World City Networks and Hierarchies, 1977-1997

Abstract

The world's great cities are important nodes in the world economy. Major theorists (Friedman, Sassen, Castells) conceptualize global cities as the command and control centers for contemporary global capitalism. The authors' research offers a view of the global system based on a careful examination of the relations and connections between world cities and how those patterns change over time. Formal network analysis allows the authors to interpret data on flows of airline passengers between the world's great cities for six time points between 1977 and 1997, focusing on the changes in network characteristics (especially centrality hierarchies and clique membership) for the entire global city system. Although New York, Paris, London, Tokyo, and a few other major European and North American metropolises dominate this urban hierarchy throughout the two decades, the network roles and positions of other places shift considerably. The article concludes that research on world city networks once again demonstrates that global urbanization patterns are characterized by the uneven development dynamic anticipated by world-system analysis.