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I think the more important significance of the cities in the High Middle Ages was there ability to concentrate a new "middle class" of merchant/artisans therein who is turn became more liberated from the constraints of the surrounding country areas who for the most part were still operating on feudalistic ideas.
The organized Church & the landed nobility restricted the rest of the population from having the liberty to understand anything other then working for them within very well defined "feudal" boundaries.

The Italian city states for example Genoa, Venice, Florence began to take control of Mediterranean Trading routes once the sea lanes had been cleared of Arab
aggression and the inland Mongol invasions subsided. These city states began to also produce a wealthy merchant class. In turn this new wealthy merchant class dedicated there wealth to building magnificent cathedrals & in turn these Cathedrals started schools that were the predecessors of Universities.There was a call for skilled artisans as well to build the Cathedrals and so country people had the opportunity to come to the cities and become very skilled artisans.

Many of the wealthy merchants encouraged free thinking , a sort of thinking that was different then the feudalistic past and perhaps more importantly was an environment where the concept of Democracy could take root. Democratic ideas enabled people to begin to think that there economic status didn't have to be determined by birth but that one could progress to a better economic & social status throughout there lifetimes.

Individual thinking was resuscitated more then it had ever been since the time of the "Greek City States" in the cities of the European High Middle Ages and this in turn was a positive stimulus for the development of the " Renaissance".

One might say that the High Middle Ages in Europe Cities enabled three major trends to grow that in turn were of most importance for the future growth of the West.

1.) The Foundations for Higher Education
2.) The development of a powerful & Rich Middle Class free from the old regime (Landed Nobility & Church).
3.)The Further development of Individual Thought as the foundation of the future of Liberal Ideology which became Foundational in the discovery of America.

In this sense the Cities in the High Middle Ages in Europe played quite a significant role in the development of Western Civilization.

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