London and New York have taken joint top place in the “Cities of Opportunity” ratings compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
In spite of continuing economic challenges, London emerged as a city with “economic clout, ease of doing business and attraction as an international gateway”.
The survey examined the social and economic performance of 27 of the world’s leading cities and named London in the top ten in all but 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.
Looking forward to 2025, the report 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, comments: “There is no doubt that London continues to be a leading global financial centre and an easy place to do business.”
He adds: “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 from the research 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.
London 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.
Category: Employment News, Insurance News
