Information AboutSecond City |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT SECOND CITY | |
| city | |
| lists of cities | |
|
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. 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. 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 referred to as Sydney's second CBD . Within Tasmania, Launceston is the second city after the largest city, the state capital Hobart . CANADA In Canada , Montreal is commonly considered to be the country's second city. Until the late 1970s, this title had belonged to Toronto . It was during that time, amidst political and social unrest caused by the growing Quebec Sovereignty Movement , that it overtook Montreal, the first city, in population, and the center of the financial industry would move from St. James Street in Montreal to Bay Street in Toronto. For more on the rivalry between the country's two largest cities see Toronto-Montreal Rivalry 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 as well as Toronto and Ottawa in the province of Ontario , despite Ottawa's being the nation's capital. 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 Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland & Labrador and Prince Edward Island the capital city is also the largest city by a significant margin. CHILE Valparaíso is Chile ’s most important seaport and an increasingly vital cultural center. The city is located in central Chile, where it is capital of the Region of Valparaíso. Although Santiago is Chile's official capital, Valparaiso houses the National Congress COLOMBIA Medellín is the second city of Colombia , and has been for most of the 20th Century . As the most important city in the coffee-growing region known as the ''eje cafetero'', for decades the economic surplus of a very profitable export trade accumulated here. The National Federation Of Coffee Growers Of Colombia , which provided credit, extension education, and marketing services for the individual small farmers, invested its surpluses in diversifying the local economy. This led to a thriving textile and fashion industry, so Medellín is sometimes called the '' Manchester of South America'', after England's textile capital. The cultural, economic and political influence of the ''paisas'', as the people of the region are called, has traditionally been very strong in Colombia; businessmen once complained "even the Banco Alemán (German Bank) is owned by paisas". Recently the cultural influence of the Caribbean coastal region has grown, so that the status of second city is now disputable between Medellín and Cartagena . Cartagena, which began as a walled city and major seaport in colonial times, was the traditional second city of the country, a power rival to the capital, Bogotá . JAPAN . After the 7th century A.D., the Japanese capital was moved to Osaka a few times. In the 16th century, at about the time Tokyo (then called Edo ) was established as Japan's ''de facto'' capital, Osaka was rezoned, which gave it the advantage of the largest port and access to many tradesmen. Like Tokyo, Osaka is now part of a larger metropolitan area ( Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto ), and it has all the top level infrastructure and social systems except a national legislative organ. REPUBLIC OF IRELAND Cork is generally considered to be the second city to Dublin , having a much higher population than Galway , Kilkenny , Limerick , Sligo or Waterford . MEXICO From colonial times, The patronage of Juan de Palafox y Mendoza: Constructing the cathedral and civic image of Puebla de Los Angeles, Mexico and until the beginning of the 20th century, The New Student's Reference Work, Puebla entry , 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. Mexican Regionalism Reconsidered 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.http://www.joburg.org.za/nov_2002/nov25_gdp.stm As such, it is generally still regarded in the lexicon of the South African urban hierarchy as South Africa's third city. UNITED KINGDOM The first city in the United Kingdom is undisputedly the capital, London . Birmingham , the second-largest city both by geographical size and population, has generally been described as the second city of the UK since around the First World War 1 2, "Birmingham, the second city of England" 3, "Britain's second city of Birmingham". More recently, it has been claimed that Manchester deserves the distinction 4 5, and it has occasionally been described as the second city in published media 6 7 8. Since the formation of the UK, Norwich, Dublin9. Dublin was the second most populous city at the time of the formation of the United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Ireland in 1801, though it and the rest of the Republic Of Ireland , ceased to be a part of the UK in the 1920s. Bristol , Glasgow , and Liverpool have all also been identified as the second city, and indeed Glasgow was often described as the second city of the entire British Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These cities were prominent because of their economic importance, especially the central role which they played in overseas trade, and are still among the largest cities in the country. Scotland The capital city of Scotland is Edinburgh , having been so since 1437 . However, the main city in Scotland, in terms of population, metropolitan area, commuter belt, economic importance and most recently tourism is Glasgow . Glasgow's famous nickname is the "Second City of the Empire", (the first city in this context being London rather than Edinburgh).10 Northern Ireland The capital city of Northern Ireland is Belfast . The second city of Northern Ireland is Derry . Until 2002 Northern Ireland's only other city was Armagh , the ecclesiastical capital of the island of Ireland. That year, Queen Elizabeth granted city status to Lisburn and Newry . BBC report Wales Cardiff is the capital city of Wales and the largest city by population. The second most populous city is Swansea . UNITED STATES In the United States , the term has long been a nickname for Chicago , which has a history as the largest urban area second to New York City . In the late 1980s, however, Chicago was displaced by Los Angeles as the second largest city in the United States. 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 Second City comedy troupe. OTHER COUNTRIES SEE ALSO REFERENCES |
|
|