Global City

Global city theory describes certain cities as primary command nodes in the world economy, places whose influence over finance, trade and culture reaches far beyond their own national borders because of how deeply globalization has woven them into worldwide networks. The sociologist Saskia Sassen popularized the concept in her 1991 book The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo, though the older idea of a world city, a city of outsized international importance, dates back at least to an 1886 description of Liverpool's role in global trade. A global city is typically marked by a large, highly developed urban economy, the headquarters of major multinational corporations, a sophisticated and globally connected financial sector, strong international transport links, respected universities and research institutions, and outsized cultural influence. Research networks such as the Globalization and World Cities group now rank cities into tiers by these measures, with New York and London consistently placed at the very top as Alpha++ cities, and Tokyo and Paris close behind as leading global business and cultural centers.