Chinese mega-cities dominate Western counterparts in the second publication of the Schroders Global Cities 30 index, with Beijing taking the top spot.
Findings from the study, which considers several factors such as the projected economic growth and disposable incomes over the next decade and the size of the working population, revealed that Chinese cities took four of the top five spots.
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The capital city of Beijing jumped to the first ranking from fourth place. Shanghai, which took the first spot in August’s index, fell to second. Shenzhen climbed from sixth spot to third, while Tianjin dipped from third to fourth spot.
Co-head of global real estate securities Hugo Machin said: “Chinese cities continue to grow at a rapid rate as the country industrialises. GDP and retail sales are growing quickly. The only one of the five factors that holds these cities back is disposable income but the rate of growth there is strong even if the absolute number is below peers.”
North America took 17 of the 30 places in the index. Of them, New York dropped from second to fifth place. Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, and Washington, took the sixth, seventh, ninth, tenth, and eleventh place, respectively.
"New York saw a small fall from second place to fifth, this is not due to a downgrade of New York but more an upgrade in the growth of Chinese cities. Cities like Dallas continue to attract investment due to temperate climate, international airports, land to build and expand and tax incentives,” Machin stated.
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By GlobalDataIn Europe, London took the top spot, and jumped two places to eighth spot.
The only other European cities in the index were Paris and Madrid, which were ranked 12th and 20th respectively.
"London has seen a small increase in the index. It still remains one of our favourite cities due to its highly skilled workforce, large tourist demand and cultural appeal and we believe it will continue to thrive,” Machin added.
The study unveiled that cities claiming the top spots have various common factors, including top universities, good infrastructure, high-skilled workers, and are economically diverse.
