23Ku, cities or the same as boroughs or wards in other major cities?

Since this came up in another discussion, I thought I’d ask the community here what you think.

In English, I refer to them as cities because from my understanding, the wards themselves refer to themselves as cities to clarify their administrative level. Tokyo being first level, prefectural government and the 23ku being second level, the same as cities.

I know they aren’t exactly the same as other cities, however, city does seem more accurate than ward or considering them similar to something like the NYC boroughs.

What says the community here?