Gateway cities connect vast hinterlands to the outside world, being vital for our highly globalised and networked society. Studying them complements the understanding of urban nodes in global networks from the world city literature because it draws attention to the diversity of these nodes and city-to-hinterland relations. This article first discusses which features mark gateway cities. Logistics, industrial processing, knowledge generation and perhaps other dimensions of global interlinking should be taken into consideration – in addition to corporate control and corporate services. Second, the article sheds light on the impact of gateway cities upon regional development. Whilst some argue that gateways are a filter to economic gains and thus reduce the prospects of their hinterlands, others suggest that they may serve as engines of growth, transmitting impulses to subordinate locations. The author then elaborates on dynamics at the urban scale. He contends that there is need for research on cities (or organisations from there) as actors that resort to, for example, urban branding to become a gateway or reinforce this status. Research along these lines must also address the dark side of urban branding, most importantly the sharp divide between globalised and sidelined urban districts.

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不同尺度的门户城市分析：从全球互联和区域发展到城市品牌建设

门户城市将广阔的腹地与外部世界连接起来，对我们高度全球化和网络化的社会至关重要。研究它们补充了对世界城市文献中全球网络中城市节点的理解，因为它提请注意这些节点的多样性以及城市与腹地关系。本文首先讨论哪些特征标志着门户城市。除了企业控制和企业服务之外，还应考虑物流、工业加工、知识生成以及全球互联的其他方面。其次，文章阐明了门户城市对区域发展的影响。虽然有些人认为门户是经济收益的过滤器，从而降低了其腹地的前景，但其他人则认为它们可以作为增长的引擎，将脉冲传递到下属位置。然后，作者详细阐述了城市尺度的动态。他认为，有必要对城市（或那里的组织）作为参与者进行研究，例如，城市品牌塑造成为门户或加强这种地位。沿着这些方向的研究还必须解决城市品牌的阴暗面，最重要的是全球化和边缘化城市地区之间的明显鸿沟。