Power Shift: Cities
This phenomenon of cities changing position as largest of a country/region/province always interested me. Let's start with the two most dramatic cases in the world:
Rio http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5325/6...7156548d_b.jpg Ipanema by Jean Léonard Polo, on Flickr vs São Paulo http://imageshack.us/a/img854/3505/006vjn.jpg Source Rio de Janeiro had been the largest city of Brazil since the XVIII century, while São Paulo, although few years older was just a small provincial city up to late XIX century. Then coffee happened, immigrants came, industrialization began and everything changed: São Paulo skyrocketed while Rio de Janeiro stagnated (relatively). The most important mark of this process came with the national capital leaving Rio to Brasília. On the early 1990's, as a final blow, Rio de Janeiro Stock Exchange were bought by São Paulo's and ceased to exist. By the 2000's, oil gave Rio de Janeiro some hope, but the city still keeps losing ground for São Paulo, although pretty much everything is already in São Paulo by now. Today São Paulo is the centre of Brazil, working much more as a "Brazilian London" than a "Brazilian New York". Let's see the figures: 1872 Rio de Janeiro City ------- 274,972 São Paulo City -------- 31,385 1890 Rio de Janeiro City ------- 522,651 São Paulo City -------- 64,934 1900 Rio de Janeiro City ------- 811,443 São Paulo City ------- 239,620 1920 Rio de Janeiro City ----- 1,157,873 São Paulo City ------- 579,033 1940 Rio de Janeiro Metro ---- 2,203,345 City ----- 1,764,141 São Paulo Metro ---- 1,568,045 City ----- 1,326,261 1950 Rio de Janeiro Metro ---- 3,137,977 City ----- 2,377,451 São Paulo Metro ---- 2,662,776 City ----- 2,198,096 1960 Rio de Janeiro Metro ---- 4,811,937 City ----- 3,307,163 São Paulo Metro ---- 4,791,245 City ----- 3,825,351 1970 São Paulo Metro ---- 8,139,705 City ----- 5,924,612 Rio de Janeiro Metro ---- 6,797,976 City ----- 4,251,918 1980 São Paulo Metro --- 12,588,745 City ----- 8,493,217 Rio de Janeiro Metro ---- 8,637,995 City ----- 5,090,723 1991 São Paulo Metro --- 15,444,941 City ----- 9,646,185 Rio de Janeiro Metro ---- 9,647,165 City ----- 5,480,768 2000 São Paulo Metro --- 17,878,703 City ---- 10,434,252 Rio de Janeiro Metro --- 10,681,517 City ----- 5,857,904 2010 São Paulo Metro --- 19,672,582 City ---- 11,244,369 Rio de Janeiro Metro --- 11,604,332 City ----- 6,323,037 |
Montreal
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6169/6...2ce767b8_b.jpg montreal from above by solli_amihod, on Flickr vs Toronto http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3701/1...cc005a8d_b.jpg Toronto Waterfront by Brady Fang, on Flickr I think Montreal vs Toronto might be even bigger than Rio vs São Paulo. Here a forumer's thought about it: Quote:
Montreal --- 1,064,000 Toronto ------ 810,000 1941 Montreal --- 1,192,000 Toronto ------ 900,000 1951 Montreal --- 1,539,000 Toronto ---- 1,262,000 1961 Montreal --- 2,216,000 Toronto ---- 1,919,000 1971 Montreal --- 2,743,000 Toronto ---- 2,628,000 1981 Toronto ---- 2,999,000 Montreal --- 2,862,000 1991 Toronto ---- 3,894,000 Montreal --- 3,127,000 2001 Toronto ---- 4,683,000 Montreal --- 3,426,000 2011 Toronto ---- 5,583,000 Montreal --- 3,824,000 |
^ EDIT: you beat me to it.
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On California we had:
Los Angeles http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3125/...679a21_b_d.jpg http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike_s_etc/ vs San Francisco http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8472/8...df368ab0_b.jpg http://www.flickr.com/photos/tiascap...n/photostream/ San Francisco 1860 ------ 119,018 1870 ------ 274,551 -- 130.7% 1880 ------ 440,514 --- 60.4% 1890 ------ 573,300 --- 30.1% 1900 ------ 686,256 --- 19.7% 1910 ------ 959,889 --- 39.9% 1920 ---- 1,218,175 --- 26.9% 1930 ---- 1,626,753 --- 33.5% 1940 ---- 1,790,757 --- 10.1% 1950 ---- 2,762,226 --- 54.2% 1960 ---- 3,738,554 --- 35.3% 1970 ---- 4,770,215 --- 27.6% 1980 ---- 5,392,930 --- 13.1% 1990 ---- 6,290,008 --- 16.6% 2000 ---- 7,092,596 --- 12.8% 2010 ---- 7,468,390 ---- 5.3% 2012 ---- 7,668,355 ---- 2.7% Los Angeles 1860 ------- 16,884 1870 ------- 19,297 --- 14.3% 1880 ------- 59,829 -- 210.0% 1890 ------ 156,718 -- 161.9% 1900 ------ 250,187 --- 59.6% 1910 ------ 648,316 -- 159.1% 1920 ---- 1,150,252 --- 77.4% 1930 ---- 2,597,055 -- 125.8% 1940 ---- 3,252,720 --- 25.2% 1950 ---- 4,934,246 --- 51.7% 1960 ---- 7,751,616 --- 57.1% 1970 ---- 9,972,037 --- 28.6% 1980 --- 11,497,486 --- 15.3% 1990 --- 14,531,529 --- 26.4% 2000 --- 16,373,645 --- 12.7% 2010 --- 17,877,006 ---- 9.2% 2012 --- 18,238,998 ---- 2.0% ^^ San Francisco is growing faster than Los Angeles once more. It's not comparable to Rio vs São Paulo or Montreal vs Toronto, as the two cities were too distinct and there was no shift of people, money, from one area to another. |
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Some other American reversals:
New York and Philadelphia Houston and Galveston Houston and New Orleans Charleston and Atlanta |
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Rio de Janeiro is more famous internationally, but on national level, it's just another city when compared to São Paulo. I guess Paris was a better analogy as although London is huge, it seems the rest of the UK ignores it, while France looks more to Paris. |
