48 most powerful cities in the world

A global ranking of the most powerful cities in the world, according to the Mori Memorial Foundation’s latest Global Power City Index.

The Global Power City Index (GPCI) assesses and ranks 48 major global cities according to their “magnetism,” or their “comprehensive power to attract people, capital, and enterprises from around the world”.

The report is published by the Mori Memorial Foundation’s Institute for Urban Strategies, a research body established by Mori Building, a leading urban developer in Tokyo, Japan.

Since 2008, the annual GPCI report has ranked 40 or more major cities by measuring 70 indicators across six functions:

• Economy
• Research and Development
• Cultural Interaction
• Livability
• Environment
• Accessibility

The three top-ranked cities maintained their positions from last year. However, comparing the fluctuation in various scores, London (1) and New York (2) were seen to pull away from Tokyo and Paris in third and fourth place respectively.

London maintained its position at the top of the rankings for the ninth consecutive year. Apart from the Environment function, London was placed in the top 10 for all functions.

New York was second and performed particularly well in the Economy function. In third place, Tokyo continued to perform across all functions while also improving its score in the Environment and Accessibility functions.

Paris, in fourth position, fell back somewhat, particularly in the Livability and Accessibility functions.

Singapore, in fifth place, reaffirmed its credentials as a stable city, achieving improved rankings in all areas except Cultural Interaction.

Most powerful cities in the world – complete ranking

The table below ranks the most powerful cities in the world using the Mori Memorial Foundation’s latest Global Power City Index.

The highest possible total score is 2,600 points.

Rank	City	Score
1	London, UK	1,661.10
2	New York, USA	1,514.90
3	Tokyo, Japan	1,386.50
4	Paris, France	1,325.40
5	Singapore, Singapore	1,262.10
6	Amsterdam, Netherlands	1,187.40
7	Berlin, Germany	1,185.40
8	Seoul, South Korea	1,163.10
9	Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR	1,149.70
10	Shanghai, China	1,108.90
11	Sydney, Australia	1,101.70
12	Los Angeles, USA	1,099.00
13	Madrid, Spain	1,097.00
14	Melbourne, Australia	1,092.00
15	Beijing, China	1,091.90
16	Vienna, Austria	1,085.00
17	Dubai, UAE	1,084.90
18	Toronto, Canada	1,082.10
19	Copenhagen, Denmark	1,080.50
20	Zurich, Switzerland	1,073.50
21	Barcelona, Spain	1,072.30
22	Stockholm, Sweden	1,050.00
23	Frankfurt, Germany	1,043.00
24	San Francisco, USA	1,040.10
25	Chicago, USA	1,013.70
26	Vancouver	1,007.60
27	Boston, USA	1,005.20
28	Brussels, Belgium	993.40
29	Geneva, Switzerland	964.90
30	Moscow, Russia	963.00
31	Dublin, Ireland	962.30
32	Helsinki, Finland	958.70
33	Osaka, Japan	954.00
34	Istanbul, Turkey	951.10
35	Bangkok, Thailand	945.90
36	Washington DC, USA	936.30
37	Taipei, Taiwan	934.10
38	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	927.00
39	Milan, Italy	922.00
40	Buenos Aires, Argentina	861.20
41	Tel Aviv, Israel	856.70
42	Sao Paulo, Brazil	846.40
43	Fukuoka, Japan	834.00
44	Mexico City, Mexico	788.90
45	Jakarta, Indonesia	737.30
46	Cairo, Egypt	657.40
47	Johannesburg, South Africa	618.10
48	Mumbai, India	612.60

Source: Global Power City Index, Mori Memorial Foundation