CHICAGO, April 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- New York and London remain the world's most global cities, while select emerging-market cities strengthened their ability to challenge global leaders in the next 10 to 20 years, according to the 2014 A.T. Kearney Global Cities Index (GCI) which was released today.

The 2014 edition of the GCI also includes the Emerging Cities Outlook (ECO) 2014, a forward-looking measurement of emerging cities with the potential to improve their global standing in the next few decades. Jakarta, Manila, Addis Ababa, São Paulo, and New Delhi are the top five emerging cities.

Mike Hales, A.T. Kearney partner and study co-leader, commented, "Corporate executives will find information in the Global Cities Index to help them choose the most suitable locations for regional headquarters, research centers, and operation hubs. City mayors and urban economic development planners will find insights to inform their improvement plans and investment decisions to better compete in the global economy and against other global cities."

The GCI, conducted every two years since 2008, provides a unique measure of global engagement for 84 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.

Erik Peterson, A.T. Kearney partner and managing director of the A.T. Kearney Global Business Policy Council, stated, "While most other city rankings limit their focus to business or quality of life measures, the Global Cities Index provides a holistic look at what differentiates cities in generating, attracting, and retaining global capital, people, and ideas."

Findings from the 2014 Global Cities Index

Consistent with previous editions of the GCI, New York, London, Paris, and Tokyo lead the ranking. Among the top 20 cities, seven are in the Asia Pacific region (Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore, Seoul, Sydney, and Shanghai), seven are in Europe (London, Paris, Brussels, Madrid, Vienna, Moscow, and Berlin), and six are in the Americas (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Toronto, and Buenos Aires).

Beijing, in eighth position, breaks into the top 10 for the first time, thanks to an increase in the number of Fortune 500 company headquarters, international schools, broadband subscribers, and museums. Buenos Aires becomes the first Latin American city to join the top 20, based on the strength of its human capital and cultural scene.

Looking at the trends across the five key dimensions since 2008 reveals several interesting findings. Cities are becoming more global. The scores for cities tracked since 2008 have increased by 8 percent on average. Furthermore, the lower-ranked cities are slowly but steadily closing in on the leaders. Also, Human Capital scores have shown the largest overall increase. The distance between the highest- and lowest-ranked cities in this dimension is lower than any other dimension, driven by major increases in tertiary degrees and the increased size of foreign-born populations in many cities.

The tables below provide the complete rankings for the top 20 cities in the GCI and the ECO.

Findings from the Emerging Cities Outlook 2014

The ECO measures the likelihood that a city will improve its global standing over the next 10 to 20 years by focusing on the leading indicators of Business Activity, Human Capital, and Innovation.

Andres Mendoza Pena, A.T. Kearney principal and co-author of the report, commented, "As physical distances become less relevant and global competition intensifies, cities in low- and middle-income countries will increasingly jockey for position with one another and with cities in higher-income countries."

Jakarta, Manila, and Kuala Lumpur's strong showing on the ECO signals that select cities in numerous countries throughout Eastern Asia are laying solid groundwork for becoming global cities and eventually increasing their ranking in the GCI.

Looking at Africa, Addis Ababa is the third most likely city to advance its global position, driven by significant increases across the leading indicators. Nairobi is ranked ninth, largely due to increases in business activity.

Rio de Janeiro and Bogotájoin São Paulo as Latin American cities among the top 10 in the ECO. New Delhi, in fifth place, is the South Asian city best poised to increase its position, followed by Mumbai in eighth position and Bangalore in 11th, as Indian cities appear to be reaping the benefits of the country's booming service industry and its greater openness to the global economy.

For a copy of the report summarizing the A.T. Kearney Global Cities Index and the Emerging Cities Outlook, go to www.atkearney.com.

2014 A.T. Kearney Global Cities Index and the Emerging Cities Outlook Methodologies

The A.T. Kearney Global Cities Index ranks cities according to 26 metrics across five dimensions, including Business Activity, Human Capital, Information Exchange, Cultural Experience, and Political Engagement.

The Emerging Cities Outlook examines 34 cities located in countries that the World Bank classifies as low- or medium-income. It measures the likelihood that a city will improve its global standing over the next 10 to 20 years. Cities are ranked based on how long it would take any given city to reach the global leader in each of 10 leading indicators of Business Activity, Human Capital, and Innovation.

Together they create an unmatched perspective into global cities by:

• Providing a view of current performance and future potential
• Identifying trends from six years of historical results
• Analyzing the performance of 84 cities representing all regions
• Measuring a holistic set of metrics and indicators (mostly) at a city level

About A.T. Kearney

A.T. Kearney is a global team of forward-thinking partners that delivers immediate impact and growing advantage for its clients. We are passionate problem solvers who excel in collaborating across borders to co-create and realize elegantly simple, practical, and sustainable results. Since 1926, we have been trusted advisors on the most mission-critical issues to the world's leading organizations across all major industries and service sectors. A.T. Kearney has 58 offices located in major business centers across 40 countries.

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