Alpha, Beta and Gamma Cities (Updated 2024)

Jorn
August 4, 2024
•
4 min read

Every few years, the Globalization and World Rankings Research Institute ranks important global economic cities. It is considered the leading institute ranking the world’s cities.

Cities are categorized as Alpha, Beta or Gamma cities based on their connectivity to the rest of the world.

Many factors are taken into account in this analysis, including cultural and political influence, although economic factors are the most important consideration.

Alpha cities are the primary nodes in the global economic network. Beta and Gamma cities are smaller global cities that link economic regions to the worldwide web.

Why are we writing about this? In case this is your first time visiting our blogs: Spotted by Locals is a travel company that creates blogs and apps, written by locals, for 80+ cities across Europe, North America and the Middle East.

A team of dedicated locals in each city keeps an eye out for the best spots in their cities so that visitors and fellow locals can experience the best of that city.

Of course, the cultural and economic factors of “our” cities are important to us.

While we do have guides dedicated to larger cities like London and New York, we take pride in writing about lots of less-visited cities as well, like those you’ll see lower down this list.

We believe that many popular cities are suffering from overtourism, so we encourage people to get off the beaten path and discover some less-known hidden gems.

Anyway, back to the point of this article: here’s a list with the latest data from 2022. Spotted by Locals’ cities (many of which are in one of the categories) are linked if you want to check our latest tips for those cities.

Alpha ++

Alpha +

  • China 🇨🇳: Beijing, Shanghai
  • United Arab Emirates 🇦🇪: Dubai
  • Hong Kong 🇭🇰: Hong Kong
  • France 🇫🇷: Paris
  • Singapore 🇸🇬: Singapore
  • Japan 🇯🇵: Tokyo

Alpha

  • Netherlands 🇳🇱: Amsterdam
  • Belgium 🇧🇪: Brussels
  • United States 🇺🇸: Chicago, Los Angeles
  • Germany 🇩🇪: Frankfurt
  • Turkey 🇹🇷: Istanbul (+1)
  • Indonesia 🇮🇩: Jakarta
  • Malaysia 🇲🇾: Kuala Lumpur
  • Luxembourg 🇱🇺: Luxembourg City (+1)
  • Spain 🇪🇸: Madrid
  • Mexico 🇲🇽: Mexico City
  • Italy 🇮🇹: Milan
  • India 🇮🇳: Mumbai
  • Brazil 🇧🇷: São Paulo
  • South Korea 🇰🇷: Seoul (+1)
  • Australia 🇦🇺: Sydney
  • Canada 🇨🇦: Toronto
  • Poland 🇵🇱: Warsaw (+1)

Alpha −

  • Thailand 🇹🇭: Bangkok
  • Germany 🇩🇪: Berlin (+1), Munich
  • Colombia 🇨🇴: Bogotá (+1)
  • United States 🇺🇸: Boston, San Francisco, Washington D.C. (+1)
  • Argentina 🇦🇷: Buenos Aires
  • Republic of Ireland 🇮🇪: Dublin
  • China 🇨🇳: Guangzhou, Shenzhen
  • Vietnam 🇻🇳: Ho Chi Minh City (+2)
  • South Africa 🇿🇦: Johannesburg
  • Portugal 🇵🇹: Lisbon
  • Philippines 🇵🇭: Manila
  • India 🇮🇳: New Delhi
  • Czech Republic 🇨🇿: Prague
  • Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦: Riyadh
  • Chile 🇨🇱: Santiago
  • Sweden 🇸🇪: Stockholm
  • Taiwan 🇹🇼: Taipei
  • Israel 🇮🇱: Tel Aviv (+1)
  • Austria 🇦🇹: Vienna
  • Switzerland 🇨🇭: Zurich

Beta +

  • Greece 🇬🇷: Athens (+1)
  • United States 🇺🇸: Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Miami
  • New Zealand 🇳🇿: Auckland
  • Spain 🇪🇸: Barcelona
  • Romania 🇷🇴: Bucharest
  • Hungary 🇭🇺: Budapest
  • Egypt 🇪🇬: Cairo
  • Morocco 🇲🇦: Casablanca (+1)
  • China 🇨🇳: Chengdu, Hangzhou (+1), Tianjin (+1)
  • Denmark 🇩🇰: Copenhagen
  • Qatar 🇶🇦: Doha
  • Germany 🇩🇪: Düsseldorf, Hamburg
  • Vietnam 🇻🇳: Hanoi (+1)
  • Ukraine 🇺🇦: Kyiv (+1)
  • Peru 🇵🇪: Lima
  • Uruguay 🇺🇾: Montevideo (+1)
  • Canada 🇨🇦: Montreal (-1)
  • Kenya 🇰🇪: Nairobi (+1)
  • Italy 🇮🇹: Rome

