Since the Imperial Universities were established for political reasons in Sendai City (population 120,000), Sapporo City (population 100,000) and Fukuoka City (population 95,000) which were more thinly populated than Osaka City (population 1,250,000), Nagoya City (population 430,000) in three major metropolitan areas, Hiroshima City (population 160,000), and Kanazawa City (population 130,000), campaigns for establishment of Imperial Universities were carried out in large cities (-> Order of populations (1920) of prefectural capitals and ordinance-designated cities).
なお、三大都市圏の大阪市（125万人）や名古屋市（43万人）、あるいは、広島市（16万人）や金沢市（13万人）に比べて人口が少ない仙台市（12万人）、札幌区（10万人）、福岡市（9.5万人）に政策的な理由で帝国大学が設置されたため、他の大都市では帝国大学設置運動がその後も続いた（→都道府県庁所在地と政令指定都市の人口順位1920年（大正9年）の人口順位）。