Brussels no longer among top 10 global cities

Brussels has dropped out of the top 10 global cities on the latest biennial Global Cities Index, published by market researchers AT Kearney. Brussels drops this year to 11th place, from number nine two years ago.

A city’s rankings are a result of a weighted calculation of various factors: business activity (worth 30% of the final score), human capital (30%), information exchange (15%), cultural experience (15%) and political engagement (10%). The index lists what it considers the top 20 cities worldwide.

Brussels scores highly for the engagement of its politicians, but that accounts for only a small part of the score. Brussels is also high on the lists for political conferences and the number of embassies and consulates.

Eleventh puts Brussels in third place among European cities on the list, after London (2) and Paris (3). The capital’s ranking slipped to 11 thanks to the remarkable progress of Beijing (from 14 to 8) and of Singapore (from 11 to 9). The top seven spots remain unchanged: New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Chicago.

The report posits the perfect global city as a composite of 16 cities, made up of about 50% New York, Tokyo and London, and 50% a mix of the rest of the top 20, including Brussels.

photo by Sofie Coreynen/VisitFlanders