A.T. Kearney: London number two most elite global city
London is the second most global city, with only New York outranking the city in A.T. Kearney’s Global Cities 2015 ranking, which ranks the cities based on their ‘global engagement’. Looking forward and ranking the cities for their potential, London is again found on second place, just behind San Francisco and above Boston and New York.
The Global Cities 2015
Since 2008, consulting firm A.T. Kearney has been measuring the ‘global engagement’ of cities across all continents and regions. The Global Cities 2015 ranking represents the fifth edition of the ranking and consists of the Global Cities Index (GCI) and the Global Cities Outlook (GCO). The GCI ranks the cities based on 27 metrics across business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience, and political engagement. The GCO ranks the cities on 13 indicators across personal well-being, economics, innovation, and governance. The GCO ranking is based on the cities’ measured change across each metric in the past five years which is then used to project forecasts out to 2024.
For the 2015-edition of the ranking, for which A.T. Kearney ranked 125 countries, shows the same top ten of the GCI as the 2014-edition, with only Singapore moving up one spot to eight place, kicking Beijing to ninth place. New York remains the most global city, followed by London and Paris*.
Looking forward and ranking the cities for their potential, shows a completely different top 25, with only London able to retain its second place in the GCO. New York, the #1 most global city, drops to fourth place and San Francisco, currently #22 in the GCI, climbs 21 places and claims the #1 spot in the outlook. According to the researchers, the differences in the GCI and GCO show that while the European cities prevail today, US cities are expected to outperform them in the future, based on their potential, especially in innovation.
Elite Global Cities
Cities that made both the GCI and the GCO are labelled ‘Elite Global Cities’ by A.T. Kearney, a list that is led by New York and London, which are the only cities ranked in the top 10 of both lists. “We have identified 16 cities that are ranked in the top 25 of the GCI, indicating superior current performance, and in the top 25 of the GCO, indicating future potential. We call these cities the ‘Global Elite’,” explains Mike Hales, A.T. Kearney Partner and study co-leader.
Andres Mendoza-Pena, A.T. Kearney Principal and study co-author, adds: “In reviewing the 16 cities that make up the Global Elite, all of these cities are from advanced economies. Cities in advanced economies enjoy a significant lead on innovation, which may become tomorrow’s key differentiator for global cities.”
* A few months ago, the Boston Consulting Group researched the best working cities, which highlights the same top three as A.T. Kearney’s most global cities list, albeit in a slightly different order.
