Learning from the East-- Insights from China's Urban Success 2018 Global Cities Report A.T. Kearney's eighth Global Cities report highlights regional trends revealed over the past decade and examines what defines the world's most influential cities.View online: bit.ly/2018-Global-Cities2018 Global Cities Report1There are reasons that cities such as New York, London, Paris, and Singapore routinely attract the best companies, the top talent, and the most investment dollars. Influential cities such as these possess the right mix of factors such as business activity, human capital, information exchange, political engagement, and cultural experiences that help organizations and people to thrive. The A.T. Kearney 2018 Global Cities report examines which global cities are improving in their competitiveness and what factors are driving that success. In an era of increased localization, challenges to trade, and a rise in populist sentiments around the world, the results of this report go beyond simply ranking cities. Instead, this analysis reveals which global cities are primed for urban transformation and growth--and those that are falling behind.Cities such as New York, London, Paris, and Singapore possess a mix of factors such as business activity, human capital, information exchange, political engagement, and cultural experiences that help organizations and people to thrive.Even more, the 2018 report shows how commitments to key areas such as innovation, transparency, and information exchange will define the next generation of the world's most influential cities. In the US, you need only look at the headlines surrounding Amazon's search for its second headquarters to intuit the importance of understanding why some seem to grow, thrive, and attract continued investment while others miss out. This year, the report includes information on some of the expected top cities--places such as New York and San Francisco. But it also chronicles the remarkable rise of China's super cities and how a comprehensive approach to urbanization is paying off in spades for the global powerhouse.Highlights from the 2018 Global Cities Report Seven new cities have been added to the Index and the Outlook: In the US, Seattle joins the rankings for the first time, and in China, six cities have emerged in the rankings (Changsha, Foshan, Ningbo, Tangshan, Wuxi, and Yantai). New York maintains first place in the Global Cities Index driven by its strong performance in business activity and human capital. San Francisco holds on to first place in the Global Cities Outlook driven by its continued strength in innovation. The theoretical perfect city, one whose composite score across all Index metrics is 100, is composed of 15 cities. New York claims the top spot in five of the 27 metrics and Brussels in four. This reinforces that no city has a lock on all aspects that make a global city. View online: bit.ly/2018-Global-Cities 2018 Global Cities Report 1The theoretical fastest city, one whose composite score across all Outlook metrics is 100, is composed of nine cities. Melbourne and Sydney claim top spots in three of the 13 metrics, Moscow and London in two. The race for being the most global city in the future is wide open. The cities that have climbed the most in the Global Cities Index rankings since last year have made marked improvements in the areas of business activity and information exchange. In the Global Cities Outlook, cities that improved their economics and governance made the biggest leap in the rankings. China's key cities have experienced greater progress than cities in the other regions of the world during the 10 years of A.T. Kearney's Global Cities research; business activity remains the dominant factor, but human capital and cultural experience are also significant drivers of growth.A Decade of Global Cities Data Established in 2008, A.T. Kearney's Global Cities was one of the first to rank cities based on their global standing, and it remains highly regarded for its holistic assessment of city capabilities and potential. Designed by top academics and business advisors, the analysis is based on facts and publicly available data. We develop the report annually, updating the underlying information and reviewing whether new cities meet the criteria for inclusion. Since its inception, the report added the Global Cities Outlook and it increases the number of cities it assesses nearly every year. The 2018 report includes the Global Cities Index, which examines cities' performance, and the Global Cities Outlook, which evaluates their potential (see sidebar: 135 Cities, Six Global Regions, One Powerful Report). Over the past 10 years, the report has evolved to better reflect the factors that impact the success of cities. The first Global Cities Index examined the comparative strengths of 60 cities; this report compiles data on 135 different metropolitan areas. Together, the Index and Outlook present a unique tool for assessing the world's most influential and attractive cities--and determining what makes them so. The information is135 Cities, Six Global Regions, One Powerful Report The Global Cities Index examines the current performance of cities based on 27 metrics spanning five dimensions: business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience, and political engagement. The Index provides insights into the global reach, performance, and level of development of the world's largest cities. It also allows for the comparison of diverse cities and the identification of core strengths and distinctive differences. The Global Cities Outlook evaluates a city's potential based on the rate of change for 13 metrics across four dimensions: personal well-being, economics, innovation, and governance. These metrics help evaluate long-term investment and