London and New York are in the Alpha++ group, while Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore, Shanghai, Sydney, Paris, Dubai and Tokyo make up the Alpha+ cities, according to the list. Shenzhen is listed in the Alpha- group this year, advancing from the Beta group from the last list issued in 2016. There are a total of 23 Chinese cities in this year’s Alpha, Beta and Gamma categories. Economic factors are deemed more important than cultural or political factors in this ranking.Įach category has subrankings, such as Alpha++, Alpha+, Alpha and Alpha-, indicating each city’s place in the global economy. In the Classification of Cities list, GaWC ranks cities into four different levels - Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Sufficiency - by taking into account many factors. It has been publishing global city rankings since 2000. Advancing from a Beta ranking to Alpha, Shenzhen has for the first time entered a list of the world’s first-tier cities, according to Classification of Cities 2018 published by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) on Wednesday.Īs one of the most prestigious agencies to rate global cities, GaWC is a think tank that studies the relationships between world cities in the context of globalization and measures cities in terms of their advanced producer services and integration into the world city network.

Gawc global cities rankings