ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the phenomenon “winner-take-all cities.” Large segments of the modern economy have been shown to conform to a “winner-take-all” pattern as superstar talent draws a disproportionate share of economic rewards. But cities also conform to a winner-take-all pattern in which a small group of global “superstar cities” accounts for a disproportionate share of talent, economic activity, innovation, and wealth. We track the distribution of several key factors to identify and describe this pattern of winner-take-all urbanism in global cities, using novel data on venture capital-backed startups and billionaire wealth, which we compare to the distribution of economic activity and population. Following the literature on global cities, we also examine the disproportionate share of these activities that are concentrated in so-called “alpha” global cities. We find clear evidence of a winner-take-all urbanism across the global economy and the world’s cities.
