Global Power City Index 2017

The annual Global Power City Index (GPCI) report evaluates and ranks 44 major cities according to their “magnetism,” or their overall power to attract creative individuals and enterprises from around the world. Cities are rated on the basis of six categories: Economy, R&D, Cultural Interaction, Livability, Environment, and Accessibility. 

Five major cities in the Asia-Pacific region—Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, Hong Kong and Sydney—were ranked in the top 10 of the 2017 Global Power City Index (GPCI) report published today by The Mori Memorial Foundation’s Institute for Urban Strategies, a research institute established by Mori Building, a leading urban developer in Tokyo.

London, the No. 1 city in the comprehensive ranking for the sixth year in a row, further extends its lead over the competition by improving its scores for such indicators as GDP Growth Rate and Level of Political, Economic and Business Risk in Economy, and for Attractiveness of Dining Options and Number of Visitors from Abroad in Cultural Interaction.

New York (No. 2) increases its scores for the Economy indicators of Nominal GDP and GDP Growth Rate, but fails to make any significant headway in comprehensive score, having returned weaker scores this year in Cultural Interaction indicators such as Number of World-Class Cultural Events Held and Livability indicators like Variety of Retail Shops.
 
Tokyo claimed the No. 3 ranking for the first time last year and closes the gap on New York (No. 2) this year. This is a result of the American city’s score stalling while Tokyo continues to improve every year in the Cultural Interaction indicators of Number of Visitors from Abroad and Number of International Students. However, Japan’s capital city slips from No. 1 to No. 4 in Economy due to weaker scores in “Market Size” and “Market Attractiveness.”