success by assessing elements such as environmental performance, infrastructure, and innovation capacity. The Outlook brings a forward-looking perspective to city-level policies and practices that shape future competitiveness, identifying growing cities that are likely to become the world's most prominent cities.View online: bit.ly/2018-Global-Cities2018 Global Cities Report2especially valuable for business leaders as they assess new locations or consider expanding internationally.2018 Index and Outlook Performance The Index: business activity gives global cities a boost The Big Apple stays on top The 2018 Global Cities Index finds New York City to be the world's most influential city. New York overtook London in 2017, after falling behind in 2016, and has consolidated its leading position in 2018. Figure 1 on page 4 presents the top 25 cities in the Global Cities Index for 2018. Complete rankings and more detail about the metrics and their weightings within each dimension are provided in the appendix. New York has shown strong improvements in business activity, while also leading the global scores in human capital. Of course, the Big Apple remains a hub for numerous industries including finance, media, and fashion. But it's also increasingly becoming a center of start-up activity and venture-backed tech companies. New York City also received its highest ever score in cultural experience.While there has been no change in the leading cities for each of the dimensions that the Index considers, it's worth noting that the overall leaders in each category represent a mix of cities from across all development levels and world regions.London, meanwhile, witnessed less improvement and some declines in measured areas, particularly in political engagement. The latter may simply reflect a political exhaustion after the record turnout and dramatic fallout of the 2016 Brexit vote. London and New York scored highly in the human capital metric, a sign of the continued appeal of the cities to talent from around the world. They each saw slightly less improvement in information exchange compared to the previous year. Paris, Tokyo, and Hong Kong rank third, fourth, and fifth, respectively--unchanged from last year. Elsewhere in the top 10, Los Angeles has overtaken Singapore and Chicago to land in sixth place. Of the cities in the top 50 that moved up the most over the year, increases in business activity and improvements in information exchange spurred their rise. Munich, San Francisco, and Atlanta each showed signs of rapid improvement in these areas.View online: bit.ly/2018-Global-Cities2018 Global Cities Report3Figure The topcities on the Index and the OutlookGlobal Cities Index, rank and score rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25rank 1 2 3 4 5 8 6 7 9 11 10 12 13 18 17 14 15 16 19 23 20 22 24 21 26Outlook 2 3 4 14 54 30 5 15 47 22 24 45 49 20 19 18 10 12 64 1 25 6 40 8 60City New York London Paris Tokyo Hong Kong Los Angeles Singapore Chicago Beijing Brussels Washington, D.C. Seoul Madrid Moscow Sydney Berlin Melbourne Toronto Shanghai San Francisco Vienna Amsterdam Barcelona Boston Buenos AiresScoring breakdown 62.0 60.1 53.2 47.2 44.9 38.3 37.8 36.3 35.4 34.3 34.2 33.6 33.2 32.7 32.5 32.1 31.9 31.7 31.2 29.6 29.5 29.3 28.4 28.2 27.8 Business activity (30%) Human capital (30%) Information exchange (15%) Cultural experience (15%) Political engagement (10%)Global Cities Outlook, rank and score rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25rank 1 2 4 3 11 16 7 5 8 6 9 20 12 23 15 14 24 18 13 10 32 28 21 19 29Index 20 1 2 3 7 22 32 24 41 17 39 18 33 4 8 36 37 16 15 14 27 10 42 11 21City San Francisco New York London Paris Singapore Amsterdam Munich Boston Houston Melbourne Stockholm Toronto Zurich Tokyo Chicago Geneva Vancouver Berlin Sydney Moscow Montreal Brussels Copenhagen Washington, D.C. ViennaScoring breakdown 66.0 65.9 65.4 60.5 60.5 59.5 58.2 57.8 57.2 56.9 56.8 56.1 56.0 55.8 55.7 55.5 55.4 55.1 54.6 54.5 54.3 53.9 53.5 53.5 52.9 Personal well-being (25%) Economics (25%) Innovation (25%) Governance (25%)Note: Bold city names indicate top Source: A.T. Kearneyin both Index and Outlook.Global Cities ReportView online: bit.ly/2018-Global-Cities2018 Global Cities Report4Emerging urban hubs elevate their game Despite the lack of movement in the Index's top 10, looking at the performance of cities within individual metrics makes it clear that even the most established global cities face significant competition from emerging urban hubs (see figure 2). While there has been no change in the leading cities for each of the five dimensions that the Index considers, it's worth noting that the overall leaders in each category represent a broad mix of cities from across all development levels and world regions. For instance, Melbourne achieved the highest ranking in international student population, while within the business activity metric Hong Kong claims the top spot in the number of global services firms.Figure The perfect city Global Cities Index leaders Business activity New York Human capital New York Information exchange Paris Cultural experience London Political engagement Washington, D.C.Global Cities Index leaders by metric Fortune Beijing Top global services irms Hong Kong* Capital markets New York Air freight Hong Kong Sea freight Shanghai ICCA conferences Paris Foreign-born population New York Top universities Boston Population with tertiary degrees Tokyo International student population Melbourne* Number of international schools Hong Kong Access to TV news Geneva, Brussels News agency bureaus London Broadband subscribers Geneva, Zurich Freedom of expression Brussels, Amsterdam, Stockholm Online presence Singapore Museums Moscow Visual and performing arts New York* Sporting events London International travelers