Second city
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The second city of a country is the city that is (or was) the second-most important, usually after the capital or first city, according to some criteria.[citation needed]
Criteria for second city status include population size, economic or commercial importance, political importance, or some cultural sense. Since it is often difficult to draw a precise boundary where cities end, deciding which city is second in a country is not always straightforward. If the cultural definition is used, then the choice of second city is highly subjective and a matter of opinion rather than fact. In many countries, more than one city might have a legitimate claim to being second city, depending on the definition or criteria used.
It is also sometimes believed, rightly or wrongly, that the second city would assume the role of capital city (as seat of government, market trading, etc.) if the capital were to be compromised by invasion or insurrection.
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[edit] Australia
In Australia, Melbourne is usually referred to as the second city, behind the largest city Sydney. Neither is the national capital, which is the comparatively small Canberra (compare to Ottawa in Canada or Wellington in New Zealand). Sydney and Melbourne are both state capitals.
The postcodes for the state capitals were originally designated roughly in order of population size: Sydney 2000, Melbourne 3000, Brisbane 4000, Adelaide 5000, Perth 6000, Hobart 7000. (Note that the metropolitan population of Perth now exceeds that of its eastern neighbour, Adelaide). The postcode 1000 was not originally used. Canberra's postcode is 2600, since it is surrounded by the state of New South Wales.
Within Sydney, the western suburb of Paramatta is often refferred to as Sydney's second CBD.
[edit] Canada
In Canada, Toronto was historically referred to as the second city. However, in the late 1970s, amidst political and social unrest caused by the growing Quebec sovereignty movement it overtook Montreal, the first city, in population, and the centre of the financial industry moved from St. James Street in Montreal to Bay Street in Toronto.
Each province may have a second city, but this is controversial. For example in British Columbia, Victoria is secondary in population to Vancouver despite being the provincial capital, as in the case with Quebec City and Montreal in the province of Quebec. In some provinces, however, cities are more evenly matched. In Alberta, Calgary and Edmonton are nearly equal in population, and while Edmonton is the capital, Calgary is a more important business centre (see Battle of Alberta). Similarly Saskatchewan's Regina and Saskatoon are of a similar size, while New Brunswick has three similarly sized cities, Saint John, Moncton, and Fredericton. In the provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland & Labrador and Prince Edward Island the capital city is also the largest city by a significant margin.
[edit] Chile
Vaparaíso is often considered the second city of Chile, as it is the main port, the second most populous city, and the seat of the legislatives bodies. After Valparaíso, Concepción could be considered the third city.
[edit] Japan
Osaka is the third-largest city in Japan with a population, but the second-largest city is one of the Satellite town of Tokyo [1][2].After 7th A.D., the capital in Japan was moved to Osaka a few times.At about same time (16th A.D.) that was established Tokyo (Edo),Osaka was rezoned, had the advantage over of the others because there were many tradesmen and the largest port.
Now Osaka has the hinterlands (Osaka's Satellite town,Kyoto,Kobe and Nara city. - Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto),there are almost infrastructures and social systems that a country needs excluded a national legislative organ in Osaka-area.
[edit] Republic of Ireland
Cork is generally considered to be the second city to Dublin, having a much higher population than Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick or Waterford. Locals are wont to refer to it as "the real capital".
