1. Cities of Opportunity

2. Cities of Opportunity 2011 makes
its fourth analysis of the trajectory
of 26 cities, all capitals of finance,
commerce and culture—and through
their performance, seeks to open
a window on what makes cities
function best.
The Upper East Side of Manhattan,
with Midtown in the background.
www.pwc.com
© 2011 PwC. All rights reserved. “PwC” and “PwC US” refer to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, a Delaware limited liability
partnership, which is a member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, each member firm of which is a
separate legal entity. This document is for general information purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for
consultation with professional advisors.
www.pfnyc.org
©2011 The Partnership for New York City, Inc. All rights reserved.

3. The more cities change, the more
forward-looking perspective matters…
The notion of the city has come a long way. deeper exploration of core issues. This year have to be in balance for modern cities to
But the heart of what a city is remains the we compare 26 cities—with San Francisco, enjoy healthy growth. Minds spur innova-
same: people drawn together, today in ever- Berlin, Madrid, Moscow, Istanbul and Abu tion; roads, rails, communications networks,
increasing densities and numbers, to work Dhabi joining and Houston rejoining. We also schools and hospitals lay the groundwork
as a community. look closely at a few of the challenges that on which new ideas can grow. In an ideal
are most pressing at the moment—regional world, prosperity follows. But, as we all know,
Cities of Opportunity is dedicated to management, education, sustainability, progress toward any ideal requires day-to-
understanding what makes urban dynam- density, transportation and preservation. day work. This study represents our part
ics work, and communicating what we learn in the effort.
to government officials, policymakers, busi- It is not a coincidence that images of
nesspersons, scholars and citizens mutually innovative and historic libraries (in Seattle Yes, Cities of Opportunity is changing. But the
invested in the success of their city or cities. and Stockholm) begin and end the interviews heart of what we are doing—trying to shed
in our study. Nor is the focus on transporta- light on what makes major cities healthy—
This marks our fourth study. Like cities them- tion, energy, environment, housing and health remains the same. All three of us sincerely
selves, we keep evolving. Cities of Opportunity that weaves throughout. Both tangible and hope you find value and interest in the study.
2011 includes more cities, greater analysis and intangible—physical and intellectual capital—
Yours truly,
Robert Moritz Kenneth I. Chenault Terry J. Lundgren
Chairman and Senior Partner Chairman and CEO Chairman, President and
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP American Express Co. Chief Executive Officer
Macy’s Inc.
Co-chairman
Partnership for New York City Co-chairman
Partnership for New York City

4. Contents
5
About the study
Frames the themes, presents context and explains
the scoring
10
The city in focus
Zeros in on key results throughout the study and
analyzes findings and issues
20
Indicator discussions
& interviews
Presents in-depth results covering all 10 indicators and
66 variables, examines issues and adds insight from
urban thinkers and doers
Commuters crossing London Bridge.
2 | Cities of Opportunity | PwC

5. Interviews
22 | Rem Koolhaas 56 | Mortimer Zuckerman
Muses on changing cities and his quest to Gauges the present and future of cities from
reinvent them in a way that serves the his perspective as a developer, publisher and
public good former professor
Page 22
30 | Judith Rodin 64 | René Gurka
Discusses the Rockefeller Foundation’s quest Sees Berlin as “the place to be” for media, life
to address the challenges of urbanization sciences, clean industries and services as the
city re-establishes itself as a business center
42 | Klaus Baur & Guenther Krug
Explain how railways bring sustainable 76 | Leif Edvinsson
mobility back to the future Charts a course “from cities of hardware to
cities of mindware”
50 | Kerry Zhou
Outlines the mission of Goldwind
Technologies to light the world’s cities
with green power
Page 30
Page 56
See the web at www.pwc.com/cities for greater depth and functionality. Model your own
city and perform customized correlation analyses by selecting the variables and cities you
want to focus on for an interactive look at the results. See videocasts and hear podcasts with
Rem Koolhaas and Mortimer Zuckerman. Read the full text of all the interviews condensed
here in the report. Learn the detailed background on all sources and definitions for the
66 variables in the study.
Page 76
Partnership for New York City | Cities of Opportunity | 3

7. About the study
Traffic traverses a new diagonal crossing at Oxford Circus, London, inspired by the Shibuya crossing in Tokyo.

