Manila jumps to 8th place among world’s most dynamic cities

MANILA, Philippines — Manila further moved up in the global ranking of the most dynamic cities, gaining four notches to land at eighth place in the latest survey by leading real estate and investment management services firm JLL.

The 2020 edition of JLL’s City Momentum Index showed Manila rose to the eighth spot this year from 12th in 2019 and 18th in 2018.

The index combines socio-economic and commercial property metrics of 130 markets to identify the world’s most dynamic urban centers. It identifies a number of key growth drivers, including talent attraction, the expansion of innovation hubs and better urban planning, that cities can employ to meet the challenges faced by rapid momentum.

In terms of real estate, Manila ranked 48th, with prime rental growth of +3.8 percent annual average for 2020-2022 (19th globally), office net absorption of 7.3 percent (14th globally), and hotel construction of 15.6 percent (also 14th globally).

Based on the JLL index, Asia Pacific is home to the most dynamic urban centers in the world, with three-quarters of the world’s top 20 cities in the region.

The results, JLL said, show a continued shift in global influence from West to East, with Indian, Chinese and Vietnamese cities dominating the top positions.

India – with seven cities in the top 20, the most of any country – leads the 2020 index, despite the slowdown last year of the nation’s economy. This strength is driven by locations in the country’s southern states, as Hydera

bad (1st) and Bengaluru (2nd) retain their status as the top two cities for short-term momentum.

“India’s fastest growing cities have been drawing significant levels of interest from overseas investors, who are looking to tap into the country’s growing economy,” said Stuart Crow, CEO of JLL Asia Pacific’s Capital Markets.

“We are starting to see the fruits of the Indian government’s ongoing focus on improving infrastructure and making it easier to do business. Despite a slowing pace of economic growth, these structural reforms bring more market transparency, which boosts investment into real estate. In particular, India’s logistics real estate sector is gaining favor due to e-commerce growth and changes in consumption habits.”

Meanwhile, China’s role in driving global momentum continues to be significant; one-fifth of the global top 20 cities are in China. Shanghai stands alone as the only city to feature in the top 20 throughout the past seven years.