diff --git a/resources/places/countries/global.yaml b/resources/places/countries/global.yaml
index eb862918..5823d754 100644
--- a/resources/places/countries/global.yaml
+++ b/resources/places/countries/global.yaml
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 # and standalone place queries)
 
 global:
+    city_replacements: []
     # Probability of including individual components
     components:
         suburb:
@@ -61,6 +62,10 @@ countries:
 
     # Australia
     au:
+        city_replacements:
+            - suburb
+            - city_district
+            - state_district
         components:
             suburb:
                 dependencies:
@@ -84,6 +89,10 @@ countries:
 
     # Brazil
     br:
+        city_replacements:
+            - suburb
+            - city_district
+            - state_district
         components:
             suburb:
                 dependencies:
@@ -102,6 +111,10 @@ countries:
 
     # Canada
     ca:
+        city_replacements:
+            - suburb
+            - city_district
+            - state_district
         components:
             suburb:
                 dependencies:
@@ -130,6 +143,10 @@ countries:
 
     # United Kingdom
     gb:
+        city_replacements:
+            - suburb
+            - city_district
+            - state_district
         components:
             state_district:
                 probability: 0.15
@@ -216,6 +233,9 @@ countries:
 
     # Mexico
     mx:
+        city_replacements:
+            - suburb
+            - city_district
         components:
             suburb:
                 dependencies:
@@ -258,6 +278,10 @@ countries:
 
     # United States
     us:
+        city_replacements:
+            - suburb
+            - city_district
+            - state_district
         # Definitions
         new_york_county: &new_york_county
             id: 2552485 # New York County (Manhattan, NY)
diff --git a/scripts/geodata/places/config.py b/scripts/geodata/places/config.py
index afcada2c..32fe3c04 100644
--- a/scripts/geodata/places/config.py
+++ b/scripts/geodata/places/config.py
@@ -159,10 +159,14 @@ class PlaceConfig(object):
 
         new_components = components.copy()
 
+        city_replacements = set()
+        if AddressFormatter.CITY not in components:
+            city_replacements = set(self.get_property(('city_replacements', ), country=country))
+
         for component in admin_components:
             include = self.include_component(component, containing_ids, country=country, population=population)
 
-            if not include:
+            if not include and component not in city_replacements:
                 # Note: this check is for cities that have the same name as their admin
                 # areas e.g. Luxembourg, Luxembourg. In cases like this, if we were to drop
                 # city, we don't want to include country on its own. This should help the parser