8. Overview: Looking closer at the alphas, betas and chais of holistic cities
When the first edition of Cities of In terms of overall results this year, New York
Opportunity was developed, we made a finishes first with a slim, perhaps ephemeral,
decision to rank cities only in their 10 indica- lead (see page 12). But the real news lies
tor categories and to forego showing overall elsewhere.
rankings to avoid the misperception of a con-
test. That risk seemed especially significant Toronto, San Francisco, Stockholm
in 2007, when the media cast New York and and Sydney round out the top five
London in a death match for global capital after New York. These beta cities arguably
market kingship. may not “have it all” if you’re seeking to
crown a heavyweight champion among world
In hindsight, the New York versus London tug cities where size, a major capital market and
of war seems a figment of the about-to-burst 24/7 buzz do matter. But they just may have
bubble, a comparison that deserved headline what they need for a world that is growing
attention only through the looking glass of less reliant on geography and more dependent
irrational exuberance. And a curious reader, on attracting and nurturing good people to
then and now, might be expected to ask, quite innovate and build the future with fresh eyes.
commonsensically, ‘who does win?’
Interestingly, the cities of Toronto, San Francisco,
This fourth edition of Cities of Opportunity Stockholm and Sydney all are part of vital
for the first time shows an overall ranking. regions—a relationship we examine this year.
But which city wins is far from our message
or motivation. If anything, we honor the Notably also, the “alpha” cities like
admonition of Walt Whitman, a 19th century London, Paris, Tokyo and New York
editor of The Brooklyn Eagle: “Be curious, not are not bunched at the top. These “usual
judgmental.” suspects” of broad, Western socioeconomic
leadership (with rich recent histories, deep
Rome, Amsterdam, Beijing were all once resources and major capital markets) are
the centers of their worlds. Each remains a spread through the top 10 and, in the case of
great city but at a different stage of evolu- Tokyo, fall to 14th overall.
tion. Detroit stood mid-20th century at the
epicenter of the US economy, to the point Taking a step back, there actually are no
that it was said, “What is good for the nation alpha and beta differentiators among our
is good for General Motors and vice versa.” 26 cities—nor is there any reason to catego-
Today, that story has taken a different turn. rize cities as one or the other more than to
But even for Detroit, detours don’t doom the acknowledge differences among histories,
city to dead ends. opportunities and challenges. As all city
6 | Cities of Opportunity | PwC

9. dwellers know (at least in quiet moments), 66 variables, also offering users the interac- Interviews add an extraordinary
the density that packs us on metros, high- tive ability to customize any combination of level of insight from people at the center
ways, markets and streets guarantees that 10 variables.) of thought and action. These include con-
we’re “all in it together.” Sooner or later, versations with: Rem Koolhaas, architect,
cities and their citizens prosper or fail as a This year in addition to refining our data writer and Harvard professor; Judith Rodin,
piece. What one person or city learns can selection and analysis and presenting inter- president of the Rockefeller Foundation and
help another; and our objective is to look at views with authorities at the center of urban formerly the University of Pennsylvania;
policies and performance to communicate ideas and action, we discuss several critical Mortimer Zuckerman, developer and
useful insights. urban issues in depth. These include the: publisher; Klaus Baur and Guenther Krug,
chairman of Bombardier Transportation, and
Winners also would be much different if Paradox of measuring and improving a member of Berlin Parliament and advisor
Cities of Opportunity were recast as Cities education in a world where intellectual capi- to Bombardier, respectively; Kerry Zhou,
of Growth or Cities of Fun. As it is, our study tal and innovation increasingly form the brick director of strategy and planning at Goldwind
defines the ideal differently. Perhaps we’re and mortar of future cities (see page 28). Technologies, one of China’s leading wind
seeking the chai of cities, to switch from power companies; René Gurka, managing
Greek letters to a Hebrew character that Regional struggle from Beijing to
director of Berlin Partner, and Leif Edvinsson,
signifies life force. Berlin to São Paulo and Sydney to effec-
an urban futurologist and pioneer in under-
tively manage cities in the contexts of their
standing the dynamics of intellectual capital.
Our measures are designed to favor surrounding areas—often places with dif-
holistic capital market centers with ferent governments, measures of success, Our website, www.pwc.com/cities,
vibrant economies and strong quality of life. funding sources and economic motivations offers much more. Interactive tools allow
Our thesis is that a successful city going for- (see page 36). users to perform their own correlation analy-
ward will balance both social and economic ses and comparisons for any city. Videocasts
strengths so the people and infrastructure Changing popular and real definition
are available with Rem Koolhaas and podcasts
support each other. The challenge of building of what a cityscape looks like as some
with Mortimer Zuckerman. Full-length tran-
a city, keeping it on top and evolving with cities rise, some spread, some choose to stay
scripts of the interviews are posted. You can
changing needs is the dynamic we’re seeking low and some combine a bit of each (see
also find detailed background on all sources
to illuminate. The measures we use—recon- page 40).
and definitions of the variables.
sidered and significantly recast this year—are
selected to develop an accurate reflection of Progress being made on sustainability In closing, we hope all this proves entertaining,
that balanced city and its metamorphosis. as cities from Mexico City to Johannesburg enlightening and valuable to everyone inter-
to Shanghai, Abu Dhabi and New York adopt ested in the factors that make cities thrive.
Correlation analyses provide one signal we’re plans to suit their own situations to clean
going in the right direction. A parallel exists their environments and conserve resources
between good economic indicators and social (see page 47).
ones. Among the 10 indicators, five corre-
late in a close positive pattern—intellectual Costly and maddening toll of traffic
capital and innovation; health, safety and congestion and what Singapore, Stockholm
security; ease of doing business; technology and London are doing to solve the problem
readiness; and demographics and livability. (see page 68).
In other words, when one goes up, the other
tends to do so as well. For instance, the Friction playing out between prog-
indicators that include health and intellectual ress and preservation as governments,
capital correlate a striking +87%. (See page businesses, developers, architects, historic
16 for a heat map of the 10 indicators and conservationists and citizens each regard
www.pwc.com/cities for a look at all the value of the past and road to the future
through slightly different prisms (see page 72).
Partnership for New York City | Cities of Opportunity | 7

