Top 10 in Global Cities of Opportunity Study by PwC and Toronto Places 3rd

As a Toronto call centre, we are very aware of the many benefits of operating a business in our fair city. The technology, education system and multicultural makeup are ideal for any business looking to thrive in today’s market. We recently wrote about Toronto’s Vital Signs Report and previous to that how our city faired as 4th Most Livable City, the 12th Most Competitive in the World, the 8th Best City to Live in the World and the 9th Greenest City in North America. We also wrote about how Toronto came 2nd in the 2011 Global City of Opportunity Study and today we are writing about the 2012 edition of that same report.

In this fifth edition of the Cities of Opportunity 2012, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the Partnership for New York City looked at the current social and economic performance of the world’s leading 27 cities – all capitals of finance, commerce, and culture. This important report continues to develop year after year and this year included a future component that delved into the shape of city economies in 2012 and moving ahead to 2025. They used 10 indicators in determining this ranking: Intellectual capital and innovation; Technology readiness; Transportation and infrastructure; Health, safety and security; Sustainability and the natural environment; Economic clout; Ease of doing business; Cost; Demographics and livability’s focus; and City gateway (a completely new category aimed to measure a city’s global attraction). The top 10 cities were:

Skating at Nathan Phillips Square by City Hall in Toronto © OTMP

1. New York, score: 1,112. Though New York did not receive the highest score in any one category it was their overall cumulative score that earned them top honours. New York came in third in technology readiness, economic clout, and ease of doing business.
2. London, score: 1,111. The home of the 2012 Olympics earned the highest score in city gateway. They also came in second in economic clout.
3. Toronto, score: 1,096. Though Toronto didn’t rank first in any particular category, they did come in second in intellectual capital and innovation, health, safety and security, and sustainability and the natural environment.
4. Paris, score: 1,073. Paris was first in demographics and livability. They came in second in economic clout and city gateway. They had a third place finish in intellectual capital and innovation.
5. Stockholm, score: 1,062. Intellectual capital and innovation and health, safety and security were where Stockholm earned two first place rankings.
6. San Francisco, score: 1,061. San Francisco did not receive a first place finish in any specific category, however they came in second place in: technology readiness, and sustainability and the natural environment. They had a third place finish in demographics and livability.
7.  Singapore, score: 1,045. They earned the top spot in both transportation and infrastructure, and ease of doing business.
8.  Hong Kong, score: 1,015. Like others on the list it was a culmination of higher scores rather than first place rankings that earned Hong Kong a spot on this list. They were second in ease of doing business and demographics and livability.
9.  Chicago, score: 997. Chicago did not earn a first place score in any category, yet high overall scores brought them into the top ten.
10.  Tokyo, score: 974. Like Chicago and Hong Kong, Tokyo earned a place in the top ten without a first place score although they did earn a third place finish in transportation and Infrastructure.

The importance of this report lies in its purpose to “question and understand where cities are and where they are headed” as it benefits everyone including “the officials and policymakers setting the course, businesses invested in city well-being, and the citizens who build their lives in thousands of city neighborhoods worldwide, rich or poor, picturesque or prosaic.”

There are far more details available in the report for free download and we would like to congratulate our hometown of Toronto for coming in 3rd and trust we’ll be back up to 2nd (or better) next year 🙂

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values and advancing the missions of the non-profits we proudly serve.