the world city: overview

The World City: overview

Urban Geography – Urban Systems

Ranking of Census MSAs (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) of U.S., 2005

MSAs with populations over 2 million (right)

24 more MSAs have pops between 1 and 2 million

47 more between 500,000 and 1 million

74 more between 250,000 and 500,000

169 more between 100,000 and 250,000

Primate City

• One dominate city in a country or region.

• There is usually not an obvious second city

• Example - Paris France - 8.7 million next city Marseille - 1.2 million

Top Ten Cities,1950 (estimated from various sources)City Pop (in millions) Lat Long

New York, USA 12.3 40 N 74 WLondon, UK 8.7 52 N 0Tokyo, Japan 6.9 35 N 135 EParis, France 5.4 49 N 2 EMoscow, USSR 5.4 56 N 37 EShanghai, China 5.3 31 N 121 EEssen (Ruhr), Germany 5.3 51 N 7 EBuenos Aires, Argentina 5.0 34 S 58 WChicago, USA 4.9 41 N 87 WCalcutta (Kolkata), India 4.4 22 N 88 E

Plot these cities to see where the world’s ten largest cities were located in 1950. Symbolize each

with a circle .

World Urban System

Top Ten Cities, 2015 (estimated from various sources)City Pop (in millions) Lat Long

Tokyo, Japan 28.9 35 N 135 EMumbai (Bombay), India26.2 19 N 73 ELagos, Nigeria 24.6 6 N 3 ESão Paulo, Brazil 20.3 23 S 46 WDhaka, Bangladesh 19.5 23 N 90 EKarachi, Pakistan 19.4 25 N 69 EMexico City, Mexico 19.2 19 N 99 WShanghai, China 18.0 31 N 121 ENew York, USA 17.6 40 N 74 WKolkata (Calcutta), India17.3 22 N 88 E

Plot these cities on the world map to see where the ten world’s most populated cities will be in 2015.

Symbolize each with a square .

Place an X on each city as it is named on the following 12 lists. Each list identifies the top 5 cities as ranked according to its provision of certain services (Taylor 2005).

As cities are named more than once, just keep adding more X’s.

Banking $London

New YorkTokyo

Hong KongSingapore

Producer Services $London

New YorkHong Kong

ParisTokyo

Management New YorkLondonParis

MadridStockholm

Law London

New YorkFrankfurt

Hong KongWashington DC

Insurance London

New YorkHong KongLos Angeles

Paris

Advertising New YorkLondon

Hong KongTorontoSydney

Media ♫

LondonNew York

ParisLos Angeles

Milan

Architecture/Engineering

London

New YorkBeijing

SingaporeShanghai

United Nations

Agencies GenevaBrussels

Addis AbabaCairo

Bangkok

National Diplomatic

Missions Washington DC

New YorkLondonTokyoParis

Humanitarian & Environmental NGOs

NairobiBrusselsBangkokLondon

New Delhi

Scientific Research London

Los AngelesSan Francisco

BostonBasel

GenevaNew York

“World cities are not simply the world’s largest … cities. Rather, they are the control centers for the global economy, places where critical decision making and interaction take place with regard to global economic, cultural, and political issues” (Knox and Marston 2001, p. 426).

“WORLD CITIES”

World Dominant Cities

US Dominant Cities