Beta

  • United Arab Emirates 🇦🇪: Abu Dhabi
  • Kazakhstan 🇰🇿: Almaty (+1)
  • India 🇮🇳: Bengaluru (-2)
  • Lebanon 🇱🇧: Beirut (-1)
  • Slovakia 🇸🇰: Bratislava (+1)
  • Australia 🇦🇺: Brisbane (-1), Perth
  • South Africa 🇿🇦: Cape Town
  • Venezuela 🇻🇪: Caracas (+1)
  • China 🇨🇳: Chongqing, Jinan (+1), Nanjing
  • United States 🇺🇸: Denver, Seattle
  • Bangladesh 🇧🇩: Dhaka (+1)
  • Switzerland 🇨🇭: Geneva (+1)
  • Finland 🇫🇮: Helsinki
  • Pakistan 🇵🇰: Karachi
  • Nigeria 🇳🇬: Lagos (+1)
  • Bahrain 🇧🇭: Manama
  • Panama 🇵🇦: Panama City
  • Brazil 🇧🇷: Rio de Janeiro
  • Costa Rica 🇨🇷: San José (+1)
  • Bulgaria 🇧🇬: Sofia (+1)
  • Canada 🇨🇦: Vancouver (-1)

Beta −

  • Serbia 🇷🇸: Belgrade
  • Canada 🇨🇦: Calgary
  • China 🇨🇳: Changsha, Dalian, Shenyang, Wuhan, Xiamen
  • Kuwait 🇰🇼: Kuwait City
  • Cyprus 🇨🇾: Nicosia
  • Norway 🇳🇴: Oslo (-1)
  • United States 🇺🇸: Philadelphia (-1)
  • Ecuador 🇪🇨: Quito
  • Germany 🇩🇪: Stuttgart
  • Tunisia 🇹🇳: Tunis
  • Croatia 🇭🇷: Zagreb

Gamma +

  • Ghana 🇬🇭: Accra (+2)
  • Jordan 🇯🇴: Amman (-1)
  • Belgium 🇧🇪: Antwerp
  • United States 🇺🇸: Austin (-1), Detroit (-1), Minneapolis (-1), San Diego (-1), St. Louis
  • India 🇮🇳: Chennai (-2), Pune
  • Tanzania 🇹🇿: Dar es Salaam
  • Guatemala 🇬🇹: Guatemala City (-1)
  • China 🇨🇳: Kunming, Qingdao, Suzhou
  • Pakistan 🇵🇰: Lahore (-1)
  • France 🇫🇷: Lyon (-1)
  • United Kingdom 🇬🇧: Manchester (-1)
  • Mexico 🇲🇽: Monterrey (-1)
  • Oman 🇴🇲: Muscat (-1)
  • Portugal 🇵🇹: Porto
  • Netherlands 🇳🇱: Rotterdam
  • Puerto Rico 🇵🇷: San Juan (+1)
  • Dominican Republic 🇩🇴: Santo Domingo (+1)
  • Spain 🇪🇸: Valencia (+1)
  • China 🇨🇳: Zhengzhou (-1)

Gamma

  • Australia 🇦🇺: Adelaide (-1)
  • Sri Lanka 🇱🇰: Colombo
  • Zimbabwe 🇿🇼: Harare (+1)
  • China 🇨🇳: Hefei (-1), Xi’an (-2)
  • India 🇮🇳: Hyderabad (-2)
  • Pakistan 🇵🇰: Islamabad (-1)
  • Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦: Jeddah (-2)
  • Uganda 🇺🇬: Kampala (-2)
  • Zambia 🇿🇲: Lusaka (+2)
  • Japan 🇯🇵: Osaka (-2)
  • Cambodia 🇰🇭: Phnom Penh (-1)
  • El Salvador 🇸🇻: San Salvador (-2)
  • Georgia (country) 🇬🇪: Tbilisi (-1)

Gamma −

  • Azerbaijan 🇦🇿: Baku (-2)
  • United Kingdom 🇬🇧: Bristol (-1), Edinburgh (-3)
  • United States 🇺🇸: Charlotte (-2), San Jose (-2), Tampa (-3)
  • Germany 🇩🇪: Cologne (-2)
  • Senegal 🇸🇳: Dakar (-1)
  • Cameroon 🇨🇲: Douala
  • China 🇨🇳: Fuzhou, Haikou (-1), Taiyuan
  • Nicaragua 🇳🇮: Managua (-1)
  • Colombia 🇨🇴: Medellín (-2)
  • Latvia 🇱🇻: Riga (-2)
  • Albania 🇦🇱: Tirana (-1)

There are plenty of cities still to expand to for us 🙂

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