Globalization and World Cities Research Network
File:Globalization and World Cities Research Network Logo.png | |
Established | 1998 |
---|---|
Director | Peter J. Taylor |
Location | Loughborough, United Kingdom |
Website | lboro.ac.uk/gawc |
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.[1] 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.[2]
GaWC city classification
The GaWC examines cities worldwide to narrow them down to a roster of world cities, then ranks these based on their connectivity through four "advanced producer services": accountancy, advertising, banking/finance, and law.[3] The GaWC inventory ranks city economics more heavily than political or cultural factors. Beyond the categories of "Alpha" world cities (with four sub-categories), "Beta" world cities (three sub-categories), and "Gamma" world cities (three sub-categories), the GaWC cities include additional cities at "High sufficiency" and "Sufficiency" level. GaWC published city classifications in 1998, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024.[4] The 2004 rankings added 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 list has been prone to change in the ranks. For example, some cities that were selected prior to 2018, such as the United States cities of Greensboro and Providence, are no longer classified as sufficient level.[5][6]
2024 city classification
The classification results for 2020 are derived from the activities of 175 leading firms providing advanced producer services across 802 cities worldwide. The results should be interpreted as indicating the importance of cities as nodes in the world city network (i.e. enabling corporate globalization).[8] The cities in the 2024 classification are as follows, listed in alphabetical order per section:[9] (Increase1) or (Decrease1) indicates a city moved one category up or down since the 2022 classification.[10]
Alpha
Alpha level cities are linked to major economic states/regions and highly integrated into the world economy. Alpha level cities are classified into four sections: Alpha ++, Alpha +, Alpha, and Alpha − cities.
Alpha ++
Alpha ++ cities are cities most integrated with the global economy:
Alpha +
Alpha + are "other highly integrated cities that complement London and New York, largely filling in advanced service needs for the Pacific/Asia [region]":[11]
Alpha
- Netherlands Amsterdam
- Thailand Bangkok (Increase1)
- United States Chicago
- Germany Frankfurt
- China Guangzhou (Increase1)
- Turkey Istanbul
- Indonesia Jakarta
- Malaysia Kuala Lumpur
- United States Los Angeles
- Spain Madrid
- Mexico Mexico City
- Italy Milan
- India Mumbai
- Brazil São Paulo
- South Korea Seoul
- Canada Toronto
- Poland Warsaw
Alpha −
- Germany Berlin
- United States Boston
- Belgium Brussels (Decrease1)
- Argentina Buenos Aires
- Republic of Ireland Dublin
- Germany Düsseldorf (Increase1)
- United States Houston (Increase1)
- South Africa Johannesburg
- Portugal Lisbon
- Luxembourg Luxembourg City (Decrease1)
- Australia Melbourne
- Germany Munich
- India New Delhi
- Saudi Arabia Riyadh
- United States San Francisco
- Chile Santiago
- China Shenzhen
- Sweden Stockholm
- Taiwan Taipei
- Austria Vienna
- United States Washington, D.C.
- Switzerland Zürich
Beta
Beta level cities are cities that link moderate economic regions to the world economy and are classified into three sections: Beta +, Beta, and Beta − cities.
Beta +
- Greece Athens
- United States Atlanta
- New Zealand Auckland
- India Bengaluru (Increase1)
- Spain Barcelona
- Colombia Bogotá (Decrease1)
- Romania Bucharest
- Hungary Budapest
- China Chengdu
- United States Dallas
- Qatar Doha
- Germany Hamburg
- China Hangzhou
- Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City (Decrease1)
- Peru Lima
- United States Miami
- Canada Montreal
- Czech Republic Prague (Decrease1)
- Italy Rome
- China Tianjin
Beta
- United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi
- Australia Brisbane
- Egypt Cairo (Decrease1)
- Canada Calgary (Increase1)
- China Chongqing
- Denmark Copenhagen (Decrease1)
- China Dalian (Increase1)
- Switzerland Geneva
- Vietnam Hanoi (Decrease1)
- China Jinan
- Ukraine Kyiv (Decrease1)
- Bahrain Manama
- Philippines Manila (Decrease2)
- Kenya Nairobi (Decrease1)
- China Nanjing
- Norway Oslo (Increase1)
- Australia Perth
- China Shenyang (Increase1)
- China Suzhou (Increase2)
- Israel Tel Aviv (Decrease2)
- China Wuhan (Increase1)
- China Xiamen (Increase1)
- China Zhengzhou (Increase2)
Beta −
- Lebanon Beirut (Decrease1)
- Serbia Belgrade
- Slovakia Bratislava (Decrease1)
- Venezuela Caracas (Decrease1)
- Morocco Casablanca (Decrease2)
- China Changsha
- India Chennai (Increase1)
- United States Denver (Decrease1)
- China Hefei (Increase2)
- Finland Helsinki (Decrease1)
- Pakistan Karachi (Decrease1)
- China Kunming (Increase1)
- Nigeria Lagos (Decrease1)
- France Lyon (Increase1)
- United Kingdom Manchester (Increase1)
- Uruguay Montevideo (Decrease2)
- Cyprus Nicosia
- Panama Panama City (Decrease1)
- United States Philadelphia
- Mauritius Port Louis (Increase6)
- China Qingdao (Increase1)
- Brazil Rio de Janeiro (Decrease1)
- United States Seattle (Decrease1)
- Bulgaria Sofia (Decrease1)
- Germany Stuttgart
- Canada Vancouver (Decrease1)
- China Xi'an (Increase2)
- Croatia Zagreb
Gamma
Gamma level cities are cities that link smaller economic regions into the world economy and are classified into three sections: Gamma +, Gamma, and Gamma − cities.
