London Is Most Attractive City for Business in Mori Survey

By Kathleen Chu

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London is the most attractive city for business and innovation, outranking New York, Paris and Tokyo, according to Japan’s Global Power City Index.
The survey covers 40 of the world’s major cities and provides a ranking for the cities’ ability to attract creative people and businesses, according to the Mori Memorial Foundation and Institute for Urban Strategies. Singapore remains in fifth place.
The study takes into account the economy, research and development, cultural interaction, livability, environment and accessibility of cities. The total score for London rose by 28 points, while the scores for the rest of the four cities
remained little changed. The city’s hosting of the Olympic Games in 2012 helped boost its ranking.
“London’s hosting of the Olympic Games has left some positive effects that were reflected in the survey,” said Heizo Takenaka, chairman of the Institute for Urban Strategies and a member of a government council on special economic zones.
For the cultural interaction category, London was ranked the highest, followed by New York and Paris. Cultural interaction is based on categories such as sports facilities, dining and shopping, and the city’s appeal to overseas visitors.
New York received the highest points for research and development, followed by Tokyo, the survey showed. For the economy category, Tokyo ranked at the top, while New York and Beijing took second and third spots.

Biggest Challenge

Tokyo remained in fourth place overall in the top 10 list that also includes Seoul and Hong Kong. The rest of the cities that ranked among the top in Europe were Amsterdam, Berlin and Vienna.
The index also measures the attractiveness of a city from the viewpoint of what it calls global and local actors. They are listed as managers, researchers, artists, visitors and residents.
London took the top spot for managers and visitors, while Paris had the highest scores for artists and residents.
Tokyo was ranked ninth by managers, even as it took the top position in the economy category. The gap presents one of the biggest challenges for the city, according to Hiroo Ichikawa, an executive director of the Mori foundation.
The foundation was started by Taikichiro Mori, the founder of Mori Building Co., Japan’s largest closely held developer. It has been conducting the study since 2008, aiming to identify challenges that Tokyo must address to become an attractive city, according to the statement.