London has climbed from sixth last year to rank top in a virtual tie with New York in the fifth edition of Cities of Opportunity, a major global study released today by PwC. The distinction comes at the end of a spectacular year of sporting triumph and the success of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
In spite of the continuing economic challenges, the study finds that London has emerged as a city with strengths in such indicators as economic clout, ease of doing business and attraction as an international gateway. The survey, conducted by PwC in conjunction with the Partnership for New York City, examined the social and economic performance of 27 of the world’s leading cities and named London in the top ten in all bar two of the ten indicators. London also ranked highly as a city of great cultural vibrancy, intellectual capital and innovation, and with a strong transportation network and infrastructure.
The report also looks forward to 2025 and finds London again at the top of the rankings, mainly because of its connectivity. Among the emerging cities, only Shanghai is expected to reach productivity per worker levels on a par with mature cities like London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore.
David Snell, partner in PwC’s London practice, said:
“This study shows that 2012 really has been an extraordinary year in the history of our city. There is no doubt that London continues to be a leading global financial centre and an easy place to do business. But it is not just a city for financial services. London excels in cultural areas too, as we saw in this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games, which really shone a light on what we do so well here in infrastructure and the cultural life of our city.
“London performs consistently well across a broad range of measures, but looking to the future, if we are to continue to be a high-performing city we need to consider whether we are planning adequately for the challenges that lie ahead, looking at major infrastructure improvements and connectivity to maintain our edge.”
Other key points include:
· London has risen from fourth to first this year, coming top in city gateway, a new category that measures global attractiveness and accessibility including international visitors, air traffic and numbers of hotel rooms.
· London came third for economic clout (behind Beijing and Paris) and fourth for ease of doing business (behind Singapore, Hong Kong and New York).
· Other cities in the overall top five are New York, Toronto, Paris (rising four spots from last year) and Stockholm.
· Beijing and Shanghai move to the top five for economic clout and city gateway.
· London did not perform so well in the cost indicator; it has the second highest cost of public transport and third highest cost of business occupancy, as well as the fifth highest cost of rent and third most expensive consumer price index.
· It did not fare well in sustainability, placed 15th overall (a tie with Beijing). It also ranked 22nd out of 27 cities in public park space, the worst ranking of any European city.
David Snell, partner in PwC’s London practice, said:
“Whilst London has performed extremely well across a number of indicators, there is no room for complacency. We need to look at what more we need to do to support new and established businesses, to help them grow and thrive and to create an environment conducive to both people and industries making their homes in this city.”
ENDS
1. This year, 27 cities were included within the report. 60 variables, constituting the ten indicator groups, were analysed.
2. Cities of Opportunity is based on publicly available data, using three main sources: global multilateral development organisations such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund; national statistics organisations such as UK national statistics and the US Census Bureau; and commercial data providers. The data was collected during the latter half of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012. In some cases, national data was used as a proxy for city data. The scoring methodology was developed to ensure transparency and simplicity as well as comparability across cities.
3. The complete report, interactive tools that allow users to model their own comparisons among the cities and variables, and videos and podcasts are available at: www.pwc.com/cities.
PwC firms provide industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to enhance value for their clients. More than 161,000 people in 154 countries in firms across the PwC network share their thinking, experience and solutions to develop fresh perspectives and practical advice. See pwc.com for more information.