Sustainable Development or Specialization? The Role of International Functions in Selected Cities of the World

Many papers address the issue of large cities and their functions on the international stage, including the command and control function, world city function, and global city function. However, there is a lack of comprehensive research on cities and their full impact on the international scene as well as the significance of the command and control (C&C) function of cities, global cities, and world cities. Therefore, this paper provides an initial attempt at a comprehensive analysis of this subject matter. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the relationship between the command and control function, global city function, and world city function. Ossan’s triangle is used to show the share of the command and control function, the world city function, and the global city function in the given cities. This method has not previously been used in the analysis of city functions. Four city types are identified in this study on the basis of the share of each function within the overall significance of each studied city. Research has shown that the most important cities in the world do not belong to any of these four categories, which suggests that no single function is dominant and that there does not exist a strong diversity of functions in any given major city. The predominance of one function or a balance between all three functions is not always associated with the largest and most important cities operating within the global economy. This is more likely to be the case for cities without well-developed command and control functions, world city functions, and global city functions. Examples of such cities include Harbin and Abu Dhabi.