New York, London top new ranking of 1,000 global cities; Singapore at No. 42

Source: The Straits Times

HONG KONG - When it comes to ranking the best cities in the world, it's a crowded field and an inexact science. But there's a new player in town.

Oxford Economics on May 21 released its inaugural Global Cities Index, which it calls a "comprehensive evaluation of the world's 1,000 largest urban economies."

The economic forecaster crunched the numbers for 27 indicators to determine that New York, London and San Jose, California, are the world's top cities, in a list whose first 50 places were dominated by the United States and Europe.

Aside from Tokyo, in fourth place, Asia's next showing was Seoul in 41st position and Singapore in 42nd.

Australian cities fared better, with Melbourne in ninth place, Sydney in the 16th spot and Perth in 23rd.

The index was compiled using five broad categories - economics, human capital, quality of life, environment, and governance - with weighting placing most emphasis on economic factors such as gross domestic product and employment growth.

"Our Global Cities Index provides a consistent framework for assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the largest 1,000 cities across the world, and when coupled with our forecasts, it enables organisations and policymakers to make more informed strategic decisions," said Mark Britton, director of city services at Oxford Economics, based in Oxford, England.

New York City "has the largest economy of any city in the world by far," Oxford Economics said, along with stable growth, allowing it to dominate the Economics category.

London took the Human Capital category because of its wealth of top universities and global corporate headquarters, the report said.

Grenoble, France, offers the best quality of life due to a lack of income inequality and the number of cultural offerings per capita.

But the top two cities ranked well down the list for their quality of life, with New York at 278th and London at 292nd. BLOOMBERG