This report looks at emerging cities—namely Beijing, Shanghai, and Taipei—and their ability to attract, retain, and generate flows of ideas, capital, and people.
New York and London remain the world’s most global cities, while major emerging-market cities strengthened their ability to challenge global leaders in the next 10 to 20 years, according to the 2012 Global Cities Index developed by A.T. Kearney and The Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The Global Cities Index, conducted every two years since 2008, provides a unique measure of global engagement for 66 cities across five dimensions – Business Activity, Human Capital, Information Exchange, Cultural Experience, and Political Engagement.
Despite the financial turmoil of the past few years, New York and London have consistently led the rankings in all three editions of the Global Cities Index. Paris and Tokyo, although they alternate positions this year, are always far above the rest of the top ten. Chicago maintains its top-ten position, falling from 6 to 7. Los Angeles ranked 6 in the 2012 Index (was 7 in 2010).
The 2012 edition of the Global Cities Index, published by Bloomberg News on April 2, 2012, includes the Emerging Cities Outlook 2012, a forward-looking measurement of emerging cities that have the potential to improve their global standing in future years. The Emerging Cities Outlook gauges each city’s rate of change by measuring factors that will affect the future of two Index dimensions: Business Activity and Human Capital. These two dimensions drive a city’s capacity to attract, retain, and generate flows of ideas, capital, and people. Beijing, Shanghai, and Taipei top this newly introduced perspective.