Superiority of international city “Tokyo” (2) Tokyo ranked No.3 in “Global Power City Index 2017”
Since 2008, the Institute for Urban Strategies of the Mori Memorial Foundation has been publishing a yearbook for “Global Power City Index (GPCI).
The GPCI indicates the integrated ranking for comprehensive power of a city. 44 of the world’s leading cities were selected and their global comprehensive power are evaluated based on six main functions representing city strength (Economy, Research and Development, Cultural Interaction, Livability, Environment, and Accessibility), and through different visions of five global actors who lead the urban activities in their cities (Manager, Researcher, Artist, Visitor, and Resident), providing an all-encompassing view of the cities. The GPCI reveals the strengths and weaknesses of each city and at the same time uncovers the problems that need to be overcome. This ranking has been produced with the involvement of the late Sir Peter Hall, a global authority in urban studies, as well as other academics in this field. It has been peer reviewed by third parties, all international experts from both the public and private sectors.
In the comprehensive ranking of “GPCI – 2017” published in October 2017, Tokyo was honored being ranked in third place, behind London and New York. Tokyo had been ranked in fourth place from 2008 to 2015, but climbed up to the third place in 2016, and kept its position two years in row. Despite its downfall from the top to the fourth in the field of “Economy” due to the depreciation of the Yen, Tokyo is ranked 3rd in “Research and Development”, 4th in “Cultural Interaction”, 4th in “Accessibility” (11th last year) showing a good balanced high score.
Particularly, in the field of “Cultural Interaction” Tokyo has jumped up to the 4th place from their 5th position last year. This movement owes to steady score improvements in “Facilities for Visitors,” namely for Number of Museums, as well as in “International Interaction” for Number of Visitors from Abroad. The rank is not favorable in “Livability” (14th ) and in “Environment” (12th), but showed distinguished achievement in “Accessibility”. Tokyo rises to the 6th place from the 11th last year, being pushed up based on the revision of one of the indicators. The indicator “Passengers on International Flights” had changed to “Passengers on International/Domestic Flights.” In addition, Tokyo’s improvement of “international transport network” such as the number of direct flights to be operated and the “transportation convenience” of commuters have made impact as well.
Additionally, the report shows an “Actor-Specific Ranking” which had been calculated based on the analysis of the viewpoints of the city by five specific actors: a Manager, a Researcher, an Artist, a Visitor and a Resident. As a result, Tokyo was ranked 5th by “Manager”, “3rd by “Researcher”, 6th by “Artist”, 4th by “Visitor” and 6th by “Resident”. From the viewpoint of “Visitor”, Tokyo had raised its position from 5th to 4th, thanks to the high appreciation of “meals (choices and prices)”, “shopping (environment, price, charm, etc.)”, and by getting a high score in “cultural appeal and contact opportunities”.
I suppose that this high evaluation in the field of “Cultural Interaction”, had been brought out by Japan’s attitude to firmly retain traditional culture such as “Kabuki”, and “Japanese food” which became a world heritage. Recently, value of some Japanese traditional culture had been re-recognized mainly by the high interest of some foreigners, who might know more than the Japanese younger generation. Furthermore it is a welcoming phenomenon for the Japanese people.
In terms of “Accessibility”, the convenience of public transportation is improving more and more in Tokyo as the commuting by trains / buses are well established. The road networks have also improved greatly, with the launch of the Shuto expressway central circular line including the “Yamate tunnel.” Also the completion of “Ken-o-dou” outer ring highway is just around the corner.
Toward the Tokyo Olympic Games and Paralympic Games 2020, we can expect a further growth of the score in “Accessibility” based on the implementation of free Wi-Fi service in stations and trains, improvement of English announcements, introduction of public transportation passes that can be easily purchased by foreigners, and etc.
In fact, based on the comparison between “GPCI-2009” and “GPCI-2017”, the number of overseas visitors increased from 5.33 million to 13.1 million (about 2.46 times), and the number of cities which have direct flights from Tokyo increased from 76 cities to 102 cities (About 1.34 times). It may not be long until the number of foreigners visiting Tokyo exceeds 20 million per year.
