The Brookings Institution's Global Cities Initiative recently released a report proposing a new definition for global cities, which is actually seven definitions.
Jesus Leal Trujillo and Joseph Parilla presents a report that proposes a new formula for measuring the global stature of cities. The "Redefining global cities: The seven types of global metro economies" report presents seven varieties of global cities, taking into account how recent processes of urbanization have "upended the classic notion of a global city." Here, the authors explain the context for the study:
No longer is the global economy driven by a select few major financial centers like New York, London, and Tokyo. Today, members of a vast and complex network of cities participate in international flows of goods, services, people, capital, and ideas, and thus make distinctive contributions to global growth and opportunity.
The seven types of global cities are: 1) Factory China, Knowledge Capitals, Emerging Gateways, Asian Anchors, Global Giants, American Middleweights, and International Middleweights. There are only two "Global Giants" in the Western Hemisphere, according to the study: New York City and Los Angeles.
The article includes interactive infographics that break down more of the data behind each of these distinctions.
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