Shaping a global comparative imagination? Assessing the role of city rankings in the “global city” discourse

The last decade has seen “global” and “comparative” forms of urbanism flourish, and critiques thereof expand. While in theory the discussion on the value or shortcomings of global city thinking has thrived, in practice many cities have applied it through expanding international outlooks and collaborations through mounting numbers of partnerships and networks. This has also witnessed a growing sense of competition between peers near and far for investment, talent, and tourism. The “comparative gestures” of cities are increasingly common not just in research but in practice, with expanding ranks of city benchmarking to testify to the popularity of “actually existing” comparative thinking. While there has been a significant rise in the number of city rankings and indexes, as well as increased scholarly interest in comparative urban analysis, how benchmarking is shaping the imagination of those driving urban policymaking or indeed how it relates to global city thinking is still little understood. This study aimed to identify correlations between an appreciation of city rankings and “global city” thinking, especially in cities that have emerged on the “map” of global urbanism. It draws on 170 interviews with a variety of key urban development stakeholders in Dubai, Singapore, and Sydney, focusing on how city rankings relate to the ways we speak of global cities. It suggests a close but nuanced correlation between global city thinking and benchmarking in these cities, but also a wider “map” of comparative gestures than we may have anticipated.