10. Approach: The mix of variables and cities is refined;
the parameters of research stay consistent
Like cities, Cities of Opportunity continues properly. Discussions are included on regional
to evolve. PwC and the Partnership for New management, measurement of education,
York City first considered the report seven cityscapes, sustainability, traffic congestion
years ago asking what New York had to do to and preservation.
remain competitive on the world stage. We
immediately extended the research to other This fourth edition of our report expands and
cities around the world to find patterns and changes the mix of cities, enriches the data
lessons. In four editions of our report, we with more and different variables, and further
have grown from 11 to 26 cities. complements the quantitative nature of the
research with insight from world authorities
Last year, we reported that economics and on urban issues.
quality of life are tightly linked in successful
modern cities. The study continues to grow Three key factors governed the cities
into a more holistic look at socioeconomic we chose:
balance.
Capital market centers. Many of the cities
We moved deeper into underlying included are hubs of commerce, communica-
issues this year, realizing that numbers tions and culture. But all are financial capitals
themselves may create interest, but, very of their region—meaning each plays an
often, the policies behind statistics require important role not only locally but also as a
analysis and comparison to tell the story vital part of a globalizing economic fabric.
Broad geographic sampling. While each city
is a center of finance and commerce in its
own region, and in many cases the world,
collectively, the 26 cities form a representative
international distribution.
Mature and emerging economies. Sixteen
mature cities and 10 emerging ones are
included.
This year, six new cities joined the study,
one rejoined from the 2008 report and a few
were removed. At 26 cities, the sample size
remains small enough to allow deep and
wide-ranging research yet large enough
to be representative.
Madrid, Moscow, Istanbul and
Houston were added in order to create
better regional coverage.
Abu Dhabi replaced Dubai as the former
is rising as a business center while the
latter’s growth slowed markedly during the
Great Recession.
San Francisco joined for a number of
reasons. Close links to Silicon Valley provide
San Francisco Bay Area.
8 | Cities of Opportunity | PwC

11. Madrid, Moscow, Berlin, Istanbul, Abu Dhabi
and San Francisco join the study and Houston
rejoins. Variables are added on airport transit,
health systems and end-of-life care, among
others.
a useful regional focus. As the financial hub ism. The latter measures hardware itself. The However, because consistent comparisons
of that area, the city itself plays a major role demographics and livability indicator focuses across all cities are critical to assure objec-
in one of the most innovative economies in more closely on how pleasant people find tivity, country-level data were used when
the US. It also is at the leading edge of US living in a city. Only working age population consistent, highly reliable sources of publi-
cities enacting social policies that affect busi- remains to show the size of a city’s potential cally available data were unavailable for all
ness, which adds interest to its performance. workforce. 26 cities.
Berlin replaces Frankfurt, the nation’s New variables include: airport to central The scoring methodology was devel-
financial and banking hub, to represent business district access to measure the ease oped to ensure transparency and simplicity
Germany. The capital’s fast and targeted of using public transit between those two key for readers, as well as comparability across
growth in recent years adds a layer of interest places; health system performance; and cities. The output makes for a robust set of
in seeing if it can accomplish in business end-of-life care. We strengthened our results and a strong foundation for analysis
what it already has achieved in government sustainability indicator variables, adding and discussion.
and culture, becoming the heart of a newly available data. The study’s result is an
reunified nation. unbiased, quality-controlled and rich look In attempting to score cities based on relative
at the pulse of key cities at the heart of the performance, we decided at the outset of our
In terms of the data indicators, we financial, commercial and cultural world. process that for maximum transparency and
constructed a robust sampling of variables, simplicity, we would avoid applying overly
each of which had to be: relevant; consistent Understanding the scoring: Seeking complicated weights to the 66 variables and,
across the sample; publicly available and transparency and simplicity in so doing, treat each variable with equal
collectible; current; free of skewing from local importance. This approach makes the study
nuances; and truly reflective of a city’s quality Because Cities of Opportunity is based on easily understandable and usable by business
or power. (See pages 79-82 for a brief key publicly available data supported by extensive leaders, academics, policymakers and lay
and www.pwc.com/cities for a detailed listing research, three main sources were used to persons alike.
of definitions and sources.) collect the relevant data:
Taking the data for each individual variable,
Data this year were normalized where Global multilateral development orga- the 26 cities were sorted from the best
appropriate, minimizing the likelihood of a nizations such as the World Bank and the performing to the worst. The cities then were
city doing well solely because of its size and International Monetary Fund, national assigned a score from 26 (the best perform-
historic strength. This eliminated the need statistics organizations, such as UK National ing) to 1 (the worst performing). In the
to differentiate between variables that reflect Statistics and the US Census Bureau, and case of a tie, the cities were assigned the
a city’s raw power (such as the number of commercial data providers. same score.
foreign embassies or greenfield projects) and
The data were collected during the second Once all of the 66 variables had been ranked
its quality or intensity (such as percent
and third quarters of 2010. In the majority of and scored, they were placed into their 10
of population with higher education). Now
cases, the data used in the study refer to 2009 indicators (for example, economic clout or
more variables are stated in a way that is
and 2010. demographics and livability). Within each
normalized for either land area or population
than in previous editions. individual group, the variable scores were
In some cases, national data were used as summed to produce an overall indicator score
a proxy for city data. Renewable energy for that topic. This produced 10 indicator
The 66 variables selected and divided into
consumption is an example. Use of national league tables that display the relative perfor-
10 indicator groups changed significantly this
data tends to disadvantage the 26 cities in mance of our 26 cities.
year in order to develop an even more accu-
our study, all of which are either national or
rate image of city success.
regional capitals of finance and business that
Intellectual capital and innovation and would be expected to outperform national
technology readiness indicators were more averages in measures of socioeconomic
cleanly delineated this year. The former advancement. This affect might be more Definitions for all variables are
shows what hardware facilitates in a city, such pronounced in developing parts of the world provided on pages 79-82.
as education, R&D effort and entrepreneur- and areas with greater rural populations.
Partnership for New York City | Cities of Opportunity | 9

