PATTERN RECOGNITION IN LARGE GEOGRAPHICAL DATABASES: TOWARDS A DETAILED ASSESSMENT OF THE WORLD CITY NETWORK

2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (03) ◽  
pp. 439-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
BEN DERUDDER ◽  
FRANK WITLOX ◽  
PETER J. TAYLOR ◽  
GILDA CATALANO
Keyword(s):  
Pattern Recognition ◽  
Central American ◽  
World City ◽  
Urban Network ◽  
City Formation ◽  
World City Network ◽  
The World ◽  
Detailed Assessment ◽  
City Network ◽  
Sub Saharan

Although a detailed empirical analysis of the world city network is essential to attain insight in its functioning, it can be noted that previous explorations have been restricted to analyses of a limited number of thoroughly connected cities. A major reason for the neglect of less connected nodes in this global urban network is the sparse evidence on their world city formation. Drawing on earlier specifications and measurements of the world city network, the present paper shows how fuzzy set approach and pattern recognition can assess the inherent vagueness in classifications of lower ranked world cities. The resulting taxonomy asserts the intertwining relational tendencies of 234 cities in 20 clusters. Key findings include the distinctive profiles of US cities, the marginal position of (sub-Saharan) African and Central American cities, and Miami's particular role as a gateway between Anglo- and Latin America.

scholarly journals Pathways of Change: Shifting Connectivities in the World City Network, 2000—08

Urban Studies ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 47 (9) ◽  
pp. 1861-1877 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Derudder ◽  
Peter Taylor ◽  
Pengfei Ni ◽  
Anneleen De Vos ◽  
Michael Hoyler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
World City ◽  
World City Network ◽  
The World ◽  
City Network ◽  
Global Connectivity ◽  
Sub Saharan

This is an empirical paper that measures and interprets changes in intercity relations at the global scale in the period 2000—08. It draws on the network model devised by the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) research group to measure global connectivities for 132 cities across the world in 2000 and 2008. The measurements for both years are adjusted so that a coherent set of services/cities is used. A range of statistical techniques is used to explore these changes at the city level and the regional scale. The most notable changes are: the general rise of connectivity in the world city network; the loss of global connectivity of US and sub-Saharan African cities (Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami in particular); and, the gain in global connectivity of south Asian, Chinese and eastern European cities (Shanghai, Beijing and Moscow in particular).

Well connected compared to what? Rethinking frames of reference in world city network research

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (12) ◽  
pp. 2859-2877 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary P Neal
Keyword(s):  
Degree Sequence ◽  
World City ◽  
City Formation ◽  
World City Network ◽  
The World ◽  
Global Connections ◽  
City Network ◽  
Entire World ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Insight Into

Claims about the strength of cities’ global connections have become commonplace in the world cities literature. Although such claims are inherently comparative, authors often do not specify the reference. London is well connected compared to what? In this paper, I adapt the stochastic degree sequence model from network analysis as a tool to derive a frame of reference that can be used to inform and substantiate such claims. Beyond providing a formal statistical method for deciding when the claim that “X is well connected” is justified, it also addresses a number of other challenges in this literature, including more explicitly casting firms as key agents in world city formation, providing insight into when and where global firms might be expected to locate their branch offices, and helping identify cases that warrant more detailed investigation. To illustrate, I apply the method to data on cities and firms from 2013, examining the results at five different scales, from the individual city and firm to the entire world city network. I conclude by considering how this approach allows researchers to ask different kinds of questions about the nature of world city status.

Extending beyond ‘world cities’ in World City Network (WCN) research: Urban positionality and economic linkages through the Australia-based corporate network

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (12) ◽  
pp. 2916-2937 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J Sigler ◽  
Kirsten Martinus
Keyword(s):  
Urban Policy ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
World City ◽  
Centrality Measures ◽  
Contextual Knowledge ◽  
Urban Network ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
World City Network ◽  
The World ◽  
City Network

Defining the role of cities within economic networks has been a key theoretical challenge, particularly as nuanced understandings of positionality are increasingly championed over hierarchical notions of influence or power in the World City Network (WCN). This paper applies social network analysis (SNA) to identify the critical role that a wide range of cities plays in the Australian economic system. Drawing upon the set of Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) listed firms, four distinct sub-networks are compared against the overall urban network. Each of the materials, energy, industrials, and financials sector sub-networks are found to have unique configurations of inter-urban relations, which are articulated through institutional and industry-specific factors, grounded in diverse histories and path-dependent trajectories. This analysis applies five different centrality measures to understand how positionality within the overall network and respective sub-networks might better inform policymakers formulating ‘globalizing’ urban policy. This addresses the long-standing theoretical debate regarding territorially articulated hierarchies of urban/corporate power, extricating WCN research from the core-periphery assumptions tied to its world-systems theory lineage. Understanding how, rather than if, cities are global provides contextual knowledge about how cities are situated within broader circuits of production, and the exogenous relations that shape urban economies around the world, providing a framework for research in other global contexts.

scholarly journals The world city network: Evaluating top-down versus bottom-up approaches

Cities ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 72 ◽  
pp. 287-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Lüthi ◽  
Alain Thierstein ◽  
Michael Hoyler
Keyword(s):  
World City ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
World City Network ◽  
The World ◽  
City Network

On the global city map, but not in command? Probing Manila’s position in the world city network

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (12) ◽  
pp. 2897-2915 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Kleibert
Keyword(s):  
Global City ◽  
World City ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Producer Service ◽  
World City Network ◽  
The World ◽  
City Network ◽  
Advanced Producer Service ◽  
And Control ◽  
City Rankings

The changing geography of service employment and the relocation of back-office service tasks to developing economies present a challenge to contemporary world city network research and methodology, as cost-driven offshoring may wrongly suggest a city’s increased importance in global city rankings. In particular, financial service firms, but also management consultancies, law firms, and other advanced producer service firms have offshored tasks abroad. These firms’ offices are attributed a vital role in the world city network literature and form the basis for world city rankings using the interlocking network model. Based on empirical research on advanced producer service firms in Metro Manila, the Philippines, this paper argues that the existence of linkages and the appearance ‘on the map’ of dominant economic flows does not automatically lead to an increased command and control position of Manila. Instead, the attraction of lower-end services leads to Manila’s dependent articulation into global service production networks. The findings challenge the key assumptions about ‘command functions’ and ‘strategic role’ of global cities that underpin the global city rankings. The paper critiques current conceptualisations of command and control in global urban network theory in the light of changing intra-firm divisions of labour in advanced producer service firms, and stresses the importance of qualitative research.

Measuring Centrality and Power Recursively in the World City Network: A Reply to Neal

Urban Studies ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 50 (8) ◽  
pp. 1641-1647 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Boyd ◽  
Matthew C. Mahutga ◽  
David A. Smith
Keyword(s):  
World City ◽  
World City Network ◽  
The World ◽  
City Network
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