[edit] Mexico
From colonial times[1] and until the beginning of the 20th century[2] Puebla was considered the second city in Mexico; it was the first to industrialize and the second most important cultural and academic centre[3] Throughout the 20th century, Guadalajara has been traditionally considered the second city given its initial rapid industrialization[4] and population growth. Nowadays, it continues to be the second most important cultural centre hosting prestigious international literary, music and film events.[5] It was selected to be the "Cultural Capital of the Americas" on one occasion, and at the same time remains an important industrial hub for Western Mexico, and it remains the country's second most populous city. Nonetheless, since the last quarter of the century, Monterrey has engaged in an industrial restructuring that has positioned the city in the international arena as the second most important industrial and financial hub in the country after Mexico City,[6] with the presence of important transnational conglomerates. Having being ranked as the best city to do business in Latin America by Fortune Magazine, and enjoying the second highest income per capita in Mexico, Monterrey has also played an important role in the technological and educational modernization of the country. In all aspects of urban modernization Monterrey is the second city in Mexico.[7]
[edit] South Africa
Cape Town is still regarded as South Africa's second city, because of its economic importance, its prevalence as an international tourist destination, and its airport, which is the second-busiest in the country after OR Tambo International Airport near Johannesburg. However, in the same way that Los Angeles outgrew Chicago in the 1980s, Durban outgrew Cape Town in the 1990s in terms of population. Durban International Airport, however, does not handle as much traffic as Cape Town International Airport. Moreover, Durban does not function as either a provincial or national capital as Cape Town does, and is not as economically strong as Cape Town.[8] As such, it is generally still regarded in the lexicon of the South African urban hierarchy as South Africa's third city.
[edit] United Kingdom
The first city in the United Kingdom is undisputedly the capital, London. From around the time of the First World War to the present, the second city has generally been considered to be Birmingham.[9] However, in a recent opinion poll commisioned by the BBC,[10] a majority claimed that Manchester deserves this distinction.[11][12]
Other cities that have historically been considered the UK's second city are Bristol, Glasgow, and Liverpool. These cities were prominent in the 18th and 19th centuries because of their economic importance, chiefly stemming from the role they played in overseas trade, and remain important centres in their respective regions. More historically Winchester, York and Norwich were regarded as "The Second City" of England.
[edit] Scotland
The capital city of Scotland is Edinburgh, having been so since 1437. However, the largely undisputed main – and most influential – city in Scotland is Glasgow. This view often varies between citizens of Edinburgh and Glasgow as each view their city to be the key to Scotland's economy. Glasgow's famous nickname is the "Second City of the Empire" (referring to the British Empire) and still remains the UK's second largest city in terms of population.
[edit] United States
In the United States, the term is a nickname for Chicago, which for most of its history was second both in population and in cultural influence to New York City (although Los Angeles overtook Chicago to become the second-largest city in the 1980s). It may also refer to the "second city" emerging out of the ruins from the Great Chicago Fire in 1871.[citation needed] Chicago has embraced its "Second City" moniker and has widely accepted it as a shorthand name for the city; this is the origin of the name of the comedy troupe The Second City. Various literature and institutions have identified Chicago with the "Second City" designation even when it will not likely reclaim the second-largest city title (the population gap between the two cities has grown from nearly 800,000 in 2000 to more than one million in 2005).[13] Los Angeles, on the other hand, shuns the nickname and outside observers rarely use it to refer to the California city.
[edit] Other countries
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ The patronage of Juan de Palafox y Mendoza: Constructing the cathedral and civic image of Puebla de Los Angeles, Mexico
- ^ The New Student's Reference Work, Puebla entry,
- ^ Historia de la ciudad de Puebla..
- ^ Fragmentos urbanos de una misma ciudad: Guadalajara
- ^ Guadalajara hosts the most important literary even of the Spanish speaking world, Feria Internacional del Libro, and a prestigious cinema award ceremony
- ^ La urbanización en México en el último cuarto del siglo XX
- ^ Mexican Regionalism Reconsidered
- ^ http://www.joburg.org.za/nov_2002/nov25_gdp.stm
- ^ Hopkins, Eric (2001). Birmingham: The Making of the Second City 1850-1939. Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0752423274.
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/02_february/09/birmingham.shtml
- ^ Manchester 'England's second city'. BBC NEWS (2002). Retrieved on May 3, 2006.
- ^ Manchester 'close to second city'. BBC NEWS (2005). Retrieved on May 3, 2006.
- ^ http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0922422.html