12. The city in focus
Visitors walk through the glass cupola of the German lower house of Parliament, the Bundestag, designed by Sir Norman Foster.

13. Holistic balance characterizes the top
10 cities in our rankings: all are well
established centers of economic energy
and intellectual vitality. Although
dispersed among four continents,
their common bond is depth.
sure with our life satisfaction variable—might
be an especially sensitive indicator of the top
and bottom of our rankings given that seven
out of 11 cities scoring least in life satisfaction
also were at the bottom of the overall rankings.
Still, the notions of top and bottom in this
report, by definition, are relative. A major
A look across the overall rankings reveals reason to look at every ranking indicatively
several interesting patterns. Our top five cities rather than literally—as guideposts to the
include only one, New York, that might be future rather than markers of the past—is
called a traditional economic powerhouse. precisely because every city in this study does
Most of the other alpha cities—London, Paris something, or many things, well. Looking at
and Hong Kong—finish in the bottom half of the overall rankings without examining the
the top 10. Tokyo falls to number 14. Toronto, actual details behind them, therefore, obscures
San Francisco, Stockholm and Sydney round the compelling reasons why each city here has
out the top five this year rather than the been included as one of the foremost cities in
historic centers of global finance, commerce the world today.
and culture.
New York narrowly finishes first
Holistic balance characterizes the top 10 in terms of rankings, dominating only the
cities in our rankings: all are well established lifestyle assets indicator measuring cultural
centers of economic energy and intellectual vibrancy, sports, hotel rooms, skylines, tourism
vitality. Although dispersed among four con- and green space. But balance may be the city’s
tinents, their common bond is depth: of eco- greatest strength. New York finishes in the top
nomic infrastructure and networks; of law and three places in six out of 10 indicators.
jurisprudence; of commercial protection; of
educational systems and cultural foundations; By contrast, London maintains the greatest
of civic organizations; and of social security. economic clout (coming in ahead of Paris and
New York in that indicator, respectively) but
These cities are hardly identical, and they do finishes in the top three overall only one other
not excel in every indicator. But they all rep- time. In context, balance may have helped
resent a modern consensus that cities are the New York weather the worst of the Great
most effective agents of what Leif Edvinsson Recession and hurt London, whose economy
calls “social intelligence” (see page 76); that relies more heavily on one sector: financial
is, the concentrated knowledge and insight of services.
an entire human network.
A potential sign of shifting patterns
The most resilient societies are those in which emerges looking at the four cities that
citizens feel they have a stake; economically, follow New York in the top five—Toronto,
politically, socially, and even emotionally. As San Francisco, Stockholm and Sydney. In an
it turns out, emotion—which we tried to mea- increasingly virtual world, these beta cities
Partnership for New York City | Cities of Opportunity | 11

