If not because of Mahathir, KL would have been in the top 20
KL is 48th most global city
Southern neighbour Singapore placed eighth while Bangkok came in at 36 out of a total of 65 cities around the world judged to be the most influential based on its business activities, human capital and information exchanges, richness in cultural experiences and political engagement.
New York and London occupied the first and second spots, but four Asian metropolises made their way into the top ten list. They are — apart from Singapore — Tokyo at third place, Hong Kong at fifth, and Seoul in 10th place.
China’s Chongqing placed last.
The 2010 Global Cities Index is the second collaboration between the American magazine and management consulting firm A.T. Kearney together with The Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
The first was carried out two years ago.
The ranking is geared to measure how much sway a city has over what happens beyond its own borders.
In its analysis, the surveyors observed that half the world’s population today had become urban and “half the world’s most global cities are Asian”.
They also remarked that the trend was likely to grow more Asian as globalization drives more people to move from farms to the cities and tilt the balance of power from the West to the East.
It also noted that the sphere of influence was moving away from the seats of traditional political power, with only four of the top 10 cities being national capitals — London, Tokyo, Paris, and Seoul — while the US capital, Washington D.C. trailed cultural and business centres New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco at 13th spot.
“The 21st century will not be dominated by America or China, Brazil or India, but by the city. In an age that appears increasingly unmanageable, cities rather than states are becoming the islands of governance on which the future world order will be built.
“This new world is not — and will not be — one global village, so much as a network of different ones,” the magazine marked.
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