international connectedness. [19] The cities in the top two classifications in the 2024 edition are: [20]
In 2008, the American journal Foreign Policy , working with the 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. [21] [22] The ranking is based on 27 metrics across five dimensions: business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience, and political engagement. [23] The top ranked cities in 2024 are: [24]
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]
Strength as a financial center has become one of the pre-eminent indicators of a global city's ranking. As of 2024, [29] the cities representing the top ten financial centers according to the Global Financial Centres Index by the think tank China Development Institute and analytics firm Z/Yen are: [30]
Estate agent Knight 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]
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan. With a population of over 14 million residents within the city proper as of 2023, it is one of the most populous urban areas in the world. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo and parts of six neighboring prefectures, is the most-populous metropolitan area in the world, with 41 million residents as of 2024.
Changsha is the capital of Hunan, China. It is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, and the third-most populous city in Central China, located in the lower reaches of the Xiang River in northeastern Hunan.
The China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) is a Chinese state-owned multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Beijing, China. It is one of the "big four" banks in China, and is the third largest bank in the world by total assets behind the Agricultural Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. The bank has approximately 13,629 domestic branches. In addition, it maintains overseas branches in London, Barcelona, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, New York City, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo, Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur, Santiago de Chile, Brisbane, Sydney and Auckland. Its total assets reached CN¥ 8.7 trillion in 2009, and it is considered a systemically important bank by the Financial Stability Board. Its headquarters is in Xicheng District.
City Quality of Life Indices are lists of cities that are ranked according to a defined measure of living conditions. In addition to considering the provision of clean water, clean air, adequate food and shelter, many indexes also measure more subjective elements including a city's capacity to generate a sense of community and offer hospitable settings for all, especially young people, to develop social skills, a sense of autonomy and identity.
Saskia Sassen is a Dutch-American sociologist noted for her analyses of globalization and international human migration. She is a professor of sociology at Columbia University in New York City, and the London School of Economics. The term global city was coined and popularized by Sassen in her 1991 work, The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo.
Addleshaw Goddard LLP is an international law firm headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. It is structured as a fully integrated LLP and has more than 1,700 lawyers including 429 partners in 19 offices located in Aberdeen, Berlin, Doha, Dubai, Dublin, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Hamburg, Leeds, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Manchester, Munich, Muscat, Paris, Riyadh and Singapore and an affiliated office in Tokyo. The firm advises FTSE 100 and other major companies across corporate, commercial, finance and project, real estate and litigation business divisions with specialist fields such as private capital; energy, financial services, health and life sciences, real estate, retail and consumer, construction and transport sectors; and has a strong interest in tech.
A financial centre or financial hub is a location with a significant concentration of participants in banking asset management, insurance, and financial markets, with venues and supporting services for these activities to take place. Participants can include financial intermediaries, institutional investors, and issuers. Trading activity can take place on venues such as exchanges and involve clearing houses, although many transactions take place over-the-counter (OTC), directly between participants. Financial centres usually host companies that offer a wide range of financial services, for example relating to mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, or corporate actions; or which participate in other areas of finance, such as private equity, hedge funds, and reinsurance. Ancillary financial services include rating agencies, as well as provision of related professional services, particularly legal advice and accounting services.
The economy of London is dominated by service industries, particularly financial services and associated professional services, which have strong links with the economy in other parts of the United Kingdom (UK) and internationally. In addition to being the capital city of the United Kingdom, London is one of the world's leading financial centres for international business and commerce and is one of the "command centres" for the global economy.
The economy of Manchester is among the largest in England. Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester. It lies within the United Kingdom's second-most populous urban area, with a population of 2.55 million. Manchester's commercial centre is in Manchester city centre, focused on Spinningfields, Mosley Street, Deansgate, King Street and Piccadilly Gardens.
The following are the international rankings of Jordan.
The Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) ranks the competitiveness of financial centres based on over 29,000 assessments from an online questionnaire and over 100 indices from organisations such as the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the Economist Intelligence Unit. The first index was published in March 2007. It has been jointly published twice per year by the London-based think tank Z/Yen and the China Development Institute since 2015. It is widely quoted as a top source for ranking financial centres.
The following are International rankings of France.
The following are international rankings of Egypt.
Economic restructuring is used to indicate changes in the constituent parts of an economy in a very general sense. In the western world, it is usually used to refer to the phenomenon of urban areas shifting from a manufacturing to a service sector economic base. It has profound implications for productive capacities and competitiveness of cities and regions. This transformation has affected demographics including income distribution, employment, and social hierarchy; institutional arrangements including the growth of the corporate complex, specialized producer services, capital mobility, informal economy, nonstandard work, and public outlays; as well as geographic spacing including the rise of world cities, spatial mismatch, and metropolitan growth differentials.
The following lists show India's international rankings in various fields and topic
The following are some international rankings for Singapore.
NyLon is the concept of New York City and London as twin cities—the financial, commercial and cultural capitals of the Anglo-American world. There is a community of high-earning professionals who commute between these cities on the busy transatlantic air route. To satisfy the tastes of this common community, businesses such as Time Out and Conran establish branches in both cities.
The Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) is a think tank that studies the relationships between world cities in the context of globalization. It is based in the geography department of Loughborough University in Leicestershire, United Kingdom. GaWC was founded by Peter J. Taylor in 1998. Together with Jon Beaverstock and Richard G. Smith, they create the GaWC's biennial categorization of world cities into "Alpha", "Beta" and "Gamma" tiers, based upon their international connectedness.
The economy of Beijing ranks among the most developed and prosperous cities in China. In 2013, the municipality's nominal gross domestic product (GDP) was CN¥1.95 trillion. It was about 3.43% of the country's total output, and ranked 13th among province-level administrative units. Per capita GDP, at CN¥93,213 (US$15,051) in nominal terms and Int $21,948 at purchasing power parity, was 2.2 times the national average and ranked second among province-level administrative units.
The following are international rankings of Shanghai by categories.