14. How the cities rank
Intellectual capital Technology Transportation
and innovation readiness and infrastructure
may pose significant competition to great 26 New York 174 90 158
cosmopolitan centers such as London, Paris, 25 Toronto 186 59 127
Tokyo and New York.
24 San Francisco 174 83 156
Toronto, San Francisco, Stockholm and 23 Stockholm 205 84 134
Sydney all are smaller cities that, a quarter 22 Sydney 168 47 129
of a century ago, were regarded as regional
or national centers. Not any more. Stockholm 21 London 162 68 149
ranks first in intellectual capital and innova- 20 Chicago 166 80 159
tion; health, safety and security; and, remark- 19 Paris 172 58 168
ably, demographics and livability, which
18 Singapore 119 78 126
includes the thermal comfort variable that
quantifies the idea that more temperate and 17 Hong Kong 118 77 149
consistent climes are more attractive. 16 Houston 168 74 92
15 Los Angeles 169 76 93
Toronto, meanwhile, finishes second overall
and also ranks second in intellectual capital 14 Berlin 149 48 113
and innovation as well as health, safety and 13 Tokyo 168 74 152
security, the two indicators that are most highly
12 Madrid 120 40 154
correlated in a positive way (see page 16).
11 Seoul 130 89 145
Findings of interest arise throughout 10 Beijing 77 45 133
the results. São Paulo, for example, finishes
9 Abu Dhabi 74 24 104
in the top 10 in cultural vibrancy and fourth
in the “zeitgeist” portion of that variable, 8 Shanghai 83 47 127
signaling the city’s global appeal as a dynamic 7 Mexico City 77 21 134
metropolis coming into its own as the largest
city in the Southern Hemisphere. It also does 6 Moscow 107 51 128
very well in sustainability, performing in the 5 Santiago 68 28 82
top 10 overall and ranking second in both 4 Istanbul 38 29 99
carbon footprint and renewable energy
3 São Paulo 58 28 80
consumption.
2 Johannesburg 51 13 55
Johannesburg, too, does extremely well in 1 Mumbai 41 18 80
sustainability, coming in fourth overall. While
its top ranking in cost of business occupancy
might be expected, coming in second in air-
port to central business district (CBD) access
is both surprising and impressive.
Istanbul ties for third place with
Abu Dhabi and New York in skyscraper
construction activity; equals every US city in
ease of starting a business; beats Tokyo, San
Francisco and Berlin in international tourists;
and, finally ties for third with San Francisco, At a time of great nation and city building in multimedia design and development,
Sydney and Singapore (among other cities) China, Shanghai leads all cities in attracting recycled waste and renewable energy. All this
for the quality of its air. foreign direct investment in terms of both shows China investing to continue the growth
capital inflow and new greenfield projects. of its cities and taking actions now in the
Abu Dhabi itself ranks in the top three places Beijing comes in third and fourth in these economy and environment to yield dividends
in 10 different variables, from the quality variables, respectively, and posts the best in the future.
of its air to its hospitals to commute time to airport to central business district commute
its economic competitiveness in everything in the study. Shanghai’s modern skyline is the Beyond the highs and lows, two notewor-
from tax rates to ease of hiring to working fourth most powerful in our study. thy points should be made about the middle
age population. range of this table. The first is that Tokyo
Shanghai and Beijing jointly finish in the top dropped from eighth in last year’s ranking to
10 in nearly a third of the variables (21 of 14th this year—a steep drop by any measure
66); notably including software and
Continues on page 14
12 | Cities of Opportunity | PwC

15. Health, safety Sustainability Economic clout Ease of doing Cost Demographics Lifestyle assets Score
and security business and livability
93 49 163 178 77 97 147 1226
112 71 139 163 94 133 111 1195
104 69 101 154 96 131 104 1172
113 81 103 143 79 137 68 1147
104 83 107 162 87 134 105 1126
90 52 170 166 59 83 123 1122
107 42 101 156 99 116 94 1120
85 57 166 119 51 116 125 1117
97 52 140 188 64 113 90 1067
66 47 149 191 60 107 97 1061
103 35 100 152 116 116 94 1050
89 46 84 159 101 124 102 1043
98 86 100 121 91 122 88 1016
91 45 114 140 45 81 103 1013
79 58 144 102 62 124 84 967
58 56 89 119 57 83 56 882
37 47 114 76 39 78 83 729
86 28 71 117 70 110 21 705
37 54 119 54 41 49 86 697
41 43 66 97 58 90 65 692
18 33 88 60 37 47 95 664
30 61 65 138 86 76 24 658
25 57 68 90 46 74 72 598
21 67 80 74 30 92 65 595
42 78 67 87 86 71 43 593
25 71 88 61 29 49 30 492
Each city’s score (here 1227 to 492) is the sum of its rankings across indicators. The city order from High Highest rank in each indicator
26 to 1 is based on these scores. See maps on pages 18–19 for an overall indicator comparison. Medium
Low
Partnership for New York City | Cities of Opportunity | 13

