Australia has 3 cities in top 10% globally for innovation - 16th annual Innovation Cities Index

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA (2THINKNOW) – Melbourne again reached the top 5% of the 16th annual list of the world’s most innovative cities on Monday, but could not eclipse rival Sydney this year. Globally the cities were placed 23rd and 18th respectively, from a field of five hundred cities. Third Australian place-getter, Brisbane (globally, 38) moved upward steadily, along with next place Perth (63). 

Across the ditch, a massive bounce-back occurred in Auckland (77) on the back of easing Covid-19 measures.

The cities were assessed on 162 indicators covering everything from start-ups, to science & engineering, business, sustainability, economics, nascent tech, geography, transport, arts & culture and a broad variety of areas for innovation.

Globally, Tokyo won ahead of London and New York. The Japanese capital repeated its 2021 feat, with the same placings as first managed in 2018. To be a winning city repeatedly, a city requires strong cultural assets. Beyond technology, the Japanese capital also has a burgeoning food, music and cultural creative scene.

Resurgent Paris (4), and rock-steady perennial Singapore (5), were other cities to use culture, creativity and advanced technology to innovate.

All top five globally winning cities had dominant Artificial Intelligence (AI) tech firms, as well as robotics programs. With over one-hundred AI startups, Silicon Valley (9) re-entered the global top-ten, despite its ongoing socio-economic, banking and urban problems.

“What really surprised us this year was the resilience of big cities slammed by lockdowns. Many of these cities created entirely new business areas in 12-months, in unexpected ways, and were first to bounce back,” said Christopher Hire, director of city data provider 2ThinkNow, which publishes the annual city ranking. “AI is one of those exciting sectors.”

Besides Melbourne, other global cultural capitals to bounce-back included Munich (16), Vienna (17), Amsterdam (20) and Montreal (24). 

Innovation centres of Los Angeles (6), Berlin (11) and Stockholm (13) rose sharply in the index, based on changes in 162 indicators including technology, economic, social, smart, cultural and sustainability indicators.

The analysts found large cities continue to dominate the global economic system, overcoming Covid-19 challenges.

Mid-Eastern capitals of Dubai (14) and Doha (162) rose rapidly, with Dubai closing in on the global top-ten for the first time. Doha’s rapid rise was attributed to infrastructure built during its World Cup host role.             

Spanish capital Madrid (19) beat grand rival Barcelona (26) for the first time in several years. Both rose rapidly to return to pre-Covid results. Lisbon (60) rose 98 places since Covid, on the back of favourable tech and golden-visa programs.

United States results were subdued but strong, with Boston (7) down but San Diego (37), Newark (50) and Tampa (69) up. In Canada, Toronto (15) returned to form ahead of a resurgent Vancouver (29). Quebec City rose 113 places in a highly positive result for French-speaking Canada.

In broader Asia, Seoul (8) challenged Singapore, while Beijing (28) remained strong, ahead of Osaka (35). 

“What is fascinating is how much results vary on a city basis from national results.” Hire added. “This rewards mayors and cities that are bold and take action, rather than waiting for federal programs”.

2ThinkNow’s authoritative ranking is one of the most comprehensive of its type in the world. The algorithmic ranking enables researchers a means to measure cities innovation conditions.  Higher conditions for innovation are tied to lower unemployment and higher income for cities over time, as well as culturally more successful cities that attract talent.

This year, 2ThinkNow published separate rankings for G8, G20, ASEAN, NAFTA and regional groupings. All rankings are on the Innovation Cities Index website.

The results are used by researchers in over 180 countries each year.

In addition to valuable data on innovation, 2ThinkNow city rankings help listed cities throughout the world assess and plan their own performance over time.

The underlying data used is available for commercial purchase to compare cities.

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SPOKESPERSON

Mr Christopher Hire
Director Data, 2ThinkNow

media@2thinknow.com (email preferred)

Also: +61386780319 +16692413435 +44 33 00 270 203
Time zone GMT+10 (AEST) - Brisbane.

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FULL 500 CITY RESULTS:

https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26453

BACKGROUND

2ThinkNow is a global innovation agency that provides city data and rankings to researchers and governments around the world.

The Innovation Cities™ Index ranks cities based on 162 indicators of innovation, including technology, economics, culture, and sustainability. The ranking aims to provide a comprehensive overview of each city's innovation conditions, which can inform policy and investment decisions.

PLAIN TEXT LINKS FOLLOW

Global 100 - https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26454

Global 500 - https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26453

G8 - https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26438

G20 - https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26437

NAFTA - https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26442

EU-27 - https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26445

EU+EEA+SW - https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26436

ASEAN - https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26441

GCC - https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26440

ANZ - https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26439

ASIA REGION - https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26505

INDIA - https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26447

JAPAN - https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26448

EUROPE REGIO - https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26444

UK - https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26451

MID-EAST - https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26511

AFRICA - https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26435

EURASIA - https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26452

RUSSIA - https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26450

USA - https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26443

LATIN AMERICA - https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26449

CANADA - https://innovation-cities.com/?p=26508

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ANNUAL DISCLAIMER

The Innovation Cities™ Indexes (the “Indexes”) are for information purposes only and are intended for as a general-purpose ranking measuring the relative importance of cities to the innovation economy. Practise in this area is continually changing and emerging, so the methodologies and processes change from year to year, and the availability of data changes from city to city. While the Indexes have been prepared based upon the best available information, they are provided on an “as-is” basis, and 2thinknow accepts no responsibility/liability for the validity/accuracy (or otherwise) of the resources/data used to compile the Indexes. In no event will 2thinknow be liable to for any decision made or action taken in reliance of the results obtained through the use of, or the information and/or data contained in or provided by, the Indexes.

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