On Classifying Cities

How do you define a city? Unfortunately, there is no agreement on what a common definition should be

. Nevertheless, you can call a city a conglomerate of a large and permanent settlement. Cities usually have an important status based on administrative and legal issues. In addition, all major cities throughout the world have significant historical backgrounds. Nowadays, a big city is also called a metropolis. A metropolis is classified as having a population of more than half a million. However, one cannot fix this number as sacrosanct as the world population is on rise and more and more people throng to urban areas for their livelihood.

In the past, metropolis was referred to a city of origin of a colony or settlement. Metropolises in ancient times were the hub of cultural activities, commerce, and art. Alexandria, Babylon, Banaras, Jerusalem, Rome and Mohenjo-Daro are well known examples of major cities of ancient times.

Global city is another popular terminology in use today. The term global city was first coined by Saskia Sassen, an American sociologist, who referred this word to Tokyo, London and New York for the global impact these major cities have on the world economy.

Estimating A Citys Population

Right through the ages estimating a citys population has been a very tough task indeed. Historians, archeologists, economists, and sociologists have attempted many means to figure out the population of major cities throughout the world. Yet, the accuracy always remained questionable and controversial. The reasons are not too difficult to guess. How does one come to grips with the actual area devoted to housing, and most of all can anyone define the real jurisdictional limits of a city? Take for example a major city like Los Angeles, which has complex boundaries. It has a continuous built-up settlement covering area from the northern tip of Mexico and along the southern coast of California. Even coming to an educated guess of the population of Los Angeles is no mean task.

Classifying Major Cities

Today, there are many cities the world over with large populations. All do not have significant impact on the affairs of the world. Considering this aspect some economists and sociologists have affixed certain criteria for classifying metropolises as world cities. You may even call them global cities. The major criteria are:

* Economic characteristics. Global cities have distinctive edge over others with regard to having headquarters of multinationals located, stock market indices and market capitalization, and significant financial capacity.

* Political uniqueness. Global cities stand out by having hosted major international summits on economic and political affairs and other international events like Olympiads and other global sports events. Major cities coming under this category also have a high quality of life and also many expatriate communities.

* Infrastructural distinctiveness. Global cities have excellent rapid mass transport systems, advanced communications infrastructure, and international airports having connections to all major airports in the world.

Major metropolises play a prominent role in creating a brand name for the resident country. Moreover, the image and the economic environment of major cities play a significant role in capital inflows into the countries for economic development.

by: renecutts31

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