16. Continued from page 12 but for cities such as Paris and London. Both
these cities complete the top three, respective-
but one with clear causes. While it reached
ly, in lifestyle assets; but they do not perform
the top 10 in six indicators, Tokyo ranked 12th
nearly as well in demographics and livability.
in ease of doing business; eight places from
(Paris does best, tied for eighth; but London
the bottom in the key variable of demograph-
comes in at a tie for 17th.) Meantime, Stock-
ics and livability (with a correspondingly low
holm, Sydney, Toronto and San Francisco lead
score in life satisfaction); and six places from
the category.
the bottom in cost and sustainability—unusual
results for one of the leading cities in the Results in health, safety and security
world with extraordinary human capital. may expose another significant risk going
forward in terms of any city’s success. In our
Berlin ranked immediately above
heat map analysis this year, a highly positive
Tokyo in this year’s study and is reinvent-
correlation arises between health, safety and
ing itself—or, more accurately, reintegrating
security and intellectual capital and innova-
itself into the international economy—for the
tion (see page 26). Clearly, the people who
second time since it became the capital of
constitute a city’s intellectual capital, and are
Imperial Germany in 1871 and burgeoned in
its leading innovators, need to feel healthy,
size and population in the first decades of the
safe and secure in their working and personal
20th century.
surroundings in order to put down roots
The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the city’s and prosper.
reunification and its reinstatement as the
Taking a step back, high or low overall scores
political center of a united Germany have
are only guideposts. One pragmatic policy
restored Berlin to the mainstream of European
implication of the study is that a broadly
and global history. It looks like it intends to
positive quality of life may serve as a founda-
stay there, certainly as a creative center—and
tion of both a resilient economy and lasting
not just in the arts but in IT, life sciences,
global success.
and services (see page 64 interview with
René Gurka of Berlin Partner). While none of our beta cities are world eco-
nomic powerhouses, they perform very well
Returning to overall messages in the
overall. This is important at a time of urban
findings, it may be telling going forward that
growth when residents are looking for more
New York ranks 14th in demographics and
than just a place to work but also a place to
livability, with low scores in quality of living
live, build families and invest in the future.
and commute time. Weakness in these areas
The cities that perform well in Cities of
may be a future threat not only for New York
Opportunity are those that reflect that balance.
While none of our beta cities are world economic
powerhouses, they perform very well. This is
important at a time of urban growth when
residents are looking for more than just a place
to work but also a place to live, build families
and invest in the future.
14 | Cities of Opportunity | PwC

17. Grande Arche de la Défense, Paris.
Partnership for New York City | Cities of Opportunity | 15

18. Practical correlates:
The patterns of a successful city reflect the people who
work toward success
Correlation analysis adds a fascinating aspect
Transportation and infrastructure
Intellectual capital and innovation
of our study in which the data create their
own patterns, on a kind of random walk that
Demographics and livability
Health, safety and security
leads to new, and often unexpected and coun-
Ease of doing business
Technology readiness
Average correlation
terintuitive, conclusions that challenge some
theories and confirm others.
Economic clout
Lifestyle assets
Sustainability
What stuck out in the heat map of our 10
Grand total
indicators this year was the strong positive
correlation between intellectual capital and
Cost
innovation and health, safety and security.
Average correlation 55% 74% 70% 67% 61% 60% 57% 53% 50% 48% 43% 27% Simply stated, the most globally
Grand total 74% 100 % 94% 91% 83% 81% 76% 71% 67% 65% 56% 32%
competitive cities are almost always those
in which the men and women who gener-
Intellectual capital and innovation 70% 94% 100 % 87% 69% 81% 69% 63% 54% 60% 55% 36% ate a city’s intellectual resources are offered
professional and personal surroundings
Health, safety and security 67% 91% 87% 100 % 78% 65% 84% 46% 47% 46% 68% 30%
that can reasonably ensure their health and
Ease of doing business 61% 83% 69% 78% 100 % 69% 67% 51% 47% 37% 62% 6% safety. Put another way, a city’s creators and
innovators—those who design and devise
Technology readiness 60% 81% 81% 65% 69% 100 % 43% 63% 52% 63% 35% 5%
its products (whether buildings, financial
Demographics and livability 57% 76% 69% 84% 67% 43% 100 % 28% 27% 30% 67% 38% instruments, media or works of art) and set
Lifestyle assets 53% 71% 63% 46% 51% 63% 28% 100 % 76% 62% 11% 9% its trends—actually choose where they want
to live.
Economic clout 50% 67% 54% 47% 47% 52% 27% 76% 100 % 68% -5% 15%
Transportation and infrastructure 48% 65% 60% 46% 37% 63% 30% 62% 68% 100 % -6% 3% This illustrates a broader competitive land-
scape. The five indicators that correlate very
Cost 43% 56% 55% 68% 62% 35% 67% 11% -5% -6% 100 % 24%
positively among themselves lie in the “north-
Sustainability 27% 32% 36% 30% 6% 5% 38% 9% 15% 3% 24% 100 %
100 % Strong positive correlation
Weak positive correlation
0%
Weak negative correlation
-100 % Strong negative correlation
16 | Cities of Opportunity | PwC

