According to the 2010 Global Cities Index from global management consulting firm A T Kearney, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and Foreign Policy magazine, which carried out the research, the world has experienced a financial tsunami, but the top-ranked cities (New York, London, Tokyo and Paris) have ridden this wave with much less damage than doomsayers predicted.
Of the top 10 cities in this year’s index, four are Asian cities – Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Seoul. Additionally, Sydney in Australia, an important international connector between East and West, moved from 16th place in the 2008 index to 9th place in this year’s index.
In reviewing the rankings of the dimensions on the index, it is interesting to note that the leading cities demonstrate different strengths across each of the five dimensions.
London comes first in the rankings under the human capital and cultural experience headings, but fares worse for business activity and political engagement.
The increasing adoption of broadband technologies has had a measurable impact on globalisation scores, while for major financial centres like New York and London the financial crisis has had less of an impact than was initially expected.
The Global Cities Index ranks 65 cities from around the globe, based on metrics grouped in five categories: business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience and political engagement. The Global Cities Index is unique in that it goes beyond measures of business and finance, and includes measurements of the key dimensions that define today’s global cities.
