New York City is the most powerful city in the world



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The most powerful
cities in the world

The Global Power Index 2009
reviewed by Brian Baker

22 November 2009: New York City, London, Paris and Tokyo are deemed to be the most powerful cities in the world. New research has assessed 35 cities from across the world based on six criteria: Economy, research and development, livability, accessibility, cultural interaction as well as ecology and natural environment New York scores top marks for its economy as well as research and development, while London is judged to be the world’s cultural capital. Paris is number one for livability and accessibility. Geneva, Zurich and Vienna are praised for their ecology and natural environment.

| World ranking | Ups & downs | Economy | R&D | Culture | Livability| Environment | Accessibility |

The research was carried out in Japan for The Global Power Index 2009 (GCPI). This year the number of city regions included was increased from 30 to 35. In addition to the six main functions, which are assessed using 69 indicators, the GCPI also includes comparative analysis about five population groups who are considered significant to a city’s health. They are the residents, visitors, managers, artists and researchers. Researchers should be broadly interpreted to include many involved with tertiary education and/or urban policy work.

2018 Earnings, Prices & Wealth Survey
||| Introduction ||| The most expensive cities ||| The richest cities ||| The most powerful cities ||| The Big Mac Guide |||

The Japanese team found that New York, London, Paris and Tokyo performed well ahead of the others on their model. The four cities were in the same order as last year. Fourth-placed Tokyo was less than 25 points behind New York City, which was on 330 points, followed by London (322) and Paris (318). Singapore, Berlin, Vienna and Amsterdam scored between 275 and 250 points.

The world’s most powerful cities
Rank 2009
Rank 2008
City
Points
1
1
New York City
330
2
2
London
322
3
3
Paris
319
4
4
Tokyo
306
5
11
Singapore
274
6
6
Berlin
259
7
5
Vienna
255
8
7
Amsterdam
250
9
15
Zurich
243
10
17
Hong Kong
242
11
19
Madrid
242
12
13
Seoul
241
13
9
Los Angeles
240
14
12
Sydney
237
15
10
Toronto
235
16
16
Frankfurt
233
17
18
Copenhagen
231
18
21
Brussels
230
19
22
Geneva
230
20
8
Boston
226
21
25
Shanghai
224
22
14
Chicago
221
23
-
Vancouver
219
24
20
San Francisco
218
25
-
Osaka
215
26
28
Beijing
211
27
24
Kuala Lumpur
204
28
27
Milan
203
29
29
Bangkok
199
30
-
Fukuoka
197
31
26
Taipei
196
32
23
Moscow
180
33
-
Sao Paulo
178
34
30
Mumbai
166
35
-
Cairo
132
Research by The Global Power Index 2009

The use of the population groups, referred to as ‘actors’, in the report as well as the core analysis based on functions makes for some interesting conclusions. For instance, Asian cities tend to score well in categories, which are considered to be important to managers but less well in elements, which are thought crucial for residents and for artists. In contrast, European cities score well in the activities, which are important for residents and artists.

Ups and downs
While the order of the tip four cities hasn’t changed since last year, there have been significant improvements and falls further down the table. Most surprisingly, all North American cities included in the 2009 research fared worse than 12 months ago. Lon Angeles, the highest-ranked US city, dropped from 9th to 13th place, while Boston’s ranking declined from 8th to 20th spot. Chicago declined from 14th to 22nd place, San Francisco from 20th to 24th place and Toronto from 10th to 15th place.

Big improvements were recorded by some Asian cities. Singapore jumped from 11th to 5th place, with Hong Kong moving up seven places to rank 10. The advance of Chinese cities was less spectacular. Beijing moves up from 28th to 26th place, with Shanghai advancing four places to the 21st spot.

Best for economy
The top 10 cities: New York City, Tokyo, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Paris, Beijing, Shanghai, Copenhagen, Zurich. Interestingly, no German city makes it into the top 20.

Best for research and development”
The top 10 cities: New York City, Tokyo, London, Seoul, Los Angeles, Boston, Paris, Singapore, Hong Kong, Berlin.

Best for culture:
The top 10 cities: London, New York City, Paris, Berlin, Singapore, Tokyo, Vienna, Beijing, Hong Kong, Sydney.

Best for livability:
The top 10 cities: Paris, Berlin, Vancouver, Zurich, Toronto, Vienna, Geneva, Brussels, Copenhagen, Amsterdam. Interestingly, London is placed third from bottom, with Tokyo and New York City occupying middling positions.

Best for environment:
The top 10 cities: Geneva, Zurich, Vienna, Tokyo, Berlin, Frankfurt, Madrid. Sao Paulo, Sydney, Amsterdam

Best for accessibility
The top 10 cities: Paris, London, Amsterdam, New York, Frankfurt, Singapore, Madrid, Seoul, Moscow, Copenhagen

The research also includes some data geared specifically to Tokyo. The authors present a scenario analysis for Tokyo. Its purpose is to identify interventions and improvements, which would make it the top city in the world. Other interesting additional elements produced for the index include an analysis of inter-action between cities through corporate networks and a similar examination of airline flows.

Research for the index was overseen by an international group of academics led by Professor Heizo Takemaka and including Sir Peter Hall. The work was carried out by researchers from the Mori Memorial Foundation and the Mitsubishi Research Institute. The working group was led by Dr Hiroo Ichikawa.


THE LARGEST CITIES IN THE WORLD AND THEIR MAYORS 2010
Introduction
Cities by size: 1 to 150 | 151 to 300 | 301 to 450 | 451 to 550 |
Cities in alphabetical order: A to D | E to L | M to R | S to Z |
Cities by countries: A to D | E to L | M to R | S to Z |


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