OpenGeofiction
Hey, guys, I have a question. Actually, questions:
How much should the population of a city be to make it… ‘major’? I know that you can’t just make a point, call it a city, and put its population to 150 mn, saying it is major. Also, how much should the pop. be for it to have: an airport, its own companies, big parks, and others.
Discussion
Comment from Alessa on 7 July 2018 at 14:54
This is probably not the answer you want, but I’d look less at population and more at other attributes. While population is a major factor, it isn’t the only one in whether or not a city is “major.” Yes, larger cities tend to be considered that more, but city function, wealth, and location tend to do this just as much. That said, I’d strongly argue that there isn’t a real number that a city hits for it to be major; instead, it is a combination of size and function.
For example, a capital might be equivalent in size to another nearby city, but its role as capital makes it more important. Distance between cities makes a difference too: Denver is the only major city for miles (other than smaller Colorado Springs), so it is a much more important hub than, say, comparable cities like Baltimore and Charlotte, that are close to other “major” cities. Function and history matter too. Pittsburgh is a major industrial hub with a lot of history of being a “major” city. The Portland, Oregon area is equal in size to the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, but it lacks the same industrial and historical function. This isn’t to say that cities like Baltimore, Charlotte, and Portland aren’t important major cities. They are. Charlotte and Portland, in particular, will likely be viewed even more so in 30–50 years as the city sizes and regional importance changes.
All that said, if you have two cities/metropolitan areas with a population of 1–2 million but one is a national capital, major seaport, home of a lot of industry for your country, and has a historical reputation of being major, that coastal capital is going to be the “major” city irrespective of how many people live in the other.
Comment from Portopolis on 7 July 2018 at 16:44
I’ll say it depends on the country and development as well city like Geneva will always be important due to it’s stature in the country of Switzerland and it’s history. I will say a combination of two factors makes a city very important though.
At least a 500 billion dollar or around the corner economy and if not a population in the metro of 10 million people will normally make a city very important and this is likely less in our world since we have very small cities in population compared to the real world, but that is counteracted by wealthier countries in general than the real world.
Comment from TheMayor on 9 July 2018 at 19:11
As an urban planner, no city is too small for a “big park”.