Given the global competition between cities, the Global Power City Index (GPCI) evaluates and ranks the major cities of the world according to their “magnetism,” or their comprehensive power to attract people, capital, and enterprises from around the world. It does so through measuring 6 functions—Economy, Research and Development, Cultural Interaction, Livability, Environment, and Accessibility—providing a multidimensional ranking. The GPCI is able to grasp the strengths, weaknesses, and challenges of global cities in a continuously changing world not only through a ranking, but also through analyzing that ranking’s specific components.
Download the latest GPCI-2021 report
London maintained its first-place position for the tenth consecutive year but saw its overall score decrease. The main reason for this was a significant drop in Accessibility, as London’s strength in international transport networks was lost due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). Despite this, London has improved its ranking in Livability and Environment, and has balanced strengths across all sectors.
As a top tier city, New York has indisputable strengths in Economy and Research & Development.
In Environment, New York improved its ranking by increasing its score for Satisfaction with Urban Cleanliness. Nevertheless, Livability, which has been an annual challenge for the city, fell further down the rankings due to a drop in the score for Working Environment. As a result, the gap between the city’s areas of strength and areas of weakness widened.
Tokyo improved its score from last year, catching up with London and New York. Though it gave up third place to Los Angeles in Research & Development, it rose to #9 in Livability. The improvement in Workstyle Flexibility, which held the city back last year, contributed to this improvement. In Cultural Interaction, the city improved its “Trendsetting Potential” by its hosting of the Olympics and came close to #3 New York’s score.
London and New York's upward trend from GPCI-2018 have stopped and began to fall, while Tokyo and Paris have been catching up with the top 2 cities. Singapore have fallen from last year's rise, widening the gap between Paris.
Special Research
Flight Network Analysis
Since early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has been restricting travel and access to cities around the world. The Mori Memorial Foundation’s Institute for Urban Strategies has therefore conducted an analysis of the flight network to determine how COVID-19 has affected the number of international flights between major cities across the globe.
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"Global Power City Index 2021 Summary" includes the details of Comprehensive Ranking and Function-Specific Ranking, list of indicators and definitions, Actor Evaluation.
Release Date: 17 January, 2022
Bilingual (Japanese and English)
Print Edition: JPY 20,350 (tax included)
PDF: JPY 16,500 (tax included)
The Global Power City Index YEARBOOK 2021 is a full report of the GPCI-2021, providing a detailed account of its methodology and results. The city profiles analyze each of the 48 target cities of the GPCI and illustrate the city’s strengths and weaknesses in reference to the score and ranking of the 70 indicators. The detailed definitions and sources of the indicators are also included in the book.
If you have any questions about the Global Power City Index, please contact iusall@mori-m-foundation.or.jp
For more information about the Global Power City Index, please see the Summary or order the YEARBOOK. You can download the PDF version of the Summary below. The YEARBOOK provides specific details on the methods of research, definition of indicators, lists of data sources, and scores and ranking analysis of each city.
