The world's most economically powerful cities

[Darth Wong]

From Forbes

1. London, England
   
   Gross domestic product (2005): $452 billion
   GDP (2020): $708 billion
   Growth rate: 3%
   MasterCard Ranking: 1
   Population (2007): 8,567,000
   Purchasing power (NYC=100): 92%
   
   By 2020, London is expected to leapfrog Paris and become Europe's richest city as measured by GDP. London's 3% growth rate is high for a major city in the developed world. London is ranked as the No. 1 city on MasterCard's Centers of Commerce index, owing to the vast volume of its financial markets. It's comparable to New York in equities and commodities trading but is larger in bond and derivatives trading. The downside? It's expensive. The purchasing power of the average Londoner is less than their New York peers.
2. Hong Kong, China
   
   GDP (2005): $244 billion
   GDP (2020): $407 billion
   Growth rate: 3.5%
   MasterCard ranking: 6
   Population (2007): 7,206,000
   Purchasing power (NYC=100): 49%
   
   Hong Kong benefits from its physical proximity to the Chinese mainland and its historical connection to Western markets. MasterCard ranks Hong Kong the best business center in the world, based on a composite of its ports, airports, hotels and commercial real estate development.
3. New York, N.Y.
   
   GDP (2005): $1.13 trillion
   GDP (2020): $1.56 trillion
   Growth rate: 2.2%
   MasterCard ranking: 2
   Population (2007): 19,040,000
   Purchasing power: 100%
   
   In absolute terms, the economy of New York City is second only to Tokyo. In fact, there are only 14 countries in the world with bigger economies than New York. And though the city has a reputation for a high cost of living, the average New Yorker can buy more than counterparts in London, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
4. Tokyo, Japan
   
   GDP (2005): $1.19 trillion
   GDP (2020): $1.6 trillion
   Growth rate: 2%
   MasterCard ranking: 3
   Population: 35,676,000
   Purchasing power(NYC=100): 96%
   
   Tokyo is the world's most populous city by the U.N.'s reckoning, and it has the largest economy. By PricewaterhouseCoopers' projections, Tokyo will still have the largest economy in 2020, though New York will be getting closer. Tokyo's huge size comes at a price: Of the 151 largest economies, its growth is expected to rank at No. 140.
5. Chicago, Ill.
   
   GDP (2005): $460 billion
   GDP (2020): $645 billion
   Growth rate: 2.3%
   MasterCard ranking: 5
   Population (2007): 8,990,000
   Purchasing power (NYC=100): 115%
   
   America's second city faces stern competition from Los Angeles, which now has a larger population and a bigger economy. But Chicago still outranks Los Angeles on MasterCard's Commerce Index. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade give Chicago a role in the global financial markets that Los Angeles (who still remembers the Pacific Exchange?) lacks.
6. Seoul, South Korea
   
   GDP (2005): $218 billion
   GDP (2020): $349 billion
   Growth rate: 3.2%
   MasterCard ranking: 9
   Population (2007): 9,796,000
   Purchasing power (NYC=100): 56%
   
   Similar to Hong Kong, Seoul benefits from a growing Asia and Western-oriented markets.
   
   PricewaterhouseCoopers projects that by 2020, Seoul will surpass Atlanta, San Francisco, Houston and Miami in GDP.
7. Paris, France
   
   GDP (2005): $460 billion
   GDP (2020): $611 billion
   Growth rate: 1.9%
   MasterCard ranking: 7
   Population (2007): 9,904,000
   Purchasing power (NYC=100): 88%
   
   Today the economy of Paris is bigger than London's. But sluggish growth in this old-world capital has it slowly losing ground. By 2020 it will have been passed by London. We'll always have Paris, yes, but by 2020 its economy will be little larger than rapidly-growing Mexico City.
8. Los Angeles, Calif.
   
