List of names for large cities
This list of names for large cities compares the central features of the many similar terms used to designate large and giant cities .
criteria
The terms differ from one another by three criteria:
- population
- Number of cities (only core city vs. with suburbs vs. several core cities)
- Building density / population density
Single city
According to the number of inhabitants
| designation | features | population | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| city | larger settlement ; Generic term for all types of cities | depends on the country: Germany without restrictions (but only after granting city rights ) |
Amstetten , Bersenbrück , Blieskastel , Burghausen , Freising , Gernsbach , Lübbecke |
| Big city | population | > 100,000 inhabitants | Bratislava , Geneva , Graz , Heidelberg , Leipzig , Naples , Nice , Salzburg , Stettin , Zurich |
| Megacity | population | > 1,000,000 Ew. | Berlin , Belgrade , Budapest , Chicago , Hamburg , Cologne , Munich , Prague , Warsaw , Vienna |
| Mega city | population | depending on the definition> 5,000,000 inhabitants or> 10,000,000 inhabitants (in the metropolitan area) | Istanbul , London , Moscow |
| Meta city | population | > 20,000,000 inhabitants (in the metropolitan area) | Chongqing , New York , Sudogwon , Sao Paulo , Shanghai , Tokyo-Yokohama region |
By importance
| designation | features | population | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper center | Supply function for a large catchment area (larger than in the medium- sized center ) with goods for specific needs | in sparsely populated regions from 40,000 inhabitants, otherwise from around 100,000 inhabitants. | Darmstadt , Jena , Hof (Saale) , Kempten (Allgäu) , Constance , Lübeck , Siegen , St. Pölten |
| Regiopole | regional importance in politics, culture or economy in regions remote from metropolis | often 150,000 to 500,000 people, sometimes only 100,000 people. in the core city | Bielefeld , Brno , Cluj , Erfurt , Freiburg im Breisgau , Graz , Palma , Rostock , Saarbrücken |
| metropolis | regional importance in politics, culture or economy | often> 1,000,000 inhabitants | Atlanta , Berlin , Düsseldorf , Hamburg , Cairo , Munich , Nuremberg , Oslo , Rome , St. Gallen |
| Primate city | Big city of singular outstanding national importance | often> 1,000,000 inhabitants | Asunción , Bangkok , Buenos Aires , Dublin , Kampala , Lagos , Reykjavík , Seoul , Ulaanbaatar , Vienna |
| Cosmopolitan city | worldwide importance in history , politics , culture , economy etc. | often> 1,000,000 inhabitants | Barcelona , Berlin , Lisbon , Luxembourg , San Francisco , Washington, DC , Vienna , Zurich |
| Global City | Worldwide importance in the financial market , banking , as well as through transnational corporations and company-related services, etc. | often> 1,000,000 inhabitants | Amsterdam , Frankfurt am Main , Hong Kong , London , Los Angeles , Milan , New York City , Paris , Singapore , Sydney |
City association
| designation | features | population | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agglomeration = metropolitan area = urban region = conurbation | One or more core cities with their directly adjacent suburbs; high population density. | - | Bielefeld / Herford , Los Angeles |
| Metropolitan area | Agglomeration of a large city or several large cities in the vicinity, including rural foothills. | mostly> 200,000 Ew. | Bolzano , Rhine-Neckar triangle |
| Megaplex = Metroplex = Metropolitan Complex | Metropolitan region with more than 5 million inhabitants (regardless of the Ew number of the individual cities). | > 5,000,000 inhabitants | Paris , Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region , Tokyo |
| Megalopolis | Urban band or landscape, which consists of several densely populated urban areas. | several 10 million Ew. | Blue banana , Boswash , Taiheiyō |