Brand Finance today releases the Global City Index 2024 report with the top 100 cities in the world ranked from most to least attractive. Brand Finance analyzed the level of attraction for potential residents, workers, students, retirees, tourists and investors. The ranking results are based on a survey conducted in September 2024 on the perception of a sample of over 15.000 people representative of the population of the top 20 countries in the world: essentially the G20 countries without Argentina and Russia, but with Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates.
Rome
Rome's strong point is its extreme familiarity perceived among the population of the 20 main countries in the world: only Paris, New York, London and Los Angeles are more familiar than Rome. The Capital also has a very high reputation, in fact, collects substantially the same score as the cities that lead the reputation ranking: Dubai, Sydney, London, Amsterdam and Barcelona.
From what emerges from the analyses of Brand Finance familiarity e reputation These are the two factors that lead people to consider one city rather than another for retirement, for work, for study or even for tourism or for investing, for example in real estate.
Rome is the most considered in the world for tourism thanks to its historical heritage and architecture, both perceived as the best in the world; the majority of the population of the 20 largest countries in the world would like to visit Rome, but Japanese, Chinese and Nigerians are much less attracted than the others.
If Rome is well positioned to attract tourism, the same cannot be said for work, residence, study, investment and retirement; in fact, Rome is little appreciated for all the other pillars of research starting from Business & Investment and Governance. The Capital appears to perform particularly poorly in terms of Business & Investment in the Far Eastern countries: China, Japan, India and South Korea; on the contrary, it is perceived quite well in South Africa, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.
Massimo Pizzo senior consultant of Brand Finance states: “The characteristics of Rome place it in the group of cities with the best Historical and Cultural Heritage of the world, but not among the Global Metropolis, like Paris, New York, London, Tokyo and Berlin from which it is very different. If and when Rome aspires to change its positioning to become a Global Metropolis, will have to strengthen and stabilize its economy and, for example, improve its university campuses.”
Milan
Milan has a good level of familiarity, substantially equal to that of Boston and Shanghai. Milan, in addition to Rome, also has a very high reputation, in fact it is ninth in the world in this pillar with the same score as Vienna, New York, Singapore and Madrid.
Milan is one of the most consider in the world; in fact, despite being positioned only ranked 14th among the most considered cities, Milan has a score very close to Zurich, Melbourne and Miami which lead the most considered cities overall. Milan is especially well perceived for its historical and cultural heritage: both as a place to have fun, and for its museums and architecture.
Milan does not appear to be particularly attractive for purposes other than tourism: for working and investing there are 24 other cities in the world that perform better; for studying there are 30 more attractive than Milan; for retiring or simply going to live there are 13 better positioned than the Lombard capital. From the analysis by Brand Finance it appears that the margins for improvement in terms of perception of a suitable place for Business & Investment and Science & Education have a significant weight in attracting populations with purposes other than tourism. In any case, Milan is particularly considered by Australians, Canadians and South Africans; on the contrary, it is not particularly considered by Japanese and Indians.
Massimo Pizzo continues: “To further strengthen the Milan brand, the city should first of all make itself better known; for example, the Olympics could help increase the familiarity of the Lombardy capital. Secondly, Milan should try to position itself more decisively: today it performs quite well in all the key factors, but does not stand out in any in particular. If Milan aspires to become a Global Metropolis - like Paris, London or New York - it must further strengthen the perception of its economic stability and universities, both factors in which it performs better than Rome, but in which it is not strong enough to excel.”
Like last year, The ranking is dominated by London, New York and Paris. London continues to be the world’s most branded city thanks to its strong international presence, rich cultural identity and renowned universities. However, challenges such as high costs and visa complexities post-Brexit are impacting its image.
Massimo Pizzo concludes: “While London is perceived very well in terms of global relevance and economic strength, it is not perceived particularly well in terms of liveability; London will have to improve this perception to continue to be the most attractive city in the world.”