19. west” corner. In addition to the two discussed cities). Of the top 10—those, in other words,
above, they include ease of doing business, most positively correlated with each other—
technology readiness, and demographics three are social (end-of-life care, housing and
and livability. What is noteworthy about this quality of living); two involve intellectual
cluster is that only ease of doing business is capital and innovation (literacy and enroll-
a “hard” economic or financial measure. The ment and intellectual property protection);
other four are more properly social, educa- one is technological (digital economy score);
tional or technological indicators—not the one is political (political environment) and
conventional stuff of economic analysis. as relevant to personal freedom as to prudent
investment; and only three are economic
Most of those hard economic indicators— (workforce management risk, entrepreneurial
economic clout, transportation and infra- environment and business trip index).
structure, and cost—lie in the bottom half
of the map. Interestingly, cost, the “hardest” That, in the end, is the new urban
and bluntest economic measure of all, shows terrain. Intellectual capital and innovation
weak negative correlations with economic has the highest average positive correlation
clout, as well as with transportation and with every other indicator. Health, safety and
infrastructure. security has the second highest. And the two
are more positively correlated to each other
This is a striking illustration of the transfor- than is the case with any other indicators.
mation of modern metropolitan economies,
now based and dependent on education, According to the data, therefore, the success-
science and technology rather than on ful modern urban economy is reliant on, if
traditional industry. Moreover, to sustain not yet solely the product of, intelligence and
success, cities today must continually attract social well-being—a methodological conclu-
and retain highly educated, technologically sion that seems not so much to challenge any
adept and digitally connected knowledge theory as to confirm common sense.
workers who increasingly make up the core
of their human capital and whose definition
of quality of life is exacting and not easily
compromised.
This extremely positive correlation of social
and educational variables in our study is
borne out by our large heat map, which
includes all 66 variables (see www.pwc.com/
Simply stated, the most globally competitive
cities are almost always those in which the men
and women who generate a city’s intellectual
resources are offered professional and personal
surroundings that can reasonably ensure their
health and safety.
Partnership for New York City | Cities of Opportunity | 17

20. Indicator rankings at a glance
The maps below show city rankings in each of the study’s 10 Intellectual capital and innovation
overall indicators. A brief key to the 66 variables is available on page 26
pages 79-82. Interactive tools and detailed listings of definitions
and source documents used to develop Cities of Opportunity are Toronto
London 26 Stockholm
16 10 Moscow
offered at www.pwc.com/cities. Chicago 25 15 Berlin Beijing
Seoul
San Francisco 24 17 24 New York 13 22 1 Istanbul 8
14
Los Angeles 21 20 Houston Madrid Paris Abu Dhabi 20 Tokyo
Shanghai 9
8 6
11 Hong Kong
Mexico City 2
Mumbai
12
Singapore
São Paulo
Johannesburg
4
3 Sydney
Santiago 5
20
Health, safety and security Sustainability
page 45 page 46
London 26 Stockholm London 24 Stockholm
Toronto Toronto
16 1 Moscow 12 2 Moscow
Chicago 25 20 Berlin Beijing Chicago 22 26 Berlin Beijing
San Francisco 23 Seoul San Francisco 20 Seoul
24 18 New York 12 13 4 Istanbul 7 4 10 New York 17 16 16 Istanbul 9
10 14
Los Angeles 15 21 Houston Madrid Paris Abu Dhabi 17 Tokyo
Los Angeles 7 3 Houston Madrid Paris Abu Dhabi 6 Tokyo
Shanghai 7 Shanghai 13
8 14 5 1
11 Hong Kong 9 Hong Kong
Mexico City 4 Mexico City 22
Mumbai Mumbai
19 12
Singapore Singapore
São Paulo São Paulo
Johannesburg Johannesburg
2 19
9 Sydney 23 Sydney
Santiago 5 Santiago 18
23 25
Cost Demographics and livability
page 62 page 66
London 17 Stockholm London 26 Stockholm
Toronto Toronto
11 3 Moscow 10 1 Moscow
Chicago 22 21 Berlin Beijing Chicago 24 20 Berlin Beijing
San Francisco 23 Seoul San Francisco 23 Seoul
24 16 New York 13 8 7 Istanbul 4 19 13 New York 22 19 5 Istanbul 7 10
9
Los Angeles 25 26 Houston Madrid Paris Abu Dhabi 6 Tokyo
Los Angeles 22 19 Houston Madrid Paris Abu Dhabi Shanghai 3 8 Tokyo
Shanghai 5
10 15 11 15
12 Hong Kong 14 Hong Kong
Mexico City 1 Mexico City 3
Mumbai Mumbai
14 16
Singapore Singapore
São Paulo São Paulo
Johannesburg Johannesburg
2 12
19 Sydney 4 Sydney
Santiago 19 Santiago 6
20 25
18 | Cities of Opportunity | PwC