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If you ask someone outside of Brazil, Rio will be the best-known city, the top site for visitors, and the most beloved city. This is even true for outsiders who have traveled to Brazil and have some understanding of the national dynamics. And I'm still not entirely sure if you aren't exaggerating the dominance of SP somewhat. Rio is still huge, and Brazil has a half-dozen major cities of some importance. It isn't really analogous to a place like London, which absolutely dominates every facet of the UK. And look to the upcoming Olympics and World Cup. Rio, not SP, is the star. Can you imagine the UK hosting the World Cup and the finals are held in Manchester? I don't think so. |
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São Paulo's influence cannot be exaggerated. If you make a Forbes 100 in Brazil, pretty much every company would be in São Paulo (HQs or major offices or main operations). That's how powerful São Paulo is. Unlike Rio, its hinterland is the entire country: just go through air routes, bus routes and you'll see everything goes down to São Paulo. It's often said half of Brazilian trucks have São Paulo area as destination or starting point. It's in every single domain, Brazil's hub. Maybe for a foreigner that might come as a shock, but it's a common place in Brazil: there is São Paulo, and there is the rest. The city's influence in every domain, especially economic, it's overwhelming. |
It also helps that Sao Paulo has a milder climate than Rio.
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Edinburgh
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3620/3...a17eb0aa_b.jpg Edinburgh - Cityscape over Waverley by garethr1, on Flickr vs Glasgow http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7106/6...55062389_b.jpg Glasgow Centre Skyline Cityscape by AndrewJAA, on Flickr[/QUOTE] Edinburgh 1750 ------ 57,000 1800 ------ 83,000 1821 ------ 65,000 1851 ----- 160,000 1861 ----- 168,000 1871 ----- 198,000 1881 ----- 228,000 1891 ----- 261,000 1901 ----- 305,000 1911 ----- 320,000 1921 ----- 420,000 1931 ----- 434,000 1938 ----- 475,000 1951 ----- 469,000 1961 ----- 468,000 1971 ----- 453,000 1981 ----- 409,000 1991 ----- 404,000 2001 ----- 449,000 2011 ----- 477,000 Glasgow 1750 ------ 24,000 1800 ------ 77,000 1821 ----- 150,000 1851 ----- 329,000 1861 ----- 395,000 1871 ----- 477,000 1881 ----- 511,000 1891 ----- 793,000 1901 ----- 762,000 1911 ----- 784,000 1921 --- 1,034,000 1931 --- 1,088,000 1938 --- 1,132,000 1951 --- 1,090,000 1961 --- 1,055,000 1971 ----- 897,000 1981 ----- 755,000 1991 ----- 730,000 2001 ----- 579,000 2011 ----- 593,000 Glasgow vs. Edinburgh is a quite peculiar case as Edinburgh has always kept its prestige and affluence, while Glasgow has always been industrial. |
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Brazilian soap operas production (monopoly of Globo) are very popular and are all centered in Rio as the movie industry. But that's only part of we call cultural influence and in that case, Rio de Janeiro is like Los Angeles, which is not representative of the US. São Paulo represents Brazilian mainstream way better than Rio de Janeiro, as Brazilian old capital has seen its bonds with the rest of the country to erode over the last decades. Quote:
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Economic, yes, obviously. Population too. But a place like London or Paris or Seoul or Moscow or Tokyo dominates almost every facet of life in their respective countries. Sao Paulo isn't the capital. It isn't the iconic tourist/visitor center. It doesn't host the most famous sports teams, or the most important art museums, or the most legendary neighborhoods, or the longest history. It's clearly the dominant city, but as part of a major country, with a number of important cities. On a scale from Germany (no dominant city whatsoever) to South Korea (mega-dominant city), I would put Brazil somewhere in the middle. |
I seems like Edinburgh was more stable while Glasgow went through the boom and bust much like other provincial industrial cites.
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I'd be curious to see how Ohio's three major cities (Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati) stack up against each other historically. Cincinnati was big in the early to mid 19th century, followed by Cleveland well into the 1950s or 60s, but I'd figure Columbus is now the dominant city in the state, governmentally, economically and population-wise?
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also, St. Louis overtaking the mother city New Orleans. |
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For internal tourism, São Paulo is unmatched. People from all over the country come to the city for the most different reasons. About famous football clubs, in Brazil we have the "Big 12", and four of them are based in São Paulo with a national fanbase. Indeed Brazil has many important and big regional centres, but what I'm saying is São Paulo is the national one and have very strong and direct relations with all of them. The don't "converse" much between them, but with São Paulo. São Paulo maybe is not London or Tokyo, but it's not in the middle either. Brazil certainly belongs to countries centered in one major city. |
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Edinburgh, on the other hand, it was the political center and home of Scotland's establishment. It's a very affluent area and handled the last five decades way better than Glasgow. It seems, however, Glasgow is finally rebounding. Quote:
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Turning the page. Too much info here. :)
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