Black Holes and Loose Connections in The Global Urban Network.
John Rennie Short · Maryland Shared Open Access Repository (USMAI Consortium) · 2002
This paper introduces the concept of black holes and loose connections in the global urban hierarchy. Black holes are defined as large cities, with a population of over 3 million that are not classified as world cities. The paper draws upon a classification that uses advanced producer services as an indicator of world city status. Large, non-world cities are identified and provisional ideas about explaining their position are outlined. Connectivity and population data are used in a simple regression analysis to identify loose connections: cities whose connectivity is less than that predicted by their population.