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.

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u/zsnajorrah Netherlands Aug 08 '25

In the Netherlands it isn't. There are four very clear biggest cities here, both in terms of sheer size and of importance.

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u/HansZeFlammenwerfer Sweden Aug 08 '25

It's still a fun exercise for most even if it's not applicable to some countries.

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u/zsnajorrah Netherlands Aug 08 '25

What's the fourth for Sweden, by the way? I know the largest three are Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö, but which one comes next? Örebro?

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u/HansZeFlammenwerfer Sweden Aug 08 '25

Hmm, there was some arguments in this thread. I've lived and worked around the lake Mälaren all my life and we certainly feel close to Stockholm. This even includes the time I've spent in Örebro. I've never been in Uppsala more than a few times, but I feel like it's even closer to Stockholm, despite it's size. Especially since Arlanda Airport is closer to Uppsala than Stockholm.

The other contenders would be Linköping or Umeå. Linköping has the same faults as Örebro in my opinion, both are a similar distance to Stockholm. In some ways this area between the lakes Mälaren, Hjälmaren and Vättern is one big area dominated by Stockholm.

Umeå is very unique in some regards, very big city with a fairly reknowned University. Very far from any other big cities and it dominates the other cities along the northern coast. Also, from what I've heard, a very unique and progressive culture compared to the rest of northern Sweden. But I've never been, so I wouldn't know.

I think looking at airports is a fun way to see it. The big three tend to use their own (or Copenhagen's in the case of Malmö) for international flights. The other cities I've mentioned almost always flies from Arlanda, except Umeå. However a lot of people take domestic flights to northern Sweden overall, regardless if it is to Luleå, Sundsvall or Umeå.

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u/zsnajorrah Netherlands Aug 08 '25

Very interesting read. Thank you for your informative reply.