Cebu City in 2024 Global Cities Index’s top 500

CEBU, Philippines — In a time when Climate Change’s negative impact has worsened, Cebu City has emerged as one of the top 25 largest cities in the world that are committed to environmental sustainability, paving the way for its inclusion in the 2024 Global Cities Index’s top 500.

The Global Cities’ Index have been initiated by Oxford Economics, the world’s foremost independent economic advisory firm.

The Global Cities Index have been developed to provide a “holistic assessment of the 1,000 largest cities in the world”.

The index contains five categories---Economics, Human Capital, Quality of Life, Environment, and Governance, which are aggregated to create an overall score for each city.

“Each category is comprised of multiple indicators (four to six, depending on the category), which aim to address some of the most important considerations within their respective categories”.

“In an era defined by uncertainty, one trend remains constant: cities are still at the forefront of economic growth,” said Mark Britton, Oxford Economics director of city services, in the report obtained by The Freeman from city’s Public Information Office.

“The ability of cities to serve as the engines of future growth is underpinned by their dynamic networks of businesses, institutions, and people. Agglomeration affects foster creativity, innovation, and prosperity, which further add to the draw of diverse and skilled populations,” Britton said.

Britton also stressed that their Global Cities Index “provides a consistent framework for assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the largest 1,000 cities across the world that is expected to have organizations and policymakers to make more informed strategic decisions”.

Based on last year’s achievements, plans, programs, project, Cebu City, led by Mayor Mike Rama, ranked 436th overall out of a thousand cities included on the list released by the Oxford Economics early this week.

Cebu City is the only city in the entire Cebu and Central Visayas included on the list.

Cebu City was also ranked 379th in economics, 502nd in human capital, 683rd in quality of life, 614th in governance and most impressively, 2th in environment, or an aggregate rank of 436th.

“With climate change at the forefront of international, national, and urban policymaking, the relevance of this category is undeniable,” the report said.

The Environment category evaluates a city’s “commitment to environmental sustainability and its predisposition to climate change risks, critical factors for ensuring long-term resilience.” The environment indicators include “air quality, emissions intensity, temperature anomalies, natural disasters, temperature anomalies and rainfall anomalies”.

“Incorporating environmental metrics into the index reflects the growing recognition of the interconnectedness between economic prosperity and the natural environment, highlighting the imperative for cities to adopt climate change [1] conscious policies and initiatives, and the hazards of not doing so,” stated the report.

The Environment category rewards cities that— either through policymaking or geographical fortune—benefit from outstanding natural environments.

 Suva, Fiji tops the rankings in the environment category with the city among the best air quality in the world. Fortaleza, Brazil; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Natal, Brazil; come next after scoring highly because of their stable climates.

All three cities in New Zealand also cracked the top 10 due to their clean air and low frequency of natural disasters, while the rest of the top 10 cities for the environmental category are Male, Maldives; Nassau, Bahamas; and Port Louis, Mauritius.

For the Economic category, seven of the top 10 cities are located in the United States, with New York taking the top spot, while United Kingdom tops human capital; quality of life’s top city is Grenoble, France; as New Zealand’s Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington swept the top 3 spots for the governance category.

Overall, the top cities of the world are New York, USA (100 percent); London, United Kingdom (99.4); San Jose, USA (98.5); Tokyo, Japan (97.8); Paris, France (96.3); Seattle, U.S.A (95.8); Los Angeles, USA (95.4); San Francisco, USA (94.7); Melbourne, Australia (94.6); and Zurich, Switzerland (94.2).

The city of Manila is at 256rd, overall after ranking 150th in economics, 101th in human capital, 461 in quality of life, 238 in environment, and 614 in governance.

The other Philippine city that made it to the top 500 is Davao at 412th, while those that are in the list of top 100 cities are Angeles (502nd), Bacolod (538th), Dagupan (604th), Zamboanga (695th), and General Santos (723rd). (CEBU NEWS)