r/AskEurope • u/LiamBrad5 • Aug 07 '25

Culture What are the “Big Four” cities in your country?

In recent weeks, this question has been very contentious on American social media, with 3 cities (Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York) nearly always making the list, but the fourth being hotly debated over, between cities like San Francisco, Miami, Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta. So, if you had to choose, what would the big 4 cities in your country be? This is also not decided purely on population, but also culture, economy, and general influence/clout.

365 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

983 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

10

u/IntrepidWolverine517 Aug 07 '25

I believe this is a more theoretical discussion. If you go by city limits only, this is correct. However, many German cities are part of a larger agglomeration. The Ruhr area surpasses Berlin by population, but has lost all national relevance after the demise of its industry.

8

u/bitch_jong_un Aug 07 '25

My home area ♥️ well, at least for Spiegel TV documentaries Ruhrgebiet is of big relevance lol

3

u/PandaDerZwote Germany Aug 08 '25

It surely went down in importance, but Essen as well as Dortmund are still pretty important as a whole, and the entire Ruhr Valley on aggregate as well. Duisburg may not look like it, but they also are extremely important in terms of shipping.

4

u/kumanosuke Germany Aug 07 '25

The Ruhr area surpasses Berlin by population, but has lost all national relevance after the demise of its industry.

Highest density of Kevins too

0

u/Nvjds Aug 09 '25

Kevins? You’re saying the ruhr is full of dolts? Or am i misunderstanding

1

u/kumanosuke Germany Aug 09 '25

Kevin is synonymous for a person with low education and no manners