   GDP (2005): $639 billion
   GDP (2020): $886 billion
   Growth rate: 2.2%
   MasterCard ranking: 17
   Population (2007): 12,500,000
   Purchasing power (NYC=100): 120%
   
   Los Angeles is on course to become the world's third city with a trillion dollar economy. And while that economy will always be smaller than New York's, those in Los Angeles take solace: According to UBS estimates, the average resident of L.A. has 20% more purchasing power than their counterparts in New York.
9. Shanghai, China
   
   GDP (2005): $139 million
   GDP (2020): $360 million
   Growth rate: 6.5%
   MasterCard ranking: 24
   Population (2007): 14,987,000
   Purchasing power (NYC=100): 36%
   
   With an explosive projected-growth rate of 6.5%, the size of Shanghai's economy would more than double between 2005 and 2020. Shanghai is hardly the only Asian economy with rapid growth--in 15 years this will be a very different list. Indian cities Mumbai and Delhi are projected to grow by around 6%; Jakarta, Indonesia, by 6.5%; Beijing by 6.6%.
10. Toronto, Canada
    
    GDP (2005): $209 billion
    GDP (2020): $327 billion
    Growth rate: 3%
    MasterCard ranking: 13
    Population (2007): 5,213,000
    Purchasing power (NYC=100): 113.8%
    
    Toronto only narrowly edged out Madrid, Spain; Philadelphia and Mexico City, Mexico, to hang on at No. 10. Toronto is still the economic heart of one of the world's wealthiest countries, and it's projected to keep humming through 2020. Along with London, Toronto is the fastest growing G7 financial center.

The full article contains information on the difficulty of compiling this information: apparently, GDP data is most commonly kept at the national level, not the metropolitan level. It's kind of interesting to see how large the economies of some of these cities are, though.

[Guardsman Bass]

I didn't realize that New York City's GDP was that fucking big. Somehow, that makes me more sympathetic to the occasional noises about seceding from New York State to make their own state (or city-state, I guess) - it's really in a class of its own.

[Havok]

I though NY only had 8million people? Is that just Manhattan?
And holy fuck, 35+million in Tokyo?

[Ford Prefect]

And holy fuck, 35+million in Tokyo?

They may be talking about the Tokyo Metropolis, which is a prefecture. I'm not really sure, though it's still pretty crazy, because the Tokyo Metropolis is obscenely tiny.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

I remember reading somewhere that there was a net population growth in many Japanese cities due to people moving from the villages/towns to the cities to find work.

[apocolypse]

I though NY only had 8million people? Is that just Manhattan?
And holy fuck, 35+million in Tokyo?

I think they're using the metropolitan area for the population counts listed. Both New York and LA for instance are shown larger than their actual city populations are. You're correct, New York has about 8 million or so in the city itself.

[ArmorPierce]

I though NY only had 8million people? Is that just Manhattan?
And holy fuck, 35+million in Tokyo?

For NY it is including the surrounding suburbs. Long island, westchester, probably good deal of Jersey.

[apocolypse]

I though NY only had 8million people? Is that just Manhattan?
And holy fuck, 35+million in Tokyo?

I think they're using the metropolitan area for the population counts listed. Both New York and LA for instance are shown larger than their actual city populations are. You're correct, New York has about 8 million or so in the city itself.

Ghetto edit. I forgot to add that the 8 million count includes all burroughs, not just Manhattan. I think Manhattan itself has around 2 million or so.

[ArmorPierce]

Population of Manhattan is less than 2 million. It amazes me that people seem to not realize that New York City is not just comprised of Manhattan.

[tim31]

I think that amazes everyone except for denizens of Manhatten.

Mastercard ranking got a laugh out of me; does this mean subscribers?

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Mastercard ranking got a laugh out of me; does this mean subscribers?

Average expenditure probably.

[Ender]

I though NY only had 8million people? Is that just Manhattan?
And holy fuck, 35+million in Tokyo?

I think they're using the metropolitan area for the population counts listed. Both New York and LA for instance are shown larger than their actual city populations are. You're correct, New York has about 8 million or so in the city itself.