Gamma +
- Australia Adelaide (Increase1)
- Kazakhstan Almaty (Decrease2)
- Jordan Amman
- Belgium Antwerp
- United States Austin
- South Africa Cape Town (Decrease2)
- Sri Lanka Colombo (Increase1)
- Bangladesh Dhaka (Decrease2)
- China Fuzhou (Increase2)
- Guatemala Guatemala City
- India Hyderabad (Increase1)
- Kuwait Kuwait City (Decrease1)
- Pakistan Lahore
- United States Minneapolis
- Portugal Porto
- Netherlands Rotterdam
- United States San Diego
- Dominican Republic Santo Domingo
- China Taiyuan (Increase2)
- Tunisia Tunis (Decrease1)
Gamma
- India Ahmedabad (Increase2)
- United Kingdom Birmingham (Increase2)
- Italy Bologna (Increase3)
- United Kingdom Bristol (Increase1)
- United States Detroit (Decrease1)
- China Haikou (Increase1)
- China Harbin (Increase1)
- Pakistan Islamabad
- Uganda Kampala
- Mexico Monterrey (Decrease1)
- Oman Muscat (Decrease1)
- United States Nashville (Increase2)
- China Ningbo (Increase2)
- Japan Osaka
- Cambodia Phnom Penh
- India Pune (Decrease1)
- Ecuador Quito (Decrease2)
- Latvia Riga (Increase1)
- Costa Rica San José (Decrease3)
- United States San Jose (Increase1)
- El Salvador San Salvador
- United States Tampa (Increase1)
- Georgia (country) Tbilisi
- Honduras Tegucigalpa (Increase2)
- Albania Tirana (Increase1)
Gamma −
- Ghana Accra (Decrease2)
- Azerbaijan Baku
- United States Baltimore (Increase1)
- Spain Bilbao (Increase1)
- Colombia Cali (Increase2)
- China Changchun (Increase1)
- United States Charlotte
- United States Cleveland (Increase1)
- Tanzania Dar es Salaam (Decrease2)
- United Kingdom Edinburgh
- Saudi Arabia Jeddah (Decrease1)
- Poland Katowice (Increase2)
- Malaysia Labuan (Increase2)
- Slovenia Ljubljana (Increase1)
- Nicaragua Managua
- France Marseille (Increase1)
- China Nanchang (Increase1)
- Malaysia Penang (Increase1)
- United States Pittsburgh (Increase1)
- Poland Poznań (Increase2)
- United States St. Louis (Decrease2)
- Indonesia Surabaya (Increase2)
- Italy Turin (Increase2)
- Spain Valencia (Decrease2)
- New Zealand Wellington (Increase1)
Sufficiency
Sufficiency level cities are cities that have a sufficient degree of services so as not to be overly dependent on world cities. This is sorted into high sufficiency cities and sufficiency cities.
High sufficiency
- Algeria Algiers
- United Kingdom Belfast
- United States Cincinnati (Increase1)
- Senegal Dakar (Decrease1)
- United Kingdom Glasgow (Increase1)
- Sweden Gothenburg (Decrease1)
- Mexico Guadalajara
- Ecuador Guayaquil
- Zimbabwe Harare (Decrease2)
- United States Hartford (Increase1)
- United States Indianapolis (Increase1)
- Turkey İzmir (Increase1)
- United States Kansas City
- Bolivia La Paz
- United Kingdom Leeds (Increase1)
- Cyprus Limassol (Increase1)
- Zambia Lusaka (Decrease2)
- Macau Macau[lower-roman 1]
- Mozambique Maputo
- United States Phoenix
- Mexico Querétaro
- United States Raleigh (Increase1)
- China Shijiazhuang (Increase1)
- North Macedonia Skopje (Increase1)
- Lithuania Vilnius (Increase1)
- China Zhuhai (Increase1)
Sufficiency
- Denmark Aarhus
- United Kingdom Aberdeen
- Ivory Coast Abidjan (Decrease1)
- Nigeria Abuja
- Egypt Alexandria
- Turkey Ankara (Decrease1)
- Kazakhstan Astana
- Paraguay Asunción (Decrease1)
- China Baoding[lower-roman 1]
- Colombia Barranquilla
- Switzerland Basel
- Brazil Belo Horizonte
- Norway Bergen
- Switzerland Bern
- United States Birmingham[lower-roman 1]
- Malawi Blantyre
- France Bordeaux
- Brazil Brasília (Decrease1)
- Brazil Campinas
- Australia Canberra
- Philippines Cebu City
- New Zealand Christchurch
- Mexico Ciudad Juárez
- Germany Cologne (Decrease2)
- United States Columbus
- Argentina Córdoba
- Brazil Curitiba (Decrease1)
- United States Des Moines
- China Dongguan[lower-roman 1]
- Cameroon Douala (Decrease2)
- Germany Dresden
- South Africa Durban (Decrease1)
- Canada Edmonton
- Italy Florence[lower-roman 1]
- China Foshan
