Globalization and World Cities Research Network
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[edit]
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.[why?] 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 has published city classifications in 1998, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2018 and 2020.[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.
2020 city classification[edit]
The cities in the 2020 classification are as follows.[5]
(1) or (
1) indicates a city moved one category up or down since the 2018 classification.[6]
Alpha[edit]
Alpha level cities are linked to major economic states and regions and into the world economy and are classified into four sections, Alpha ++, Alpha +, Alpha, and Alpha − cities.
Alpha ++[edit]
Alpha ++ cities are cities most integrated with the global economy:
Alpha +[edit]
Alpha + cities are highly integrated cities, filling advanced service needs:
Alpha[edit]
Alpha −[edit]
Beta[edit]
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 +[edit]
Beta[edit]
Abu Dhabi
Athens (
1)
Cape Town
Casablanca
Chennai
Chongqing (
1)
Denver
Hangzhou (
1)
Hanoi (
1)
Helsinki (
1)
Ho Chi Minh City (
1)
Karachi
Kyiv
Manama
Montevideo
Nairobi
Nanjing
Oslo
Panama City (
1)
Perth (
1)
Philadelphia
Rio de Janeiro
Seattle (
1)
Tianjin
Beta −[edit]
Almaty
Amman (
2)
Austin (
2)
Belgrade
Bratislava
Calgary (
1)
Caracas (
1)
Changsha
Dalian
Detroit (
1)
Dhaka
Edinburgh
Geneva
George Town
Guatemala City (
1)
Hyderabad (
1)
Jeddah
Jinan
Kampala
Kuwait City (
1)
Lagos (
1)
Lahore (
1)
Lyon
Manchester
Minneapolis (
1)
Monterrey
Muscat (
1)
Nicosia
Osaka (
1)
Quito
Saint Petersburg (
2)
San Diego (
2)
San José
San Salvador
Shenyang
Sofia (
1)
Stuttgart
Tampa (
2)
Tunis
Wuhan (
1)
Xiamen
Xi'an (
1)
Zagreb (
1)
Zhengzhou (
1)
Gamma[edit]
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 +[edit]
Adelaide
Ahmedabad (
1)
Algiers (
1)
Antwerp (
1)
Baku (
1)
Baltimore (
1)
Belfast (
1)
Charlotte (
1)
Cologne (
2)
Dar es Salaam
Glasgow
Guadalajara (
1)
Hefei (
1)
Islamabad (
1)
Kolkata (
1)
Kunming (
1)
Ljubljana (
1)
Medellín (
2)
Orlando (
2)
Phnom Penh (
2)
Phoenix (
1)
Porto (
1)
Pune
Qingdao (
1)
Riga
Rotterdam
San Jose (
1)
St. Louis (
1)
Suzhou (
1)
Tbilisi (
1)
Gamma[edit]
Gamma −[edit]
Accra (
2)
Asunción (
1)
Belo Horizonte
Bilbao (
1)
Cleveland (
2)
Columbus (
2)
Douala (
1)
Edmonton (
1)
Fuzhou
Harare (
2)
Harbin (
2)
Kaohsiung (
1)
Kansas City (
1)
Katowice (
2)
Lausanne (
1)
Limassol (
2)
Luanda (
1)
Málaga (
2)
Maputo
Milwaukee
Nagoya (
2)
Nassau (
1)
Port Louis (
3)
Penang
Poznań
Querétaro (
1)
Sacramento
Salt Lake City (
2)
Taiyuan (
1)
Sufficiency[edit]
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[edit]
Abidjan
Abuja
Birmingham (
4)
Brasília (
1)
Cincinnati (
1)
Curitiba (
1)
Dammam (
1)
Hartford
Indianapolis (
1)
Johor Bahru (
1)
Kraków (
1)
Leeds
Lusaka (
2)
Macau (
1)
Ningbo
Porto Alegre
Port of Spain (
1)
Puebla (
1)
Raleigh
San Antonio (
1)
Seville (
1)
Strasbourg (
1)
The Hague (
1)
Tijuana (
1)
Ulaanbaatar (
1)
Yangon (
1)
Yerevan (
1)
Sufficiency[edit]
Aarhus
Aberdeen
Aguascalientes City
Alexandria
Baghdad
Bandar Seri Begawan
Barranquilla
Basel
Bergen
Bern[i]
Birmingham
Bishkek[i]
Blantyre
Bologna
Bordeaux
Brazzaville[i]
Bremen
Buffalo
Bursa
Busan[i]
Cali
Campinas
Canberra
Cardiff
Cebu City
Changchun
Chihuahua[i]
Chișinău
Christchurch
Ciudad Juárez
Córdoba
Des Moines
Dortmund
Dresden
Dushanbe
Essen[i]
Florence (
1)
Fukuoka
Gaborone (
1)
Genoa
Goiânia
Graz
Grenoble
Guiyang
Haifa[i]
Halifax
Hamilton
Hanover
Harrisburg[i]
Hobart[i]
Hohhot
Honolulu[i]
Hsinchu[i]
İzmir (
1)
Jacksonville
Jerusalem
Kabul
Kazan
Kigali
Kingston
Kinshasa
Kobe[i]
Kochi
Kyoto[i]
Labuan (
1)
Lanzhou
Las Vegas (
1)
Leipzig
León
Libreville
Liège
Lille
Linz
Liverpool
Łódź
Lomé[i]
Louisville
Malacca[i]
Mannheim[i]
Marseille
Memphis
Mérida
Mexicali
Minsk (
2)
Montpellier
Nanchang
Nanning
Naples
New Orleans
Newcastle upon Tyne
Nice
Nottingham
Novosibirsk
Nur-Sultan
Nuremberg
Oklahoma City
Omaha[i]
Palermo[i]
Palo Alto
Pittsburgh
Podgorica
Port Elizabeth
Port Harcourt
Portland
Port Moresby[i]
Pretoria
Quebec City
Recife
Reykjavík
Richmond
Rochester
Rosario
Salvador[i]
San Luis Potosí City
San Pedro Sula
Sanaa
Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Sapporo[i]
Sarajevo
Saskatoon[i]
Sendai[i]
Sheffield[i]
Shijiazhuang
Skopje (
1)
Southampton (
1)
Surabaya (
1)
Suva[i]
Tainan[i]
Tallinn (
3)
Tashkent
Toulouse
Trieste
Tulsa
Ürümqi
Utrecht
Valencia
Valparaíso
Vientiane
Windhoek
Winnipeg
Wuxi
Yokohama[i]
Zhuhai
No longer classified[edit]
The following cities were included in the 2018 edition, but not in the 2020 edition:
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ 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 0-7546-4829-X. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
- ^ "GaWC City Link Classification 2018". Lboro.ac.uk. 13 November 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ^ "The World According to GaWC". GaWC - Research Network. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
- ^ "The World According to GaWC 2020". GaWC - Research Network. Globalization and World Cities. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
- ^ "The World According to GaWC 2018". GaWC - Research Network. Globalization and World Cities. Retrieved 28 December 2020.