The Globalization and World Cities Research Network, commonly abbreviated to 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 bi-annual 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.
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.
2018 city classification
The cities in the 2018 classification are as follows.[4]
Cities which did not appear in the 2016 edition of the classification are marked with *.
Alpha
Alpha level cities are linked to major economic states and regions into the world economy, and are classified into four sections, Alpha ++, Alpha +, Alpha, and Alpha − cities.
Alpha ++
Alpha ++ cities are cities most integrated with the global economy:
Alpha +
Alpha + cities are highly integrated cities, filling advanced service needs:
Alpha
Alpha −
Beta
Beta level cities are cities that link moderate economic regions to the world economy and are classified in three sections, Beta +, Beta, and Beta − cities.
Beta +
Beta
Beta −
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 +
Gamma
Ahmedabad
Algiers*
Amman
Ankara
Asunción
Austin
Baku
Baltimore
Belfast
Bilbao
Bristol
Charlotte
Guadalajara
Hefei
Kolkata
Kunming
La Paz
Ljubljana
Luanda
Lusaka
Phoenix
Porto
Saint Petersburg
San Diego
San Jose
Santo Domingo
St. Louis
Taiyuan
Tallinn
Tampa
Tbilisi
Tegucigalpa
Turin
Vilnius
Wellington
Gamma −
Sufficiency
Sufficiency level cities are cities that have a sufficient degree of services so as not to be overtly dependent on world cities. This is sorted into High Sufficiency cities and Sufficiency cities.
High Sufficiency
Sufficiency
Aarhus
Aberdeen
Aguascalientes City
Alexandria*
Antananarivo
Baghdad*
Bandar Seri Begawan*
Barranquilla*
Basel
Bergen
Birmingham
Blantyre
Bologna
Bordeaux
Brasília
Bremen
Cebu City
Changchun
Chișinău
Christchurch
Cincinnati
Ciudad Juárez
Coimbatore
Columbus
Córdoba
Dammam
Des Moines
Dortmund
Dresden
Dushanbe*
Fukuoka
Genoa
Goiânia
Gothenburg
Graz
Grenoble
Guiyang*
The Hague
Haikou*
Halifax
Hamilton
Hanover
Harbin
Hohhot*
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Jerusalem
Faisalabad
Kathmandu*
Katowice
Kazan*
Kigali
Kingston
Kinshasa*
Kochi
Kraków
Lanzhou*
Leicester
Leipzig
León
Libreville
Liège
Lille
Limassol
Linz
Liverpool
Łódź
Louisville
Macau
Madison
Málaga
Malmö
Marseille
Memphis
Mérida
Mexicali
Montpellier
Nagoya
Nanchang*
Nanning
Nantong*
Naples
New Orleans
Newcastle upon Tyne
Nice
Nottingham*
Novosibirsk*
Nuremberg
Nur-Sultan*
Oklahoma City
Palo Alto
Pittsburgh
Podgorica
Port Elizabeth
Port Harcourt*
Port of Spain
Portland
Pretoria
Puebla
Quebec City
Recife
Reykjavík
Richmond
Rochester*
Rosario
Salt Lake City
San Luis Potosí*
San Pedro Sula
Sanaʽa
Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Sarajevo
Seville
Shijiazhuang*
Strasbourg
Taichung
Tashkent
Tijuana
Toulouse
Trivandrum
Trieste*
Tulsa
Ulaanbaatar
Ürümqi
Utrecht
Valencia
Valparaíso
Vientiane*
Weifang*
Windhoek
Winnipeg
Wuxi*
Xining*
Yerevan
Zhuhai*
No longer classified
The following cities were included in the 2016 edition, but not in the 2018 edition.
See also
References
- ^ Taylor, Peter J. (2004). World city network: a global urban analysis. Routledge. p. ix. ISBN 0-415-30249-8. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
- ^ Donald, Stephanie; Gammack, John G. (2007). Tourism and the branded city. London: Ashgate Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 0-7546-4829-X. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
- ^ "GaWC City Link Classification 2018". Lboro.ac.uk. 13 November 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ^ "The World According to GaWC 2018". Globalization and World Cities Research Network. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
External links
- Globalization and World Cities Research Network official website
Comments
For our ancestors who didn’t have the benefit of a world map...
10 min agoFor our ancestors who didn’t have the benefit of a world map...
Rizom - April,2018For our ancestors who didn’t have the benefit of a world map...
Rizom - April,2018For our ancestors who didn’t have the benefit of a world map...
Rizom - April,2018