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Against the backdrop of the sizable economic growth of China in recent years, this paper uses the most recent data gathering of the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) research network to update and supplement earlier research on the shifting global connectivity of Chinese cities. The update consists of an evaluation of the connectivity of Chinese cities in 2016, the supplement of an analysis of the changing position of Chinese cities in the world city network between 2010 and 2016. To this end, we build on a specification of the world city network as an 'interlocking network' in which producer services firms play the crucial role in city network formation. Information about the presence of leading producer services firms in cities in 2010 and 2016 is used as the input to a bipartite network projection algorithm in order to measure cities' network connectivity. The first set of results discusses the geographies of urban connectivity in the world city network in 2016. The second set of results discusses standardized measures of change to reveal the major dimensions of the transformations between 2010 and 2016. We find that, with the exception of Hong Kong, Macau and Kaohsiung of Taiwan, all Chinese cities record connectivity gains. This wholesale rise in connectivity is nonetheless geographically uneven, with above all Beijing, Chengdu/Chongqing and Changsha/Wuhan becoming more connected. We conclude that the wholesale rise of Chinese cities in the world city network and their changing trajectories in the post-crisis era are embedded in shifting external and internal political economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systematic research on world cities neglects immigration, despite its significance to world city formation. In this article, we test a foundational, but untested, premise of world cities research: that global centrality in the world urban system is associated with larger, more diverse immigrant populations. Using an international sample of cities, we conduct multivariate regressions of Benton-Short et al.’s Urban Immigrant Index on the Globalization and World City Network measure of advanced producer service firm centrality and two other measures of global urban centrality, controlling for competing explanations of international migration. Our findings reveal that cities that are more central to the network of advanced producer service firms have larger, more diverse immigrant populations than less-central cities. World cities are thus not only key sites for corporate control of the world economy, but they are also central in international flows of immigrant labor, as Sassen hypothesized nearly 30 years ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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We explore the temporal evolution of cities and firms (i.e. both modes) in a two-mode intercity corporate network formed by 50 leading advanced producer service firms across 154 cities for the years 2000 and 2010. Drawing upon one-mode network projection and three network centralities, we assess the shifting positions of individual cities and firms in the one-mode intercity and interfirm networks. Major findings include: (1) the intercity network is more stable and hierarchical than the interfirm network; (2) brokerage functions, as captured by betweenness centrality, remain highly uneven for both cities and firms. For example, New York and London's distinct positions as the world's leading producer service centres remain intact; and (3) regional and sectoral tendencies are evident in terms of growth rates of centralities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Professional Geographer is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses empirical research investigating the connectivity of Chinese cities in the world city network (WCN) in 2010. Topics include an overview of the WCN, which is a regional approach developed by research institute the Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) to understand cities in relation to globalization, the role of business services firms in city network formation, and the significance of the uneven integration of Chinese cities in the WCN.

This paper studies the globalization of major African cities through their changing insertion in global airline networks. As such, the paper adds to a growing body of literature that analyzes the role of infrastructure in the formation of world-city networks. We draw on a rich data source that provides longitudinal airline booking data, which can be directly linked up to the evolution of inter-urban networks at the African and global scale. Our results indicate that Johannesburg remains the major gateway to Africa, but other regional centers and in particular Cairo, Lagos, Casablanca and Nairobi are rapidly complementing Johannesburg in this role. The globalization of African cities is related to rapid network growth on the African continent, but is outrun by fast growth in terms of non-African connections. Among the latter, connections to Asia and the Middle East are rapidly gaining importance. In the end, the paper argues that South–South connections are crucial for an understanding of the contemporary globalization of African cities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There are two literatures that explicitly describe the spaces of flows that constitute contemporary globalization – World City Network analysis and Global Commodity Chain analysis. We explore the possibilities of their integration by returning to their common origins in world-systems analysis. Each model is described and critiqued and it is argued that each can be used to address some of the other's limitations. This is illustrated through world city process additions to understanding the coffee commodity chain and commodity chain additions to understanding Mexico City and Santiago's positioning in the World City Network. This complementarity is just a first step towards a more complete integration; the conclusion describes the next steps towards just such a research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the authors discuss research conducted by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, which examines the geography of the global spatial economy before the financial crisis worsen in 2008. They present two charts, which list the top 20 cities in command-and-control centres in terms of financial command index (FCI) and business command index (BCI) in early 2008. They remark that the study allows them to do contemporary analyses of the geo-economic transitions.

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research note compares two commonly employed data sources in world city research--that is, ( I ) data on corporate organization and (2) information on air passenger flows. For both types of data we construct connectivity measures, which are then compared through a standard least squares regression analysis. The empirical specifics that emerge from our analysis are discussed through an examination of the regression residuals, which we interpret in terms of cities being underserved and/or overvisited or being overserviced and/or undervisited. Our findings are generalized by discussing them against the backdrop of Castells' description of contemporary globalization as a "network society." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite profound differences in theoretical perspectives, it is now widely accepted that under conditions of contemporary globalization key cities are (re)produced by what flows through them rather than what is fixed within them. Comparing the position of cities in the context of this "world city network" implies that relational and transnational data are required. This paper uses this starting point to contrast the connectivity profiles of U.S. cities by drawing on a unique airline dataset, which allows comparing the importance of a city's connections within and without its own country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A city’s transnational airline connections are one measure of its globalization since such links are integral to globalization. In this paper, we use airline networks to (i) map the position of African cities in the global transnational urban network, (ii) explore the inter-urban relationships of major African cities and, (iii) to contribute to the literature on the globalization of African cities. We find that whereas many African cities have poor airline interconnectivity among themselves as well as internationally, and are thus ranked low on global transnational urban networks, some cities such as Johannesburg, Cairo, Cape Town, Nairobi, Durban, and Casablanca have developed relatively good international air connectivity and are thus relatively well integrated into the global transnational urban network. In particular, South African cities, especially Johannesburg, have substantially increased their air connectivity and place in the global transnational urban network since the advent of majority rule in South Africa in 1994. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]