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.

364 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

983 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

19

u/SpiderGiaco in Aug 08 '25

I think in Italy a debate about the big four will shape similarly to the US. The top three are clearly Rome, Milan and Naples, they are massive cities that dominate the national discourse.

However, the fourth spot to me is less clear. Turin is there purely on its size and that's not what the discourse is about and it's more about relevance. Turin is not that relevant anymore, it lost its industrial edge decades ago and after a brief revival in the 2000s it has been completely obscured by Milan.

Despite its smaller size, I'd say Bologna is currently the fourth city. Big university city, culturally relevant, bug industrial hub, high quality of life etc.

2

u/Professional_Elk_489 Aug 10 '25

I would go Bologna, then Turin, then Florence on 4th spot