The World's Most Competitive Cities

The research suggested that given the rapid growth and development of many cities, particularly in emerging markets such as China and India, the 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 and Tokyo, are immensely influential; there are smaller ones, such as Hong Kong and Singapore that have established as globally competitive centers in recent years. For the time being, emerging market cities such as Ahmadabad and Tianjin are witnessing double-digit economic growth and have the potential to grow even faster.

European and American cities lead the human capital category of the Index. This stems mainly from the quality of their educational systems and the entrepreneurial mindset of their citizens. But other factors strengthen their performance too, such as cultural activities and a generally good quality of life.

One of the most pressing challenges for emerging market cities in the decades ahead is  whether they can focus their development not just on skyscrapers, rail links and other infrastructure, but also on the softer aspects that will be crucial to their ability to attract and develop tomorrow’s talent including quality of life, education, and personal freedoms, among other things.