I don't know - Cook county has a pop of 9.7 mil, Chicago proper 8 mil. And they list 8 mil up there. So either they are using different standards for different cities, or the populations of the city proper is as high as they say.

[Adrian Laguna]

Hah! Chicago is only behind LA in purchasing power, and we have better public transport. As if I needed more reasons to love the place.

[Kanastrous]

Hah! Chicago is only behind LA in purchasing power, and we have better public transport. As if I needed more reasons to love the place.

We still have nicer weather.

It goes toward making up for a lot of the other stuff we don't have.

[aerius]

Holy crap! Toronto has over 1/6 of Canada's entire GDP!

[Vehrec]

Holy crap! Toronto has over 1/6 of Canada's entire GDP!

I for one, am not suprised. Cities are giant money-making engines of commerce, and most of Canada's economy and population tends to be clustered around the Great Lakes region. And Toronto's no slouch in terms of population either.

[Master of Ossus]

Paris' "growth" rate sucks.

[Robert Treder]

I don't know - Cook county has a pop of 9.7 mil, Chicago proper 8 mil. And they list 8 mil up there. So either they are using different standards for different cities, or the populations of the city proper is as high as they say.

You're tripping, Cook County had 5.3 million people in 2006. The US Census Bureau lists the entire Chicago metro area at 9.7 mil, but that includes more of NE IL than Cook County, plus several Indiana counties and a Wisconsin county.

All of the population figures they use for US cities are just below their US Census Bureau counterparts, but so are many of the international figures lower than figures I've seen. Some are higher.
As the original article points out, this kind of information is notoriously difficult to pin down, because not only are there no official scorekeepers of these economic figures, but metropolitan areas aren't clearly defined internationally. Even in countries where they are distinctly defined (e.g. the US), those official definitions are rarely used by industry, even when they would be helpful. It only makes sense, though, considering how nebulous the idea of a metropolitan area is; it means something different depending on who you are, and any boundaries must remain dynamic.

So it's foolish to expect these kinds of reports to be precise, but they're still useful. The economic figures are good ballpark figures, whether they would be changed by adding or removing such and such suburb notwithstanding. The rankings are mostly just for fun; does it matter if Toronto is no. 10 or 11? Not really, but once again, it is a good ballpark; we can say with some confidence that Toronto is more economically powerful than Denver, say, and here are the metrics we used to determine that.

[Robert Treder]

Hah! Chicago is only behind LA in purchasing power, and we have better public transport. As if I needed more reasons to love the place.

You're behind LA in GDP and population, too. And in gross population growth. You only have a better MC rating, but that doesn't bother LA since they use a black Amex card

[Dartzap]

How odd, I thought in the current times, London would have slipped a fair amount.

[ArmorPierce]

You'd be wrong. If anything London has been growing as a financial power house rivaling NYC.

[Oni Koneko Damien]

Hah! Chicago is only behind LA in purchasing power, and we have better public transport. As if I needed more reasons to love the place.

We still have nicer weather.

It goes toward making up for a lot of the other stuff we don't have.

That just means you have less stupid people weeded out of the population every winter than we do.

Anyway's Chicago's nice, but it's absolute hell trying to find a job there right now. Then again, I'm guessing that's the same just about anywhere at the moment.

[Ziggy Stardust]

I didn't realize how big Toronto was. I mean, I knew it was a big city with a good economy, I just never. thought that it would make the Top 10

[Broomstick]

I though NY only had 8million people? Is that just Manhattan?

I doubt it - the city of Chicago proper is "only" 3 million, but they list it as nearly 9 million. That would be the population of Chicago metropolitan area, known locally as "Chicagoland". Which, really, is probably accurate as the economic engine that is Chicago (or NYC or any of these other places) extends beyond the city limits.

[Straha]

Population of Manhattan is less than 2 million. It amazes me that people seem to not realize that New York City is not just comprised of Manhattan.

That's because we're so much better than the rest of the City that we are the City. Quite simply we're all that matters.