Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Tough call. Personally I don't see any of them joining the top 4 in the next few decades. Maybe in terms of some stats (in fact, probably in terms of some stats), but I don't know. I haven't been to all of those cities, but Mumbai and Shanghai don't make the cut for me even though they've grown at alarmingly fast rates over the past few years. I don't see them having the sphere of influence that the top 4 do.
Hong Kong is too small in comparison to the others. Yes it's towering, bright and bustling, but it doesn't have the surrounding urban area that the others have. Yes, Shenzen and Guangzhou are nearby, but they do feel separate and distinctly different. There's a big geographic separation between the bunch. If anything, HK's limited space will contribute to Shenzen and Guangzhou's growth. But HK won't be in that alpha category.
Mexico City is certainly large enough, but I wonder if it will ever have the world wide influence that the top 4 have. Same goes for Sao Paulo (though I've never been there) and Moscow.
LA certainly has the international influence and is pretty big, but I still see it as a notch below the top 4.
I'm going to Istanbul for the first time in 2 weeks. I know it's big and I know it's growing rapidly. I'm fascinated to get a bead on it.
I've never been to Beijing so I cant' really comment other than to say that it's large and expanding fast enough. I worry it may be erasing too much of its history though. The other 4 have done well with preserving their history.
HK has the skyline and economic importance, and if you consider the PRD conurbation it easily already is among the ranks of the 'big 4', but I feel as a single city Shanghai would be next to claim the mantle, with Beijing following close behind. Both cities just feel vast, in every sense of the word.
Mexico City? Size certainly doesn't equal influence. Singapore has 5.3 million yet has far more international clout/importance than Mexico City or Jakarta for that matter, a nearby city of similar size.
Youre right of course regeneration is a good thing generally, I would just rather London didn't forsake its history and heritage to end up looking like a copy of 90% of other cities in the world. I may be wrong but I couldn't imagine for a moment the Italians would let it happen to their cities?
There's a possibility, but it's hard to predict demographic trends. There's also talk about opening up immigration a bit more--right now immigration is highly restrictive. Tokyo and other major cities are projected to continue growing as the countryside and smaller towns continue to depopulate.
HK has the skyline and economic importance, and if you consider the PRD conurbation it easily already is among the ranks of the 'big 4', but I feel as a single city Shanghai would be next to claim the mantle, with Beijing following close behind. Both cities just feel vast, in every sense of the word.
Mexico City? Size certainly doesn't equal influence. Singapore has 5.3 million yet has far more international clout/importance than Mexico City or Jakarta for that matter, a nearby city of similar size.
Mexico City has a decent chance of becoming a top city within the next few decades. I think it's arguable that Singapore actually has more clout or importance than Mexico City. Mexico has a lot of soft power in media production which Singapore almost entirely lacks. It also has larger and more global 500 headquarters. It is after all, the primate city of a country with over 100 million people and a high HDI and the country is still hitting pretty good growth. Singapore's in a somewhat dangerous situation of having a massive economic slump if Thailand ever builds that canal.
Mexico City has a decent chance of becoming a top city within the next few decades. I think it's arguable that Singapore actually has more clout or importance than Mexico City. Mexico has a lot of soft power in media production which Singapore almost entirely lacks. It also has larger and more global 500 headquarters. It is after all, the primate city of a country with over 100 million people and a high HDI and the country is still hitting pretty good growth. Singapore's in a somewhat dangerous situation of having a massive economic slump if Thailand ever builds that canal.
Well by GDP, finance, trade, tourism and most other measures Singapore is clearly ahead. GAWC ranks it an 'alpha+ city' with the likes of Paris, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Chicago. Location helps, as Mexico is globally quite isolated. Singapore is positioned between China and India, there's 2 1/2 billion people right there...
What do you mean, Singapore produces a lot of media. It's also a hub for Chinese language media and productions as well as being the most important English-media centre in Asia along with HK. It's film industry is starting to grow, with the film 'Ilo Ilo' recently winning best foreign film at Cannes. It has a lot of soft power in technology/IT, creative/design.etc. It's an education/medical hub in the region, with NSU being ranked one of the best in Asia.
What canal? That's a big what if, anyway. Thailand should probably focus on getting a stable government because it thinks of that, and Singapore will still remain important. It always has. Despite fears it would sink into poverty after 1965 it did the opposite.
Well by GDP, finance, trade, tourism and most other measures Singapore is clearly ahead. GAWC ranks it an 'alpha+ city' with the likes of Paris, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Chicago. Location helps, as Mexico is globally quite isolated. Singapore is positioned between China and India, there's 2 1/2 billion people right there...
What do you mean, Singapore produces a lot of media. It's also a hub for Chinese language media and productions as well as being the most important English-media centre in Asia along with HK. It's film industry is starting to grow, with the film 'Ilo Ilo' recently winning best foreign film at Cannes. It has a lot of soft power in technology/IT, creative/design.etc. It's an education/medical hub in the region, with NSU being ranked one of the best in Asia.
What canal? That's a big what if, anyway. Thailand should probably focus on getting a stable government because it thinks of that, and Singapore will still remain important. It always has. Despite fears it would sink into poverty after 1965 it did the opposite.
Mexico City by most measures is a lot higher up in GDP than Singapore which makes sense given its size. Singapore is definitely better positioned as its entire reason for being is due to its great position. Singapore is a larger financial center though a lot of other industries would go to Mexico City. Tourism in Mexico is mostly domestic--domestic tourism in Singapore is, uh, well, I don't know how that works. GAWC has issues, but I can see how it ranks that way though there's a good chance that even under GAWC's criteria, Mexico City will be ranking higher in the near-ish future.
Singapore is not that large of a media producer--and it's definitely not on the scale of Mexico City. I think you might be really unfamiliar with this because your part of the world doesn't have much in Spanish speakers. Singapore has been trying to incubate a film industry (I almost signed on as an instructional assistant for film production years ago) and it's done okay. Not great, not terrible.
This canal. There's a wonderful thread of conspiracy theories about Singapore trying to or having been influencing Thai politics to prevent that from happening. I don't think it'll happen anytime soon. Like Mexico City going up a rank, maybe in the next few decades.
This is a pretty fun, odd matchup. Maybe we should make a separate thread.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
