1999年，英国拉夫堡大学(Loughborough University)的地理系（Geography Department）的全球化与世界级城市研究小组（Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) Research Network）Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) Research Network），尝试为世界级城市定义和分类。GaWC的世界级城市名册是全球关于世界一、二、三、四线城市最权威的排名，这个排名以国际公司的“高级生产者服务业”供应，如会计、广告、金融和法律为城市排名。在2016年排名中，中国入选世界一线城市有香港、北京、上海、台北、广州。
The world according to GaWC is a city-centred world of flows in contrast to the more familiar state-centred world of boundaries.
Cities are assessed in terms of their advanced producer services using the interlocking network model (see GaWC Research Bulletin 23). Indirect measures of flows are derived to compute a city's network connectivity – this measures a city's integration into the world city network.
The connectivity measures are used to classify cities into levels of world city network integration. These levels are interpreted as follows:
alpha++ cities In all analyses, London and New York stand out as clearly more integrated than all other cities and constitute their own high level of integration
alpha+ cities Other highly integrated cities that complement London and New York , largely filling in advanced service needs for the Pacific Asia
alpha & alpha- cities Very important world cities that link major economic regions and states into the world economy
All beta level cities These are important world cities that are instrumental in linking their region or state into the world economy
All gamma level cities These can be world cities linking smaller regions or states into the world economy, or important world cities whose major global capacity is not in advanced producer services
Cities with sufficiency of services These are cities that are not world cities as defined here but they have sufficient services so as not to be overtly dependent on world cities. Two specialised categories of city are common at this level of integration: smaller capital cities, and traditional centres of manufacturing regions
The World According to GaWC 2000
The World According to GaWC 2004
The World According to GaWC 2008
The World According to GaWC 2010
The World According to GaWC 2012
The World According to GaWC 2016
百度百科：https://baike.baidu.com/item/世界一线城市
GAWC官网：http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/
GAWC2016: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/world2016t.html（2017年4月24日发布）
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百度百科整理的GAWC中的中国城市：https://baike.baidu.com/item/世界一线城市