Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss
What is a "Global City"? (e.g. London, NYC, Paris, Sydney...)
8 views
Skip to first unread message
Berkeley Brett
Nov 19, 2011, 4:01:09 AM11/19/11
to
I hope you are all well & in good spirits.
Until recently, I was unaware of the technical meaning of the phrase
"global city." Perhaps the phrase is presently too technical for
general usage, but since it could easily become a part of public
conversation, I consider it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_city
=== begin quoted text ===
[numeric references in the Wikipedia article]
A global city (also called world city or sometimes alpha city or world
center) is a city that is deemed to be an important node in the global
economic system. The concept comes from geography and urban studies
and rests on the idea that globalization can be understood as largely
created, facilitated and enacted in strategic geographic locales
according to a hierarchy of importance to the operation of the global
system of finance and trade.
The most complex of these entities is the "global city", whereby the
linkages binding a city have a direct and tangible effect on global
affairs through socio-economic means.[1] The terminology of "global
city", as opposed to megacity, was popularized by the sociologist
Saskia Sassen in reference to her 1991 work, "The Global City: New
York, London, Tokyo"[2] though the term "world city" to describe
cities which control a disproportionate amount of global business
dates to at least May 1886, to a description of Liverpool by the
Illustrated London News.[3] Patrick Geddes also used the term "world
city" later in 1915.[4] Cities can fall from such categorization, as
in the case of cities that have become less cosmopolitan and less
internationally renowned in the current era, e.g., Kaliningrad,
Russia; Thessaloniki, Greece; and Alexandria, Egypt.... [much more in
the article]
=== end quoted text ===
In the Wikipedia article, global cities are broken down into "alpha,"
"beta," and "gamma" categories, with subdivisions of each of these.
There are only TWO "Alpha++" cities in the world according to the
article:
Alpha++ cities:
London, New York City
Alpha+ cities:
Chicago, Dubai, Hong Kong, Paris, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and
Tokyo
Alpha cities:
Amsterdam, Beijing, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Frankfurt, Jakarta, Kuala
Lumpur, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan, Moscow, Mumbai, San
Francisco, São Paulo, Seoul, Toronto and Washington [D.C.]
Alpha- cities:
Atlanta, Bangkok, Barcelona, Boston, Dallas, Dublin, Istanbul,
Johannesburg, Lisbon, Melbourne, Miami, Munich, New Delhi,
Philadelphia, Santiago, Taipei, Vienna, Warsaw and Zurich
Beta+ cities:
Athens, Bangalore, Berlin, Bogota, Cairo, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf,
Hamburg, Houston, Manila, Montreal, Prague, Rome, Stockholm, Tel Aviv
and Vancouver
[more subdivisions in the article]
Well, your thoughts on the phrase "global city" are most welcome....
--
Brett (in Berkeley, California, USA)
http://www.ForeverFunds.org/
My plan for saving the world!
(Micro-trusts & Micro-Endowments that survive you)
Until recently, I was unaware of the technical meaning of the phrase
"global city." Perhaps the phrase is presently too technical for
general usage, but since it could easily become a part of public
conversation, I consider it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_city
=== begin quoted text ===
[numeric references in the Wikipedia article]
A global city (also called world city or sometimes alpha city or world
center) is a city that is deemed to be an important node in the global
economic system. The concept comes from geography and urban studies
and rests on the idea that globalization can be understood as largely
created, facilitated and enacted in strategic geographic locales
according to a hierarchy of importance to the operation of the global
system of finance and trade.
The most complex of these entities is the "global city", whereby the
linkages binding a city have a direct and tangible effect on global
affairs through socio-economic means.[1] The terminology of "global
city", as opposed to megacity, was popularized by the sociologist
Saskia Sassen in reference to her 1991 work, "The Global City: New
York, London, Tokyo"[2] though the term "world city" to describe
cities which control a disproportionate amount of global business
dates to at least May 1886, to a description of Liverpool by the
Illustrated London News.[3] Patrick Geddes also used the term "world
city" later in 1915.[4] Cities can fall from such categorization, as
in the case of cities that have become less cosmopolitan and less
internationally renowned in the current era, e.g., Kaliningrad,
Russia; Thessaloniki, Greece; and Alexandria, Egypt.... [much more in
the article]
=== end quoted text ===
In the Wikipedia article, global cities are broken down into "alpha,"
"beta," and "gamma" categories, with subdivisions of each of these.
There are only TWO "Alpha++" cities in the world according to the
article:
Alpha++ cities:
London, New York City
Alpha+ cities:
Chicago, Dubai, Hong Kong, Paris, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and
Tokyo
Alpha cities:
Amsterdam, Beijing, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Frankfurt, Jakarta, Kuala
Lumpur, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan, Moscow, Mumbai, San
Francisco, São Paulo, Seoul, Toronto and Washington [D.C.]
Alpha- cities:
Atlanta, Bangkok, Barcelona, Boston, Dallas, Dublin, Istanbul,
Johannesburg, Lisbon, Melbourne, Miami, Munich, New Delhi,
Philadelphia, Santiago, Taipei, Vienna, Warsaw and Zurich
Beta+ cities:
Athens, Bangalore, Berlin, Bogota, Cairo, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf,
Hamburg, Houston, Manila, Montreal, Prague, Rome, Stockholm, Tel Aviv
and Vancouver
[more subdivisions in the article]
Well, your thoughts on the phrase "global city" are most welcome....
--
Brett (in Berkeley, California, USA)
http://www.ForeverFunds.org/
My plan for saving the world!
(Micro-trusts & Micro-Endowments that survive you)
Mike Lyle
Nov 19, 2011, 6:31:06 PM11/19/11
to
On Sat, 19 Nov 2011 01:01:09 -0800 (PST), Berkeley Brett
<roya...@gmail.com> wrote:
>I hope you are all well & in good spirits.
>
>Until recently, I was unaware of the technical meaning of the phrase
>"global city." Perhaps the phrase is presently too technical for
>general usage, but since it could easily become a part of public
>conversation, I consider it here:
>
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_city
[...]
<roya...@gmail.com> wrote:
>I hope you are all well & in good spirits.
>
>Until recently, I was unaware of the technical meaning of the phrase
>"global city." Perhaps the phrase is presently too technical for
>general usage, but since it could easily become a part of public
>conversation, I consider it here:
>
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_city
>
>Well, your thoughts on the phrase "global city" are most welcome....
I object to this use of "global" in almost all cases. "The globe" for
>Well, your thoughts on the phrase "global city" are most welcome....
"the planet Earth" is fine for stylistic variety, but a city can't
really be global. A company could be said to have a "global market",
and conceivably even be called "a global company"; but a city of its
nature can't be world-wide. I do think it's reasonable to stretch as
far as calling it something like "international", though.
We shouldn't lose very useful expressions such as "global sum".
--
Mike.
Peter Brooks
Nov 19, 2011, 11:47:11 PM11/19/11
to
has balls? London, of course, doesn't have balls any more, Brenda
removed them some time back, along with the Debs.
0 new messages