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I find myself wondering if there are any African cities that can claim world class stature. Cairo is certainly a candidate, but what about sub-Saharan Africa, where massive metropolises are booming, and cities of 10 million or more are not uncommon. Can cities like Johannesburg, Lagos, or Nairobi be considered world class? I'm sure many of us are familiar with the negative aspects of African cities - the poverty, crime, slums, poor planning and infrastructure, sprawl, etc. But other than booming economies, what do Africa's best cities bring to the table? Which do you think come closest to being world class? What about in the future?
Of the larger cities, I think Nairobi seems to be improving quickly. I don't think any of them can yet be considered world class by most standards right now.
Sub-saharan Africa has always been extremely rural. Only now is this starting to change. Give it time and I see Nairobi being considered world-class. Possibly Lagos in the distant future. I don't see it happening anywhere else, though.
What is the Caribbean's future like? Countries like the Bahamas and Barbados are becoming wealthy and perhaps one day it will spread to more populous islands.
Could Kingston, Jamaica be a world-class city one day? It has a 500 year history and is large for a West Indian city. If improvements are made in Jamaica like they have been elsewhere in the Caribbean, it might happen.
What is the Caribbean's future like? Countries like the Bahamas and Barbados are becoming wealthy and perhaps one day it will spread to more populous islands.
Could Kingston, Jamaica be a world-class city one day? It has a 500 year history and is large for a West Indian city. If improvements are made in Jamaica like they have been elsewhere in the Caribbean, it might happen.
What do you think?
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and San Juan, Puerto Rico have much more chance to become world class than any city in Jamaica.
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and San Juan, Puerto Rico have much more chance to become world class than any city in Jamaica.
I agree they have a better chance than Kingston. Supposedly there is still a large contingent of moneyed Cuban exiles who are just waiting to rush in when possible, so Havana has a shot, too, but its odds are dicier.
Zurich, Geneva, Stockholm, Oslo, Prague, and Brussels more world class than Boston!?
Hahaha what?
In what way Boston would have more influence than these cities? Except the fact that it's bigger? I think you are mixing up things. This thread is not about which city is bigger *LOL*
Having lived in both I dispute that. Tokyo is THE mega city in my book. Going back to visit New York after living in Tokyo makes New York almost seem small and cozy haha. They of course are both fantastic cities and it is all subjective but Tokyo really is just so much more massive than any other metropolitan regions that I feel it deserves it's own class above mega city....or either the rest of cities often called mega cities should be demoted haha.
One of the most significant things I personally believe Tokyo does far better than any other place in the world when talking about the actual "city experience" is the "all in one buffet" experience you get from it being a city not formed by detailed urban planning and zoning laws but instead one that has built itself directly around its train stations. Because of this around the more important stations scattered all across the city exists damn near everything on planet earth all within a 5 minute walking radius of said stations. Most other cities primarily divide themselves into far more distinct districts where it is much more difficult to get the variety of experiences all in one place as it is in Tokyo. Now of course many big cities do have maybe one or two areas that could be considered such a hot spot but with Tokyo it really is the standard with the scale of the hotspot basically depending on the size and importance of the station it is attached to.
In fact one of the saddest things about New York City IMO is that it's closest representation of this is Times Square which is a tourist trap joke compared to numerous places in Tokyo. Sure Times Square can look good in a photo but it isn't a "real" place that real New Yorkers go week in and week out to enjoy themselves. Tokyo on the other hand has "Times Squares" littered all throughout the city except they are far superior because they aren't tourist traps. They are real places that real Tokyoites use every day to entertainment themselves and quite frankly it is amazing and without a doubt one of the things I love most about living here.
Stepping off the train at Shinjuku/Shibuya/Ikebukuro/etc station is like being a kid in a candy store for anyone who truly loves big city life and the fact that New York really has nothing to compete means it can never hold first place in my book.
Sure people can look up pointless surveys about which city has more financial headquarters and other such non-sense but none of that matters to a person on the ground.
Perhaps Tokyo looks like more massive than NY, but the urbanised area in NY still is bigger. Just compare by yourself on google-maps. We calculated this once in the skyscrapercity-forum on a very precise way, since the official definitions aren't comparable.
Whatever. This thread is not about which city is bigger.
In what way Boston would have more influence than these cities? Except the fact that it's bigger? I think you are mixing up things. This thread is not about which city is bigger *LOL*
An argument for Boston would likely be focused on higher education, biotechnology, and financial services. Secondary arguments would probably involve the port, the publishing industry, historic importance/tourism, and clout in US domestic politics.
In what way Boston would have more influence than these cities? Except the fact that it's bigger? I think you are mixing up things. This thread is not about which city is bigger *LOL*
Boston has a bigger, more diverse population. More world-class institutions in education and healthcare (as far as I know). A higher GDP...
I'll turn your question around on you: in what way would those 6 cities be more influential/world class than Boston?
Boston has a bigger, more diverse population. More world-class institutions in education and healthcare (as far as I know). A higher GDP...
I'll turn your question around on you: in what way would those 6 cities be more influential/world class than Boston?
What do you mean by "more diverse"?
Brussels is the political center of the European Union for example and a very important financial center.
And for Zurich (despite the small city size):
- Europe's no.1 business location
- world 5th most important place on the "Global Finance Index" behind London, NY, HK and Singapur.
- one of the top-places for research and education (the Institute of Technology isn't fare behind the MIT in the rankings). And for example Google has opended in Zurich it's worldwide second most important developpment center behind the Silicon Valley, USA.
- a very important place for services (insurance etc.) and information-exchange
- a very important trafic-nod (Europe's busiest terminus-Railway-station by daily rail traffic and the 18th of the worldwide biggest airports by international passengers)
- headquarter for a lot of influent worldwide companies like the FIFA
- and as the economical centre of Switzerland, it's only 160 miles from Geneva (that is a global city as well)
Last edited by Metro007; 06-20-2013 at 03:57 PM..
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