Canadian Global Cities

[BretttheRiderFan]

GaWC's ranking of Global Cities has several Canadian cities included.

Here was how it broke down:

- Toronto was ranked an Alpha World City (on the same level as cities Frankfurt and Los Angeles).

- Montreal was ranked Beta + (equivalent to Manila or Philadelphia)

- Vancouver was Beta (equivalent to Riyadh or Chennai)

- Calgary was Beta - (equivalent to Detroit or Denver)

- Edmonton and Ottawa were both ranked "High Sufficiency" (equivalent or Wroclaw and Dakar)

- Halifax and Winnipeg were both ranked "Sufficiency" (equivalent to Bern or Cali).

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/world2012t.html

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_city

Although what constitutes a world city is still subject to debate, standard characteristics of world cities are:[6]
A variety of international financial services,[7] notably in finance, insurance, real estate, banking, accountancy, and marketing
Headquarters of several multinational corporations
The existence of financial headquarters, a stock exchange and major financial institutions
Domination of the trade and economy of a large surrounding area
Major manufacturing centres with port and container facilities
Considerable decision-making power on a daily basis and at a global level
Centres of new ideas and innovation in business, economics, culture and politics
Centres of media and communications for global networks
Dominance of the national region with great international significance
High percentage of residents employed in the services sector and information sector
High-quality educational institutions, including renowned universities, international student attendance[8] and research facilities
Multi-functional infrastructure offering some of the best legal, medical and entertainment facilities in the country

[Chadillaccc]

Is this the new listing for 2014?

[BretttheRiderFan]

Naw, this is from 2012.

Do they have a new listing for 2014 yet? Because I'll edit my OP to reflect those results if so.

[Architype]

Halifax is an example of the big fish in the small pond phenomenon. I would never have considered it global. Winnipeg and Edmonton are borderline too.

[BretttheRiderFan]

That's basically what the ranking concluded. Edmonton and Ottawa had "High Sufficiency" but didn't quite make the cut of being considered "Global Cities", and Halifax and Winnipeg were "Sufficient", making them one level below Edmonton and Ottawa.

[esquire]

^ That sounds about right. A lot of the cities in the high sufficiency and sufficiency category strike me as mainly key regional cities that function to some extent in the shadow of larger, more dominant centres.

It is interesting to see how some massive Chinese megalopolises like Chongqing and Nanjing fall into the high sufficiency category... on the surface, they look like NYC in terms of scale, but anyone who spends time in such places quickly realizes that size does not really correspond with 'global' in the same way it does in western countries.

[Hali87]

Halifax and Winnipeg are considered "sufficiency" cities largely due to their isolation. Whereas Toronto, Montreal, Vanouver and Calgary are Canada's primary links to the global economy, Halifax and Winnipeg are "sufficiently" able to participate in the global economy without necessarily going through one of these other cities. They also link their respective regions (Atlantic Canada/eastern Prairies) with the global economy, but since these regions are relatively small/non-populous, it's not enough to make them "lettered" world cities. Ottawa and Edmonton are similar, but get a bit of a boost because of being the national capital and the main centre for the currently-on-fire Northern Alberta.

I'm surprised Quebec City isn't considered a "sufficiency" city as well - too close to Montreal I guess?

[240glt]

Good lord. This again ?

[MolsonExport]

Toronto: WOOT WOOT!
Montreal: Woot Woot!
Vancouver: Woot!
Calgary: Woot.
Ottawa/Edmonton: Woot?
Halifax/Winnipeg: dewooted.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Halifax/Winnipeg: dewooted.

[240glt]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Toronto: WOOT WOOT!
Montreal: Woot Woot!
Vancouver: Woot!
Calgary: Woot.
Ottawa/Edmonton: Woot?
Halifax/Winnipeg: dewooted.

I give this post a Woot-A-Loot!

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Toronto: WOOT WOOT!
Montreal: Woot Woot!
Vancouver: Woot!
Calgary: Woot.
Ottawa/Edmonton: Woot?
Halifax/Winnipeg: dewooted.

Quebec City:

Hamilton: Are we being counted in Toronto?

[Architype]

"Vancouver was Beta (equivalent to Riyadh or Chennai)"

And at first glance I thought Vancouver got two woots, whoot a disappointment.
Equivalent to what? Chanel?

[SteelTown]

Hamilton is on the list, same as Halifax and Winnipeg; sufficiency.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

Hamilton is on the list, same as Halifax and Winnipeg; sufficiency.

Ah, I was just going with what I saw in thread.

Are there any multi-nodal urban areas with two cities on the World Cities list? If not that should be Canada's goal, nudge Hamilton up.

EDIT: Wait, is that Hamilton Ontario? It might be Hamilton Bermuda. Maybe. National capitals get a boost and it's a tourist area.

[Calgarian]

I would almost think that Vancouver would be on the same level as Montreal on the global scale. I imagine Montreal has significantly more global headquarters than Vancouver does though and that should tilt things in Vancouver's favour.

I also would have figured Ottawa would rank higher simply due to the fact that it is the national capitol.

Good to see Calgary do well, and good to see Edmonton get some global recognition!

[Chadillaccc]

This isn't about political influence though, this scale is related only to economic influence.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

This isn't about political influence though, this scale is related only to economic influence.

The 2 are sort of tied together though, lots of people do business with the government.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Beedok

Ah, I was just going with what I saw in thread.

Are there any multi-nodal urban areas with two cities on the World Cities list? If not that should be Canada's goal, nudge Hamilton up.

EDIT: Wait, is that Hamilton Ontario? It might be Hamilton Bermuda. Maybe. National capitals get a boost and it's a tourist area.

It's probably Hamilton Bermuda.

Hamilton, Ontario is likely counted as an Alpha city's suburb. Like Mississauga, Brampton, Oshawa, etc.

[BIMBAM]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

I would almost think that Vancouver would be on the same level as Montreal on the global scale. I imagine Montreal has significantly more global headquarters than Vancouver does though and that should tilt things in Vancouver's favour.

I also would have figured Ottawa would rank higher simply due to the fact that it is the national capitol.

Good to see Calgary do well, and good to see Edmonton get some global recognition!

I'm not too sure about Vancouver. Having lived in both cities, Vancouver does feel a tier lower, despite absolutely being an important global city. It's true that Vancouver has a bigger port and lots of wealthy expats, but it just doesn't have the same critical mass of stuff that Montreal does despite being great and an up-and-comer. There's the global headquarters issue, but besides that Montreal's also got a UN agency (aviation), it still has a stock exchange, there's national institutions in the city and more universities, there's banks in the city, and it is still a significantly larger metro. Not to knock Vancouver at all and it's only getting better, but I get the ranking.