The existence of cities is increasingly central and strategic. It suggests various studies and considers the role of cities in various sectors. One of the most dominant and has been carried out for several decades is the role of cities at the world level. As a result, various terminologies were constructed, specifically in the context of city globality and its derivative indicators. Therefore, cities contend to acquire validation and legitimacy to achieve those indicators and be acknowledged as global cities. However, this research wants to analyze the city’s globality indicators. Do the indicators concentrate on current urban conditions and development? Most importantly, does it refer to a concept related to participation that emphasizes the community as the vital figure in the ideal city development process, as argued by many researchers for decades? Thus, by studying the concept of a global city, public participation, and its relevance to public trust, the research conducted a comparative study of several global city indicators. The results of which showed that there were no specific and explicit indicators associated with public participation. Therefore, this research evolved as a strong message to urge the development of concepts and expansion of indicators so that when cities are acknowledged as global cities, the concept can be constructed optimally, not only in the economic sector but also in the social sector, which prioritizes citizen involvement. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2025.