Page 58 - The World About Us

New York
1.1.1
2.2.4

What is a ‘world city’ and where are they located?

Not all ‘world ci es’ are megaci es
but they are nonetheless very London
Moscow
important loca ons in the world today. London (8) Moscow (5)
Chicago (5)
Beijing (4)
Also referred to as ‘alpha ci es’ or San Francisco New York (12) Paris (6.5) Berlin (3) Beijing Tokyo (11)
New York
Instanbul
Tokyo
Philadelphia (3)
‘global ci es’, world ci es hold a L.A. Washington D.C. Osaka (3.5)
Los Angeles (4) New Delhi
central loca on in the modern global Tel Aviv Dubai Shanghai (6)
Taipei
economy. Calcutta (4.5)
Mumbai Bangkok Manila
While there is no interna onally-
Kuala Lumpur
recognised defini on of a world city, Singapore
most tend to display many of the
City Jakarta
following features.
Designation
¤ The existence of financial Alpha ++ Rio De Janiero (3)
headquarters, a stock exchange, and Alpha + Johannesburg
Buenos Aires
other major financial ins tu ons. Buenos Aires (5) Sydney
Alpha Melbourne
¤ A variety of interna onal financial City (population to nearest half million)
services from banking and insurance to Alpha -
accountancy and marke ng.
fig.160 World Ci es as designated by the Globalisa on and World Ci es Research Network.
¤ The headquarters of several
mul national corpora ons. ¤ High percentage of the popula on within the rapidly expanding
employed in the services and economies of East Asia.
¤ Domina ng the economy of a large
informa on sectors.
surrounding area. The two most important world
¤ Major manufacturing centre, with ¤ High-quality educa onal ins tu ons, ci es, according to the Globalisa on
including renowned universi es with and World Ci es Research Network
port and container facili es within or
close by. large interna onal student numbers (GaWC), are New York and London.
and world-class research facili es. These two ci es are described by
¤ Considerable decision-making GaWC as Alpha++ ci es because of
power on a na onal, regional and ¤ High quality infrastructure offering their deep integra on with, and global
interna onal level. the best legal, medical and importance to, the world economy.
entertainment facili es in the country.
¤ A centre for new ideas and World ci es are not just dominant
innova on in business, economics, ¤ World cities are found in every in the world economy but they are also
culture and poli cs. con nent but are most commonly in compe on with other world ci es
clustered in the Advanced Coun es of
¤ A centre for global media and Europe and North America, as well as to a ract investment, skilled labour
communica ons networks. and to maintain other compe ve
fig.161 The New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street is a centre for world capital flows.
KEY TERMS

Financial services: services such as
banking, insurance and trading in stocks
and shares. These services become
increasingly important in world cities due
to their ability to generate large profits.

Megacity: a city or conurbation with a
population exceeding ten million.
Urbanisation: the process by which
towns and cities grow, by both increasing
population size and by covering larger
geographical area.
World City: also referred to as alpha
cities, they occupy a central location in
the world economy.

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The majority of the world’s population now live in urban areas.