GaWC
Using a unique data-rich study of Newcastle’s becoming of a metropolitan city-region in the nineteenth century, this book explores a new understanding of how successful cities attain a metropolitan status through disruptions of incessant economic advances being ameliorated by myriad social organisations to create a new vibrant urban environment. The book defines the specific process […]
A new paper investigating the standardisation process behind urban definitions: Van Migerode, C., Poorthuis, A. and Derudder, B. (2026) ‘From fragmentation to framework: negotiating urban definitions’, Urban Studies. This article starts from the premise that purposefully working toward shared urban definitions can foster constructive dialogue across geographical and disciplinary boundaries. Yet, the process of standardisation […]
A new paper that examines how cities function as providers or receivers of innovative knowledge: Yang, Y., Demuynck, W. and Derudder, B. (2026) ‘Asymmetries in Chinese cities’ knowledge collaborations: dynamics of providing and receiving cooperation within and beyond urban regions’, International Regional Science Review. Knowledge cooperation underpins innovation systems, yet it is rarely balanced: some […]
Two new papers that engage with the pedagogy of teaching financial and regional geographies. The first, by Michiel van Meeteren, takes the example of two modules developed as part of the MSc International and Financial Political Relations at Loughborough University (and including key GaWC contributors in their various iterations), to argue for a broader inclusion […]
Two new papers analysing different aspects of technological diversification and polycentricity in Chinese urban regions: Lu, J., Yang, Y., Cao, Z. and Derudder, B. (2026) ‘Polycentricity and technological diversification: divergent pathways across Chinese urban regions’, Regional Studies, 60 (1). This paper examines how polycentricity shapes technological diversification in Chinese urban regions. Beyond morphological and functional […]
Join the Boston University Initiative on Cities and the City Planning & Urban Affairs (CPUA) at BU Metropolitan College for a discussion with BU Urbanist and Lecturer at the Boston University City Planning & Urban Affairs Program, Jim O’Connell, on his new book, Boston and the Making of a Global City. Drawing on scholarship, media accounts, interviews, and […]
Throughout the twentieth century, planning and planners were central to our understanding of cities and regions. Today, however, planning is facing powerful challenges – professionally, intellectually, practically – in ways arguably not seen before. Recent developments and trends are raising fundamental questions about how we plan regions. Planning is no longer solely the domain of […]
A new paper on the role of urban polycentricity in regional innovation: Yang, Y., Lu, J. and Derudder, B. (2026) ‘Intercity coopetition and regional innovation: The role of urban polycentricity’, Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space. Intercity coopetition—the dynamic interplay between cooperation and competition—is central to regional innovation, enabling knowledge exchange across cities. However, […]
We have today released our latest ranking of Global Media Cities. The reported city positions in 2025 are based on an analysis of the top 100 leading global media firms across 790 cities, the most extensive analysis of global media firms ever undertaken by GaWC researchers. The study includes traditional global media corporations such as […]
The Urban Planning Exhibition in Guangzhou features the city’s position in the latest The World According to GaWC (2024) classification of ‘world cities’. Spotted by GaWC researcher Professor John Harrison on a recent research trip to China’s Greater Bay Area.