alpha level global city by the globalization and world cities research network.

City globalization is a geographically selective process affecting just a few cities in countries which are major players in the globalized world economy. These cities are mainly located in Northern developed countries and in some Asian-Pacific countries (Bourdeau-Lepage & Huriot, 2005a Dogan, 2004 Sassen, 2002 Taylor, 2003).

Consequently, global cities are interacting cities and global interactions are another key factor of city globalization.ģ Thus, only certain cities, global cities, concentrate global coordination functions (Sassen, 2001). Through their global coordination functions, advanced services connect global cities to one another, so forming global networks (Castells, 1996). Because of their specialization and their need for mutual contacts, advanced services are mostly concentrated in the CBDs of global cities, so their presence is a natural and decisive factor of city globalization. It refers more or less to what the French literature calls metropolization (Lacour & Puissant, 1999).Ģ Global cities are both the privileged places of advanced services and the strategic nodes of global networks. The process by which a city emerges as a global city is termed “city globalization”. The literature offers near-synonymous terms such as world cities (Hall, 1966 Friedman, 1986 Knox & Taylor, 1995 Taylor, 2003), international cities, metropolises (Hoover & Vernon 1962), or business metropolises (Bourdeau-Lepage & Huriot, 2005b). A global city may be defined as a center of coordination of complex economic activities at a global scale (Bourdeau-Lepage & Huriot, 2005b). The context of the post-industrial economy inevitably assigns a primary role to cities and especially to global cities. Huriot and Thisse (2000, xiv) invite us to “reconsider the role of cities in economic life” and suggest that “cities will be important actors on the economic stage of the future”.

Introductionġ We live in an age where the economy is dominated by cities. This study is part of a research program on “The development of high-order services and spatial change in the ECEEC”, carried out in the LEG with the support of Burgundy Regional Council and the French Ministry of Research.

Alpha level global city by the globalization and world cities research network.