New York, London and Singapore ranked first, second and third in competitiveness, out of 120 of the world’s major cities, according to a new Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) research report.

Released today, the report commissioned by Citi and entitled Hot Spots, ranks the most competitive cities in the world for their demonstrated ability to attract capital, business, talent and tourists.

“Cities are engines of prosperity and innovation and we are committed to partnering with them to help reach their full potential. But as cities vie for investment, talent and business, we recognize that competitiveness is about more than growth,” said Citi CEO Vikram Pandit.

“We commissioned this report to improve understanding of market competitiveness and to identify where growth, opportunity and talent are likely to be found in the decades ahead. Its findings provide valuable insight for clients, institutions, and municipalities we serve in cities around the world.”

“Economic dynamism is definitely rising elsewhere, especially in Asian cities, but U.S. and European cities have legacy advantages that give them a strong competitive edge,” said Leo Abruzzese, the EIU’s global forecasting director.

“In particular, these developed cities are better at attracting top talent from across the world.”

With a combined population of about 750 million, the 120 cities ranked in Hot Spots represent approximately 29 per cent of the global economy and generated a combined GDP of $20.24 trillion in 2011.

According to the report, the ten most competitive cities in the world are: New York (1st), London (2nd), Singapore (3rd), Paris and Hong Kong (joint 4th), Tokyo, (6th), Zurich (7th), Washington, DC (8th), Chicago (9th), and Boston (10th).

For Hot Spots, the EIU developed a “Global City Competitiveness Index” that measures cities across eight distinct categories of competitiveness and 31 individual indicators.

Categories include economic strength, human capital, institutional effectiveness, financial maturity, global appeal, physical capital, social and cultural character and environment and natural hazards. A city’s overall ranking in the benchmark Index is a weighted score of the underlying categories.

Since no one city excels in every category, a diverse range of cities ranks first in each of the eight categories: Tianjin (economic strength); Dublin (human capital), Zurich (joint first in financial maturity and institutional effectiveness; social and cultural character); Vancouver (joint first physical capital); London (global appeal) and Montreal (environment and natural hazards). – TradeArabia News Service