May 20: Kolkata, Mumbai and Bangalore emerged as the top three fastest growing cities in A.T Kearney’s Global Cities Index released today. The three cities have been improving their scores steadily in business activity, information exchange, human capital and cultural experience – key parameters used to measure a city’s global engagement. The three Indian cities have made particularly strong jumps in information exchange, in part due to gains in the number of broadband subscribers. “The ability to attract human capital is key to the success of any city. For that it needs to be able to provide a good environment for living as well as innovation,” says Debashish Mukherjee, a Partner with A.T. Kearney. “India has been pushing for urban redevelopment and improving the infrastructure across its major cities. That has helped its urban centres become more engaged globally.” “The Indian government’s plan to develop 100 smart cities across the country is a step in the right direction. India’s major cities should be a priority for the government’s smart city program, as that will make them grown even faster.” - Mukherjee added The Global Cities 2015 includes two parts—The Global Cities Index (GCI) and the Global Cities Outlook (GCO). This is the fifth edition of the GCI. The first edition was launched in 2008. The GCI provides a unique assessment of global engagement for 125 cities representing all continents and regions, measuring how globally engaged each city is across 26 metrics in five dimensions—Business Activity, Human Capital, Information Exchange, Cultural Experience, and Political Engagement. The GCO is new this year: It evaluates the future potential of 125 cities based on the rate of change across four dimensions—Personal Well-being, Economics, Innovation, and Governance. For the GCO, cities in India and China are the ones to watch, especially Ahmedabad and New Delhi in India and Beijing in China. Both countries’ cities will need to focus on innovation in order to see further improvements. New York and London remain the world’s most global cities, as they are the only cities to rank in the top 10 of both the Global Cities Index and the Global Cities Outlook. San Francisco leads the Global Cities Outlook due to its strength in innovation. Other cities ranking at the top of the Global Cities Outlook include London (#2), Boston (#3), New York (#4), and Zurich (#5). Mike Hales, A.T. Kearney Partner and Study Co-Leader, comments, “We have identified 16 cities that are ranked in the top 25 of the GCI, indicating superior current performance, and in the top 25 of the GCO, indicating future potential. We call these cities the ‘Global Elite.’Beyond New York and London the Global Elite includes Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, San Francisco, Boston, Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, Sydney and Melbourne.” Erik Peterson, A.T. Kearney Partner and Managing Director of the A.T. Kearney Global Business Policy Council, states, “The structure of the Global Cities 2015 measures both the current performance and future potential of cities to attract and retain global capital, people, and ideas. As cities continue to expand their global influence, the Global Cities results inform the strategies of business leaders (placement of regional headquarters, research centres, and other operational hubs) and city governments (improvement plans and investment decisions).” Topline Findings from the 2015 Global Cities The race for global city status is accelerating. Since 2008, the average GCI scores have increased by 10 percent. Cities that can only maintain their score, therefore, will likely decline in the rankings. Although the top five cities in the GCI have largely retained their position since the Index was launched in 2008, the overall Index scores are becoming more tightly grouped. In comparing the top GCI cities in Europe versus North America, the European cities prevail today, but North American cities perform better in the GCO, showing more future potential, especially in innovation. The top cities in China significantly outperform those in India today, but the race for the future is much tighter. Andres Mendoza-Pena, A.T. Kearney Principal and Study Co-Author, notes, “In reviewing the 16 cities that make up the Global Elite, all of these cities are from advanced economies. Cities in advanced economies enjoy a significant lead on innovation,which may become tomorrow’s key differentiator for global cities.” Regional Findings Asia-Pacific Chinese cities continue to rise with Beijing, in 9th position in the GCI, continues in the top 10 for the second year in a row, thanks to an increase in the number of international organisations, inhabitants with tertiary degrees, and improvements in the scores of its universities. Shanghai maintained its spot in the GCI top 25, carried by its strong scores in business activity and human capital. With Melbourne on the rise and Sydney’s solid performance, Australia has two cities in the top 25 in the GCI and GCO. With only 16 cities ranking in the top 25 in both the Index and Outlook, this bodes well for Australia’s future.

 Global Cities 2015 Rankings

Global Cities Index                                                                   Global Cities Outlook