Paris one of ‘best in class’ on climate: city survey

Cities must think beyond traditional indicators such as economic performance and transport infrastructure to continue to attract investment, a new competitive cities tracker has shown.

The authors of the report warn that cities need to focus far more on issues like climate action and demographic shifts to be successful in the future. 

“City Competitiveness Redefined” from development consultancy Arup shows which cities are best placed for long-term success. It measures 63 cities against 37 future success indicators—with around a quarter focused on climate action. These indicators span four key assessment areas for city competitiveness: investor attractiveness, assets, liveability, and urban management and governance.

Paris, Vancouver, and Singapore are among the cities with the highest “best in class” rating, and therefore judged as best placed to be leaders of the future. This is due to clear action on major factors for long-term success such as flood risk and access to renewable energy, along with other major issues such as demographic shifts and liveability. 

Other cities were categorised as “leader”, “contender”, “emerging”, or “aspiring” based on preparedness for future success.

The analysis upends some traditional assumptions about globally competitive cities and reveals how tomorrow’s leaders could be quite different from successful cities today. Lima is a leader for investor attractiveness, showing potential to challenge traditional powerhouse cities, with Peru rising as a regional leader in green finance. 

“Failure to manage climate risks can be detrimental to a city’s global competitiveness.”

Cities such as Seoul, Melbourne, and Buenos Aires are championing climate action and resilience, and are also front-runners for investor attractiveness. Barcelona, Berlin and Toronto, showed strong evidence of promoting inclusivity and equality—a major factor for future success. Only 29 percent of cities scored well on inclusivity, showing the need for major improvement globally.

The report’s authors advise that there is a growing relationship between cities with strong climate resilience and mitigation plans, and their potential to attract and retain investment, business, and talent. The tracker found 76 percent of cities studied have well-developed climate strategy plans, but authors warn that cities need to put them into action, as failure to manage climate risks can be detrimental to a city’s global competitiveness.   

Miami is one city that has taken clear action to manage its exposure to climate hazards. It launched a $400 million “forever bond” to finance climate resilience, helping build more water pumps, flood defences, and other vital infrastructure. And while almost half of the cities in the study have chief sustainability or resilience officers, Miami went a step further—hiring the world’s first chief heat officer.

Andy Hodgson, Global Advisory Services leader at Arup, said: “Traditional economic and infrastructure indicators are no longer sufficient to gauge a city’s long-term competitiveness. Cities must build resilience into every aspect of planning and operations—from changing climates to energy and water security—or risk becoming unattractive to investors and citizens.”

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