London Culinary o erings New York Sister cities St. Petersburg Embassies and consulates Brussels Think tanks Washington, D.C. International organizations Geneva Political conferences Brussels Local institutions with global reach New YorkNote: ICCA is the International Congress and Convention Association. *Indicates new leaders in Source: A.T. Kearney Global Cities ReportIn search of the perfect city It takes 15 cities to yield the theoretical perfect city across all 27 metrics from the Index--one whose composite score is 100. We've yet to find the perfect city in real life. That said, New York is considered perfect in five metrics, including culinary offerings and local institutions with a global reach. Not far behind, Brussels is considered perfect in four metrics including freedom of expression and political conferences.View online: bit.ly/2018-Global-Cities2018 Global Cities Report5The Outlook: innovation puts San Francisco ahead San Francisco holds on to the top position in the Global Cities Outlook, followed by New York, London, and Paris. Driven by high-growth companies in Silicon Valley, San Francisco continues to excel in innovation as measured by patent activity. Between 2011 and 2015, Bay Area companies filed for 34,324 international patents, with Google accounting for 6.5 percent of all the applications filed. Other leading cities in the Global Cities Outlook made improvements in terms of private investment activity. For instance, strong economic performance from New York, particularly in foreign direct investment, helped the city retain its number two ranking. Dimension winners stay the same The cities leading each of the four dimensions remained unchanged from last year (see figure 3). Melbourne continues to head up personal well-being, New York leads when it comes to economics metrics, San Francisco offers the most innovation, and Zurich ranks highest in governance.Figure The fastest city Global Cities Outlook leaders Personal well-being Melbourne Economics New York Innovation San Francisco Governance Geneva, ZurichGlobal Cities Outlook leaders by metric Stability and security Kuwait City Healthcare evolution Multiple leaders Gini coe icient index Prague Environmental performance Sydney, Melbourne Infrastructure Frankfurt* GDP per capita Houston FDI in low New York* Patents per capita San Francisco Private investments London* University-sponsored incubators Moscow Quality of bureaucracy Multiple leaders Ease of doing business Moscow* Transparency London*Indicates new leaders in Source: A.T. Kearney Global Cities ReportThe economics metric saw the most change, with infrastructure investment topping out in Frankfurt and New York now achieving the highest inflow of foreign direct investment. Cities that moved up the most in the Outlook since 2016 showed the greatest improvements in economics and governance. Guangzhou climbed 19 spots due to the growth of its infrastructure investment score and improvements in reducing bureaucracy. Meanwhile, increases in foreign direct investment, private investments, and patents bolstered the Chinese city of Xi'an. The transparency score helped improve Vienna's ranking, and an increased entrepreneurship scoreView online: bit.ly/2018-Global-Cities2018 Global Cities Report6helped Moscow move up in the Outlook. It's worth noting that the cities that improved spanned the world, reflecting the continued expansion of the global economy. Finding the fastest city The theoretical fastest city, one whose composite score across all Outlook metrics is 100, is composed of nine cities. Melbourne and Sydney claim top spots in three of the 13 metrics, Moscow and London in two. The race for being the most global city in the future is wide open. The Global Elite The Global Elite combines results from both the Index and the Outlook to gain insights into the relative strengths of local, regional, and global economies and their corresponding policies, culture, economic performance, and infrastructure investment (see figure 4). This year, the Global Elite includes 17 cities that rank in the top 25 for both the Global Cities Index and the Global Cities Outlook. London, New York, Paris, and Singapore, a new addition to the list, are in the top 10 for both.Figure The Global Elite are in the top Americas New York, Index /Outlook Chicago, Index /Outlook Washington, D.C., Index Toronto, Index /Outlook /Outlook /Outlookon both the Index and the Outlook EMEA London, Index /Outlook Paris, Index /Outlook Brussels, Index Moscow, Index Berlin, Index Vienna, Index /Outlook /Outlook /Outlook /Outlook /Outlook Top 10 in both the Index and Outlook Top 25 in both the Index and OutlookAsia Paci ic Tokyo, Index /Outlook Singapore, Index /Outlook Sydney, Index /Outlook /OutlookMelbourne, IndexSan Francisco, Index Boston, Index/OutlookAmsterdam, Index *Indicates new leaders in Source: A.T. Kearney Global Cities ReportThe East and the Rest: The Remarkable Rise of Chinese Cities Since A.T. Kearney began tracking the performance of the world's top cities a decade ago, China's urban centers have rapidly become relatively more competitive on a global scale. The number of Chinese cities included in the Global Cities Index has spiked from 7 in 2008 to 27 this year. The Global Cities Outlook also increased its consideration of Chinese cities, growing from 21 in 2015 to 27 in 2018 (see figure 5 on page 8). While their increased inclusion is notable, even more so is the growth of the cities' scores in both reports. The Chinese cities included in the first report experienced greater score growth than all other regions except Africa over the past decade of the Global Cities Index. In the Outlook, China's score growth outpaced all other regions over the past four years.View online: bit.ly/2018-Global-Cities2018 Global Cities Report7。。。。。。