Economista

Hot spots
Benchmarking global city competitiveness

A report from the Economist Intelligence Unit

Commissioned by

Hot spots Benchmarking global city competitiveness

Contents
Preface Executive summary Introduction: Striving for competitiveness Finding a competitive advantage Case study: Singapore—Asia’s most competitive city Rebalancing West and East: Legacy versus growth Case study:Wipro—From East to West to East Beyond the megacities: Tomorrow’s new power brokers? Case study: Dell’s city selection criteria Talent, jobs and quality of life Case study: New York’s talent as a competitive edge City size, density and competitive performance Conclusion: Leapfrogging ahead? Appendix 1: Index scores by category Appendix 2: Index scores by region Appendix 3: Full methodology 2 3 89 10 11 14 15 17 18 20 21 23 25 27 29

© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2012

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Hot spots Benchmarking global city competitiveness

Preface
Hot spots is an Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) research programme, commissioned by Citigroup, which ranks the competitiveness of 120 of the world’s major cities. The EIU bears sole responsibility for the content of this report. The EIU’seditorial team built the Global City Competitiveness Index, conducted the analysis and wrote the report. The findings and views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsor. Our research drew on two main initiatives: • A unique Index that compares 120 of the world’s major urban agglomerations across eight distinct categories of competitiveness and 31 individualindicators. These cities collectively represent about 29% of the global economy, with a combined GDP of US$20.2tr. A detailed note on definitions and methodology is provided in the appendix. • We conducted in-depth interviews with ten city experts, mayors and corporate executives, to get their insights on city competitiveness. The Index was devised and constructed by an EIU research team led by ManojVohra. The author of the report was James Watson and the editor was Sudhir Vadaketh. Sarah Fister Gale and Premila Nazareth assisted with further interviews. Our sincere thanks go to the following interviewees (listed alphabetically by organisation) for their time and insights: • Dane Parker, vice president, global facilities, real estate and environmental health and safety, Dell • KevinStolarick, research director, Martin Prosperity Institute • Jaana Remes, senior fellow, McKinsey Global Institute • Michael Bloomberg, mayor, New York • Javier Sanchez-Reaza, economist and urban specialist, OECD • Lamia Kamal-Chaoui, head, urban development programme, OECD • Johannes Schmidt, CEO, project and structured finance, Infrastructure & Cities and Industry, Siemens • Khoo Teng Chye, executivedirector, Singapore’s Centre for Liveable Cities • Todd Overmyer, global head of retail, Triumph • Hariprasad Hegde, global head of operations, Wipro January 2012
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© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2012

Hot spots Benchmarking global city competitiveness

Executive summary

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ell over half of the world’s population now lives in cities, generating more than 80% of global GDP.Already, global business is beginning to plan strategy from a city, rather than a country, perspective. Given the rapid growth and development of many cities, particularly in emerging markets such as China and India, competition between them for business, investment and talent will only get fiercer. Size alone does not determine a city’s growth potential. While some megacities, such as New York andTokyo, are immensely influential, there are smaller ones, such as Hong Kong and Singapore, which have established themselves as globally competitive centres in recent years. Meanwhile, emerging market cities such as Ahmedabad and Tianjin are witnessing double-digit economic growth and have the potential to grow even faster. Competitiveness, however, is a holistic concept. While economic size and...