London, Paris, and New York – how did these and other cities become ‘great’? Christopher Kennedy explained:

• For a city to be great it must be rich. And the wealthiest cities are financial centres which host key financial markets.
• To become the centre of finance a city must go through a four step process. It must first become a centre of commerce, then industry, then a transportation hub, and then finally a financial centre.
• Quebec, for example, lost out to Toronto as Canada’s great city, because it didn’t property invest in transportation infrastructure. A failed airport launch meant that international travelers preferred flying through Toronto and the rest, is history.

Read more about cities, and those that grow without being financial centres over here.

Source: The Montreal Review