TOKYO – Tokyo rose to second among 48 major cities worldwide in overall attractiveness for the first time after nine years in third place, according to a report released Wednesday by a Japanese research institute, surpassing New York due to a rise in overseas visitors.
While this marked the first shift among the top five cities in nine years, London maintained the top spot in the Global Power City Index for the 14th consecutive year, despite a decline in its overall score, according to the Mori Memorial Foundation’s Institute for Urban Strategies.
The index measures cities’ “magnetism,” or their ability to attract people and enterprises from around the world, across six categories: economy, research and development, cultural interaction, livability, environment and accessibility.
In the annual index report, which was first published in 2008, Tokyo improved its overall score despite a decline in the economy category. It ranked first in livability and rose to second place in cultural interaction, helped by a weakening yen that has made the country a more appealing tourist destination.
New York recorded “the steepest score decline among all cities,” according to the report, losing its second-place position it had maintained since 2012. It ranked particularly low in livability, placing last in the “price level” sub-indicator.
While London also saw a decline in categories such as livability and environment, it secured top place for its strengths in cultural interaction and accessibility.
Meanwhile, Osaka ranked 18th, up from 35th in the previous ranking, as the World Exposition held this year attracted overseas tourists and boosted the city’s gross domestic product. Fukuoka, a city in southwestern Japan, ranked 40th.
AloJapan.com