21. Technology readiness Transportation and infrastructure
page 29 page 34
London 24 Stockholm London 17 Stockholm
Toronto Toronto
16 13 Moscow 20 13 Moscow
Chicago 15 12 Berlin Beijing Chicago 12 9 Berlin Beijing
San Francisco 23 Seoul San Francisco 23 Seoul
22 26 New York 8 14 7 Istanbul 9 25 24 New York 22 26 7 Istanbul 15
25 18
Los Angeles 19 18 Houston Madrid Paris Abu Dhabi 18 Tokyo
Los Angeles 6 5 Houston Madrid Paris Abu Dhabi 21 Tokyo
Shanghai 11 Shanghai 12
3 4 8
20 Hong Kong 17 20 Hong Kong
Mexico City 2 Mexico City 3
Mumbai Mumbai
21 10
Singapore Singapore
São Paulo São Paulo
Johannesburg Johannesburg
6 3
1 Sydney 1 Sydney
Santiago 6 Santiago 4
11 14
Economic clout Ease of doing business
page 54 page 60
London 15 Stockholm London 16 Stockholm
Toronto Toronto
26 9 Moscow 23 2 Moscow
Chicago 20 12 Berlin Beijing Chicago 22 13 Berlin Beijing
San Francisco 14 Seoul San Francisco 18 Seoul
14 24 New York 22 25 4 Istanbul 18 10 19 24 New York 9 12 7 Istanbul 5 12
Los Angeles 7 12 Houston Madrid Paris Abu Dhabi Shanghai 19 18 Tokyo
Los Angeles 20 17 Houston Madrid Paris Abu Dhabi Shanghai 1 15 Tokyo
2 5 8 10
23 Hong Kong 26 Hong Kong
Mexico City 9 Mexico City 3
Mumbai Mumbai
21 25
Singapore Singapore
São Paulo São Paulo
Johannesburg Johannesburg
6 4
Santiago 1 3 Sydney Santiago 14 6 Sydney
16 21
Lifestyle assets
page 70
London 8 Stockholm
Toronto
24 17 Moscow
Chicago 23 13 Berlin Beijing
San Francisco 21 Seoul
16 26 New York 11 25 9 Istanbul 10 5
Los Angeles 19 16 Houston Madrid Paris Abu Dhabi Shanghai 12 20 Tokyo
1
7 18 Hong Kong
Mexico City 3
Mumbai
14
Singapore
São Paulo
Johannesburg
7
Santiago 2 4 Sydney
22
Map Key
High The 26 cities are sorted from the best to
Medium the worst performing, with each receiving
Low a score ranging from 26 for best to 1 for
worst. In ties, cities are assigned the
same score.
Partnership for New York City | Cities of Opportunity | 19

22. Indicator discussions
& interviews
The Korean Pavilion at Shanghai’s 2010 Expo.

23. As we dig our way out of the Great Recession, we
shouldn’t just replicate the old, consumer-driven
economy. We need to build the next economy.
The key is for metropolitan areas to develop
economic plans tailored to their own strengths.
Judith Rodin
The quantitative research is Klaus Baur and Guenther Krug of Bom- Ease of doing business is expanded this
represented by 10 indicator categories bardier detail the sustainable and efficient year, but the top four—Hong Kong, Singa-
that include 66 individual data variables. edge offered by intra- and intercity rail travel. pore, New York and London—change places
The makeup of the indicators also mirrors the minimally.
study’s hypothesis: Cities with well-rounded Health, safety and security plumbs the
economies and forward-looking policies and vital signs of city life, and, again, Stockholm Cost finds five North American cities on top.
actions over the long run will prove best for and Toronto emerge in best shape. But Berlin is right below. And René Gurka
businesses and residents. of Berlin Partner tells what the reunified city
Sustainability raises a finger in the wind to is doing to turn its many cultural advantages
In addition to this quantitative research, find Berlin, Sydney and Stockholm perform- into an economic plus.
discussions with leading authorities and ing best but four developing cities joining the
examination of various issues add insight top 10. Planning for sustainability takes the Demographics and livability looks at
into the numbers. first step toward results, and we examine how socioeconomic well-being and finds this
Johannesburg, Mexico City, Shanghai, Abu complex quality best offered in Stockholm,
Rem Koolhaas, architect, writer and Harvard Dhabi and New York are handling it. Kerry Sydney, Toronto and San Francisco. The pain
professor, has worked in many of our 26 Zhou of Goldwind Technologies discusses the of commuting merits a detour of its own to
cities. A discussion with him covers modern- inroads renewable energy is making into the compare traffic policies.
city issues from density to globalization to urban energy mix in China and worldwide.
the particular beauties and tragedies of Lifestyle assets follows the urban bliss
individual places. Economic clout is earned over time and toward New York, Paris and London. And
changes little this year. London, Paris and we examine the cobweb of issues encircling
Intellectual capital and innovation has New York continue at the head. The top historic preservation as rage for the new
been expanded to nine variables this year, and 10 are divided evenly between five North looks in the rearview mirror to find vintage
Stockholm and Toronto perform consistently American and European cities and five Asian chic. In the end, the gaze of Leif Edvinsson,
well. Translating education theory into cities. Mortimer Zuckerman brings a who pioneered the study of intellectual
classroom reality is a paradox we investigate. broad perspective in discussing the economics capital, is firmly fixed on future “cities of
landscape as a major developer, publisher and mindware.”
Technology readiness focuses purely on former Harvard professor.
hardware, and New York, Seoul and Stock-
holm come out on top. Judith Rodin,
president of the Rockefeller Foundation and
formerly the University of Pennsylvania, offers
her own extraordinary range of insight from See videocasts with architect Rem Koolhaas as well as Vitor
education to infrastructure and migration. Knijnik, creative head of Y&R Energy in São Paulo, hear
podcasts with Mortimer Zuckerman and read the full interviews
Transportation and infrastructure lays condensed here on the web at www.pwc.com/cities. The web
a physical cornerstone enabling much else also offers interactive tools to customize heat maps and model
in every city to work. Paris, Chicago and New your own city based on all 26 cities and 66 variables, as well as
York perform best. The changing ideal and detailed background on sources and definitions.
reality of what a cityscape should and does
look like bears discussion of its own.
Partnership for New York City | Cities of Opportunity | 21