London Tops New York In New Commerce Ranking
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London appears to be cementing its reputation as the world’s most influential financial capital, ahead of even New York City.
For the second year running, New York City ranked second to London in the MasterCard Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index, a study that evaluates the world’s leading cities and their roles in connecting markets and driving global commerce.
In all but one of the evaluating criteria, London scored higher than New York, including such categories as livability, economic stability, and ease of doing business.
A vice president of the Partnership for New York City, Diana Torres, said she was not particularly concerned by the report’s findings.
“I think that any competition is healthy and today a study puts London in pole position, while another released on Friday would put New York as no. 1,” she said.
The report also showed that the fastest year-to-year growth of cities climbing the index is in Asia and Eastern Europe. Shanghai had the largest jump in overall rank, moving eight spots, to 24 from 32, in the period between 2007 and 2008. Singapore climbed to no. 4 from no. 6 in the same period.
Only two American cities ranked in the top 10 — New York and Chicago — with Los Angeles dropping to 17 from 10 between the 2007 and the 2008 rankings.
“Competition is global and New York needs to be looking all over the world not just to address its competitive challenges but to also bolster its competitive strengths,” Ms. Torres said.
The Partnership for New York City said it would be issuing its own report in December.