- Botswana Gaborone
- Italy Genoa
- Cayman Islands George Town
- China Guiyang
- Canada Halifax
- Bermuda Hamilton
- Germany Hanover
- China Hohhot
- United States Jacksonville
- Malaysia Johor Bahru
- Taiwan Kaohsiung
- India Kolkata (Decrease1)
- Poland Kraków (Decrease1)
- China Lanzhou
- United States Las Vegas
- Switzerland Lausanne
- Germany Leipzig
- Gabon Libreville
- Belgium Liège
- France Lille
- Austria Linz
- United Kingdom Liverpool
- Poland Łódź
- United States Louisville
- Angola Luanda (Decrease1)
- Spain Málaga
- Sweden Malmö
- Germany Mannheim
- Colombia Medellín (Decrease2)
- United States Memphis[lower-roman 1]
- United States Milwaukee (Decrease1)
- Russia Moscow (Decrease1)
- Japan Nagoya
- China Nanning
- France Nantes
- Italy Naples
- The Bahamas Nassau (Decrease1)
- United Kingdom Newcastle upon Tyne
- France Nice
- United Kingdom Nottingham
- Germany Nuremberg
- United States Oklahoma City
- United States Orlando
- Canada Ottawa
- United States Palo Alto
- Montenegro Podgorica
- Trinidad and Tobago Port of Spain
- United States Portland
- Brazil Porto Alegre
- Mexico Puebla
- Brazil Recife
- United States Richmond
- United States Sacramento
- United States Salt Lake City
- Brazil Salvador[lower-roman 1]
- United States San Antonio
- Puerto Rico San Juan (Decrease4)
- Mexico San Luis Potosí City
- Honduras San Pedro Sula[lower-roman 1]
- Bolivia Santa Cruz de la Sierra
- Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo
- Spain Seville
- United Kingdom Southampton
- France Strasbourg
- Taiwan Taichung
- Estonia Tallinn (Decrease1)
- China Tangshan[lower-roman 1]
- Uzbekistan Tashkent
- Netherlands The Hague
- Mexico Tijuana
- France Toulouse
- United States Tulsa[lower-roman 1]
- Mongolia Ulaanbaatar
- China Ürümqi (Decrease1)
- Netherlands Utrecht
- Laos Vientiane[lower-roman 1]
- China Wenzhou[lower-roman 1]
- Namibia Windhoek
- Canada Winnipeg
- Poland Wrocław
- China Wuxi
- Myanmar Yangon (Decrease1)
- Armenia Yerevan
- China Yinchuan[lower-roman 1]
No longer classified
The following cities were included in 2022 edition, but not in the 2024 edition:
- Mexico Aguascalientes City
- Brunei Bandar Seri Begawan
- Kyrgyzstan Bishkek
- Germany Bremen
- United States Buffalo
- Turkey Bursa
- Saudi Arabia Dammam
- Germany Essen
- Japan Fukuoka
- France Grenoble
- Afghanistan Kabul
- Nepal Kathmandu
- Rwanda Kigali
- Jamaica Kingston
- India Kochi
- Mexico León
- Malawi Lilongwe
- Togo Lomé
- Mexico Mérida
- Mexico Mexicali
- South Africa Pretoria
- Canada Quebec City
- Iceland Reykjavík
- Yemen Sanaa
- Venezuela Valencia
See also
Notes
References
- ↑ Taylor, Peter J. (2004). World city network: a global urban analysis. Routledge. p. ix. ISBN 0-415-30249-8. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
- ↑ Donald, Stephanie; Gammack, John G. (2007). Tourism and the branded city. London: Ashgate Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-7546-4829-1. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
- ↑ "GaWC City Link Classification 2018". Lboro.ac.uk. 13 November 2018. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ↑ "The World According to GaWC". GaWC - Research Network. Archived from the original on 1 October 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
- ↑ "GaWC - The World According to GaWC 2010". www.lboro.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
- ↑ "GaWC - The World According to GaWC 2012". www.lboro.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
- ↑ "The World According to GaWC: World Cities 2024". Retrieved 29 October 2024.
- ↑ "The World According to GaWC 2024". Retrieved 29 October 2024.
- ↑ "The World According to GaWC: World Cities 2024". Retrieved 29 October 2024.
- ↑ "The World According to GaWC: World Cities 2022". Retrieved 29 October 2024.
- ↑ "GaWC - The World According to GaWC". www.lboro.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2022.