Singapore still the top Asian city to do business and leisure

New York topped the Cities of Opportunities ranking while Singapore ranked 9th worldwide.

Hong Kong, meanwhile, is a notch behind the Lion City.

According to the report released by PwC and the Partnership for New York City, over all, the finance and business centres of the future may not be the traditional capitals of global dominance this year.

The study shows that in a more virtual and mobile world, holistic cities with balanced economies and strong quality of life offer an attractive alternative: resilience during downturns and allure for skilled people who will build the future.

New York leads the study, but is followed closely in the top five by Toronto, San Francisco, Stockholm and Sydney — cities more notable for quality of life and balance than global business dominance.

The traditional alpha cities — London, number six this year and first in economic clout, Paris, number eight overall and first in transportation and infrastructure, and Tokyo, number 14 overall — retain their power and allure. But they do not congregate at the top as might reflexively be assumed based on recent history. New York, despite finishing first, hardly dominates. It leads because of balanced performance across the indicators, likely a key to the city’s continued economic resilience, and outstanding performance in measures of intellectual capital, lifestyle assets and technology readiness.

The Cities of Opportunity key indicators and top three cities in each are:
• Intellectual capital and innovation—Stockholm, Toronto, New York/San Francisco (tied for 3rd)
• Technology readiness—New York, Seoul, Stockholm
• Transportation and infrastructure—Paris, Chicago, New York
• Demographics and livability—Stockholm, Sydney, Toronto
• Economic clout—London, Paris, New York
• Cost—Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago
• Lifestyle assets—New York, Paris, London
• Health, safety and security—Stockholm, Toronto, Chicago
• Ease of doing business—Hong Kong, Singapore, New York
• Sustainability—Berlin, Sydney, Stockholm

This shift is reflected in the composition of the report’s top five cities since its first release in 2007. In that year, New York and Tokyo ranked first and second; London and Paris tied for third, with Toronto rounding out the top cities. In 2008, London moved up to second place, replacing Tokyo, which dropped from the top five. Last year, Singapore took the third spot from Chicago, behind New York and London, with Chicago and Paris tied for fourth.

“Changes in communications, education and knowledge-sharing, transportation and urban migration are transforming world dynamics,” said Bob Moritz, US Chairman and Senior Partner of PwC. “Cities that want to thrive, need to adapt to these changes. Size is no longer a leading predictor of influence. The success of cities such as Toronto, San Francisco, Stockholm and Sydney sends a clear signal that holistic balance makes a real difference.”

David Wu, PwC China Lead Partner for Beijing, said, “Beijing is a major destination city for FDI as well, ranking 3rd in invested capital and 4th in number of projects. Meanwhile, in terms of number of Global 500 headquarters, Beijing climbs one spot, ranking second this year, which means it continues to develop its capabilities in attracting FDI.”

Cities of Opportunity is based on publicly available data, using three main sources: global multilateral development organisations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund; national statistics organisations, such as National Statistics in the UK and the Census Bureau in the US; and commercial data providers. The data were collected during the second and third quarters of 2010. In the majority of cases, the data used refers to 2009 and 2010. In some cases when verifiable and consistent city information was not available, national data were used as a proxy. Care has been taken to ensure that, where used, national data closely reflect the city. The scoring methodology was developed to ensure transparency and simplicity for readers, as well as comparability across cities.