GLOBAL CITIES COMPETING WITH COUNTRIES

The Global Cities are the temples of Economic Prosperity and there are various ways by which a city can become a Global Economic City as defined by Jesus Leal &  Joseph P in their Article " REDEFINING GLOBAL CITIES" .

The various ways as defined are

1. Asian Anchors

Asian Anchors include five Pacific-oriented metro areas—Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul-Incheon, Shanghai, and Singapore— and a sixth major emerging market metro, Moscow. Asian Anchors are not as wealthy as their Global Giant counterparts, but play a similar role as command centers in fast-growing Asia, drawing on their infrastructure connectivity and talented workforces to attract the most FDI of any metro grouping

2.Emerging Gateways

Emerging Gateways are 28 large business and transportation entry points for major national and regional markets in Africa (e.g. Johannesburg), Asia (e.g. Mumbai), Latin America (e.g. São Paulo), and the Middle East (e.g. Istanbul). These metros have grown healthily to reach middle-income status, but they lag on many key competitiveness factors as compared to global peers.

3.Factory China

Factory China includes 22 second and third-tier Chinese cities distinctly reliant on export-intensive manufacturing to power economic growth and global engagement. Factory China grew faster than every other metro grouping since 2000. But they now must upgrade their human capital to effect a transition to a more balanced, services-oriented industrial structure.

4. Knowledge Capitals

Knowledge Capitals are 19 mid-sized, highly productive innovation centers in the United States (e.g. Boston, Dallas, San Jose, Seattle, etc.) and Europe (e.g., Amsterdam and Zurich) with talented workforces and elite research universities. These regions are at the world’s innovation frontier, and thus challenged constantly to generate new knowledge and ideas to sustain growth.

5.American Middleweights

American Middleweights are 16 mid-sized U.S. metro areas, including places like Indianapolis, Miami, and St. Louis, that are relatively wealthy and house strong universities and other anchor institutions. But relatively low traded sector productivity and FDI levels suggest they must continue to strategically align their existing assets to improve traded sector competitiveness.

6.International Middleweights

International Middleweights include 26 mid-sized cities in Australia (Melbourne and Sydney), Canada (Montreal and Toronto), and Europe (several German metros) globally connected by people and investment flows, but where growth has lagged after the financial crisis. Like their American middleweight peers, they are striving for a post-recession niche in the global economy, to varying degrees of success.

EXPENSIVE 

Singapore retains its title as the world’s most expensive city for a third year in a row, but its lead over the next two cities in the ranking has nearly evaporated, reports the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). In its report ‘Worldwide Coast of Living 2016’, Zurich and Hong Kong follow closely in joint second place, with Hong Kong climbing seven places up the ranking in the last 12 months. London, New York and Los Angeles also move up the ranking to 6th, 7th and 8th place, respectively, displacing Sydney, Melbourne and Oslo from the ten most expensive cities. German cities like Frankfurt and Hamburg have moved down the table, with Berlin being one of the cheapest capitals in Europe.

New York and Los Angeles move up the ranking because of currency headwinds rather than significant local price rises. In fact, the opposite may be true. With the falling cost of oil and a strong US dollar pushing down prices, local inflation has been relatively low across the US. Despite this, New York is in its highest global position since 2002 and has risen by some 42 places up the cost of living ranking since 2011, when it was barely among the 50 most expensive cities, let alone the top ten.Most expensive and cheapest cities in the world The 10 most expensive cities in the world Score (NYC=100) The 10 cheapest cities in the world Score (NYC=100) Singapore 116 Lusaka 41 Zurich 114 Bangalore 42 Hong Kong 114 Mumbai 43 Geneva 108 Almaty 44 Paris 107 Algiers 44 London 101 Chennai 44 New York City 100 Karachi 44 Copenhagen 99 New Delhi 45 Seoul 99 Damascus 46 Los Angeles 99 Caracas 46 (Source: EIU, Worldwide Cost of Living Report 2016) The stronger US dollar and weaker euro has pushed euro zone cities further down the EIU ranking, especially as weak consumer sentiment and depressed commodity prices have undermined inflation in terms of both supply and demand. The Australian and New Zealand dollars have also weakened significantly from highs of two years ago, making cities in Australasia more affordable to global travellers. The unpegging of the Swiss franc from the euro, coupled with structurally high income and price levels, means that Zurich and Geneva will continue to vie for the unenviable title of Europe’s most expensive city. Frankfurt, Germany’s most expensive city, moves down from 11th to 18th place. Other German cities also remain relatively cheap. Düsseldorf and Hamburg are ranked in 34th place, while Berlin, ranked 78th, is one of the cheapest capital cities in the developed world. Given that the ranking uses New York as base city, most cities have also become relatively cheaper. Five years ago the average cost of living index of all the cities surveyed was 87.8% (with New York as 100). Last year this was 79.7%. In the last 12 months it has fallen to just 71.5%. An increase in the cost of living in many US locations has seen two US cities move into the top ten most expensive cities in the world, with Western European locations still making up one-half of the total. Three Asian cities complete the top ten. But even in this relationship, the dynamics have changed over time. Stagnant inflation and a devaluation of the Japanese yen, have pushed the cities of Tokyo and Osaka further down the ranking. Both cities have traditionally been the two most expensive globally over the past 20 years, but they now lie in 11th and 14th place, respectively. Conversely, Seoul, which was ranked 36th five years ago, is now among the ten most expensive. The cost of living in Seoul is now on a par with that of Copenhagen and Los Angeles. Meanwhile, a weakened Australian dollar has pushed cities like Sydney and Melbourne (20th and 21st, respectively) out of this year’s top ten. The weakening of the euro means that Paris is the only euro zone city in the top ten. Despite a weakening currency, Paris remains structurally extremely expensive to live in, with only alcohol and tobacco offering value for money compared with other European cities. Paris is joined in the list of the most expensive European cities by Zurich, Geneva, Copenhagen and London, the newest addition, perhaps reflecting that non-euro zone cities have become pricier in relation to their neighbours.The Worldwide Cost of Living is a bi-annual (twice yearly) Economist Intelligence Unit survey that compares more than 400 individual prices across 160 products and services. These include food, drink, clothing, household supplies and personal care items, home rents, transport, utility bills, private schools, domestic help and recreational costs. More than 50,000 individual prices are collected in each survey, conducted each March and September and published in June and December. Economist Intelligence Unit researchers survey a range of stores: supermarkets, mid-priced stores and higher-priced speciality outlets. Prices reflect costs for more than 160 items in each city. These are not recommended retail prices or manufacturers’ costs; they are what the paying customer is charged. Prices gathered are then converted into a central currency (US dollars) using the prevailing exchange rate and weighted in order to achieve comparative indices. However one more interesting analysis is that if we combine the World' biggest economies ( both countries and cities )  In the Top 100 Economies Rank 11 & 12 are held by Cities ahead of any Country which means that only ten countries in the world are ahead of  Tokyo and New York in terms of GDP including Japan and US itself . Overall there are 40 cities in the Top 100 Economies totaling to GDP of 14100 out of USD 71000 . In terms of Richest Places with highest GDP/Capita the Top 3 Ranks are held by cities with Chicago at the top with a GDP/Capita of USD 66613