London, New York, Tokyo, Paris remain world’s most attractive cities

London, New York, Tokyo and Paris were again named the world’s most comprehensively attractive cities, in that order, based on the Global Power City Index (GPCI) 2019 report published by The Mori Memorial Foundation’s Institute for Urban Strategies.

Since 2008, the annual GPCI report has been ranking 40 or more major cities in terms of ‘magnetism’ or overall power to attract creative individuals and enterprises worldwide.

Cities are rated in terms of 70 indicators in six categories (functions), namely Economy, R&D, Cultural Interaction, Livability, Environment and Accessibility, according to a statement.

In an effort to deal with changes in the conditions surrounding global cities, the GPCI is continuously improving its indicators and data-collection methods.

Amidst increasing opacity in the global economy and rising awareness of environmental issues, London saw its comprehensive score fall after eight years of holding onto the top position in the GPCI.

Although the scores of New York, Tokyo and Paris all decreased for their own reasons, the degree of Tokyo’s fall widened its gap with New York, although the gap between Tokyo and Paris narrowed.

In addition, Paris continued to move forward following its successful bid in 2017 to host the 2024 Olympic Games, overcoming a previous downtrend following the city’s 2015 terrorist attack.