Hank SavitchSchool of Urban & Public AffairsUniversity of Louisville

WHAT MAKES A GREAT CITY GREAT? PUTTING AMERICA IN A

GLOBAL CONTEXT

London is not a pleasant place; it is not an agreeable place, or a cheerful place or easy or exempt from reproach. It is only magnificent. -- Henry James

GREATNESS DOES NOT EQUAL COMFORT

GREATNESS DOES NOT EQUAL COMFORT

• Parisian new towns vis-a-vis Paris

• New York Suburbs vis-a-vis New York City

• Tampa, Phoenix, Salt Lake City are comfortable, pleasant places but not great

HISTORICAL VIEWHISTORICAL VIEW

• Jerusalem & Rome: Religion and Politics 6th to First Centuries, CE

• Athens & Alexandria: Intellectual (Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Ptolemy) 6th to First Centuries, CE (respectively)

• Venice & Amsterdam: Seaport Trading, 13th and 17th Century (respectively)

• Florence and Paris: Art 14th to 16th and 19th (respectively)

• New York and Hong Kong: Commerce (20th and 21st centuries)

• LA (Hollywood), Seattle & Bangalore: Creativity, Innovation

GreatnessGreatness

• Amplitude, majesty, intensity, prominence

• Inner ability to generate unique strength and attributes

• Outer ability to project uniqueness

Four Cs of Urban Greatness

ConcurrencyConcurrency

• Encompass the dominant values, drives and temper (zeitgeist) of the times

– Jerusalem: Birth of 3 religions in religious era

– Athens: Philosophy in a time of searching

– Florence: Art, Birth of Renaissance

– London: Economic prowess re industrial revolution

– Seattle: Microsoft and digital age

CosmopolitanismCosmopolitanism

• Gateway to a larger world through trade, culture, immigration, other appeals

• Ethnic diversity and multi culturalism -- Athens focal point of Greek City States-- Rome center of a Mediterranean

empire-- Venice opening to the Orient-- London foreign business and

immigration

ConcentrationConcentration

• Centeredness through density and clustering (Jacobs, Porter)

• Radial Concentric City

• Monocentric and conical spatial form of -- Athens’ Agora

-- Rome’s Coliseum-- Venice’s Ports-- Paris’ Golden Triangle

CharismaCharisma

• Unique and magnetic appeal

• The character of a city that signals immediate recognition

• Logos-- Jerusalem’s Old City-- Athens’ Parthenon-- Venice’s Canals-- Paris’ Eiffel Tower

Application to American CitiesApplication to American Cities

• Revising the definition of “greatness”-- Cities still belong to nations-- Nations are limited in number of

great cities-- Cities still project national economies

• National level “great cities” as regional cores

-- Scaled down yet still outstanding-- Possessing concurrency,

cosmopolitanism, concentration and charisma

Four CitiesFour Cities

• New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco

• Basis of Selection -- Taylor and Laing, highest GNC scores

(New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco)

-- Boschkin’s “K” cluster of seven variable (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and San Francisco)

Global Network Connectivity Rankings: US, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Latin America Cities

United States Asia Europe

New York, NY - 2 Hong Kong (SAR), China - 3 London, UK - 1

Chicago, IL - 7 Tokyo, Japan - 5 Paris, France - 4

Los Angeles, CA - 9 Singapore, Singapore - 6 Milan, Italy - 8

San Francisco, CA - 17 Taipei, Republic of China - 20 Madrid, Spain - 11

Middle East Africa Latin America

Manama, Bahrain - 90 Johannesburg, South Africa - 43 Sao Paulo, Brazil - 16

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - 91 Cairo, Egypt - 59 Mexico City, Mexico - 18

Tel Aviv, Israel - 92 Cape Town, South Africa - 95 Buenos Aries, Argentina - 23

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - 96 Nairobi, Kenya - 100 Santiago, Chile - 57

Adapted: Taylor & Lang 2005, and GAWC Connectivity Data

The 4Cs in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles

and San Francisco

ConcurrencyConcurrency

• NYC’s financial power in a global and transnational era

• LA’s film and television presence in an age of media

• SF’s banks, insurance and visual character in a time of tourism

• Chicago’s niche position as the “second city” with a little bit of everything

CosmopolitanismCosmopolitanism

• NYC as the immigrant/multi cultural city as both un American and typically American

• LA as the Western gateway for Asians and Latin Americans

• SF as the great tourist attraction combined with its being the “gay capital” of America

• Chicago, again the “second city”; niche position with a little bit of everything

Concentration Concentration

• NYC with two central business districts (mid town and lower Manhattan); highest central city density in the country

• Chicago mid level skyline

• SF smaller and lower and skyline; compact CBD and waterfront

• LA is the outlier as a low density and poly nucleated (“LA School” claim to “post modernism”)

CharismaCharisma

• NYC first city to visit, move to or make a career (“The Big Apple”)

• LA’s celebrities, its de-centered, outdoor life style (“Sunny LA”)

• SF’s urbane beauty, charm and nostalgia coupled to left leaning politics and social tolerance (“City on the Bay”)

• Chicago history (gangsters, stockyards, machine politics, sports teams) coupled to a current combination of amenities (“The Windy City”).

The 4 C's Ranking

 New York,

NY  Chicago,

IL  

San Francis

co, CA  

Los Angeles

, CA  

Concurrency

GMP (US $Billion) 1,210.2

1/25 506.1

3/25 298.3 8/25 697.9 2/25

Employment Total 3,712,931

1/25

1,249,185

3/25 405,303

11/25 1,782,153 2/25

Cosmopolitanism

Immigrants 3,038,139

1/25 599,802

3/25 270,357 9/25 1,507,032 2/25

Foreign Tourist 7,646,000

1/25

1,147,000

8/25 2,270,000 4/25 2,652,000 2/25

Concentration

Central City Density (Sq Mile) 26,403

1/25 12,750

3/25 16,634 2/25 7,877 8/25

Size of Downtown (Sq Miles) 7.82

1/25 3.36

2/25 2.34 6/25 1.25

11/25

Charisma

Google Hits (millions) 1,100

1/25 447

2/25 315 5/25 361 4/25

Top 10 Most Desirable Cities 21% 3/10 13% 5/10 13% 5/10 40% 1/10

ConclusionsConclusions

• Not all cities can be Great Cities-- need “4C” requisites-- it is enough to be a “good city”-- cities still attempt copy cat, superficial

efforts (convention centers, sports stadia, invented museums)

• Niche positioning possible-- meeting “4C” requisites (structural

issue)-- skillful development strategy (agency

issue)-- Chicago

• City Greatness is dynamic-- conditions change and so do cities-- shifted greatness in ancient, medieval

and modern cities-- future shifts to Beijing, Mumbai and

Sydney