World Cities and Other Big Cities

Alpha, Beta, and GammaPrimate Cities

Forward Capitals

What can this map tell us?

Alpha, Beta, and Gamma

World Cities• There are 3 different levels of world cities, Alpha only 10

worldwide, Beta, and Gamma• As you move to Beta and Gamma the less important they are

on a worldwide scale• Each city is tied with each other, but they usually specify and

specialize in one area.• This is Globalization at its core. These cities cross state and

international borders creating the globalized world as we know it today.

• Economic effects will be felt worldwide through all the foreign exchange and stocks. One falls and the others go with it.

USA Alpha Cities

• Los Angeles:this is the media capital of the world. Movies, entertainment, TV, News Papers, and music recording. Also the largest manufacturing area in USA

• New York: One of the “Big Three”, truly an Alpha city, Trade and Stock Exchange, NYSE

• Chicago: Financial center, corporate headquarters, examples: General Electric, Boeing, and Schwinn, 11 fortune 500 companies home

European Alpha Cities

• London- One of “Big Three”, International business and trade

• Paris-Fashion and international business• Milan-Arts, design, architecture, international

capital of industrial and modern design• Frankfurt- AKA “Bankfurt”, over 300 national

and international banks

Asian Alpha Cities

• Tokyo-last of the “Big Three”, home to 47 Global 500 companies, highest salary in world along with the most expensive city in world

• Hong Kong- Trade and Stock exchange, Shipping, one of the 4 Asian Dragons

• Singapore-manufacturing, port city (shipping), and foreign exchange, one of the 4 Asian Dragons

Primate Cities• Primate cities are cities are at least 2x as big as any other city in the

state• That means it is the social, political, and economic center of the state• Positives: Pull factors and central location can help with focus of the

state, focus of development for state, agglomeration of economic activity, large markets, higher education, flow of ideas, increased transportation/infrastructure, globalization/global trade

• Negatives: Overcrowding, pollution, crime, other social issues, unequal development, unequal distribution of wealth, centrifugal forces, Brain Drain, environmental impact, slums/favelas

• Examples: London and Paris (non-colonial) and many other examples in the semi-periphery and periphery due to colonization

Forward Capitals

• The relocation of a city/capital to a peripheral location• May be for either economic or strategic purposes• Examples: Brasilia, Brazil, Abuja, Nigeria, Islamabad,

Pakistan, Tokyo, Japan• Application of definition because most cities in Brazil

are located on coast, creating massive favelas• Brasilia moved to the interior in hopes to “pull” people

away from the big cities in Rio de Janiero and others