Global City Rankings: London first, NYC second, Toronto 17th

The latest study of world cities by Resonance Consultancy names London, New York City and Paris as the top three cities on the planet.

Toronto was the only Canadian city in the top 25, placing 17th for the second year in a row.
Resonance, which has been conducting this study for years, looked at everything from culture and education to shopping and neighborhoods and came up with their top 25 for the world.
London was cited for its energy, projects and people.

As the “capital of capitals” negotiates the uncharted terrain of a post-Brexit world, for now it still reigns atop the planet’s best cities for the third year running, Resonance officials stated.

New York City moved up to the silver medal spot after finishing third in last year’s rankings. The report lauded The Big Apple as “an experiential, sensory powerhouse obsessed with welcoming the world.”

The latest report from Resonance Consultancy puts New York City as the number two city in the world. JIM BYERS PHOTO

Paris came third, down a spot from last year. The report noted the terrible fire at Notre Dame but said that “the City of Light builds on resiliently, with massive infrastructure investment ahead of the 2024 Olympic Summer Games and beyond.”

Resonance officials cited Toronto as a growing and diverse city that’s on a decidedly upward swing.
“Economic growth, immigration and global investment have Canada’s largest city poised for big things,” they said.

Toronto came third in the world in the “People” category. The city was seventh in the world for Top 500 Global company headquarters, which came as a pleasant surprise to this Toronto resident. I might have guessed Toronto was 10th or 12th for global hq’s, but not seventh.

The report even mentioned the Toronto Raptors’ NBA title last June!

Resonance Consultancy’s 2020 city report lists Toronto as the world’s 17th best city. JIM BYERS PHOTO

Here’s what the Resonance folks had to say about Canada’s largest city:

“With almost half of its population foreign-born, Toronto’s #17 overall finish is powered by its diversity and Education Attainment rankings—the two components of our People category, for which the city ranks #3, just behind Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Unlike with those Middle Eastern cities, Toronto’s diversity is less tied to migrant labor. The city’s openness, combined with its economy (with the seventh-most Global 500 head offices in the world) has resulted in unprecedented density and a satisfaction with just staying put, sated by real estate wealth and the comfort that the world is already in town. Of course, winning an NBA title doesn’t hurt, either. Getting less attention is the 100,000 new residents arriving annually. University of Toronto researchers predict that, in less than 50 years, the city will trail only New York City and Mexico City in North American population.”

I hadn’t heard that latter prediction, but I don’t quite believe it. Toronto (greater Toronto, not the city itself) could surpass Chicago or Houston, but there’s no way of getting past greater Los Angeles (13 million, according to worldatlas.com) any time soon.

Then again, I don’t really care about size. It’s more about what the city stands for and how we’re doing in terms of quality of life. On that front, I’d have to say I’m pretty happy about the state of Toronto. We’re a relatively safe beacon of light in a troubled world; a warm (most of the time) and welcoming city that treats people of all sorts with dignity and respect. And THAT is something to be proud of.

The latest Resonance Consultancy report lists Los Angeles as the number nine city in the world. JIM BYERS PHOTO

Also on a personal note, I’m pretty happy to see four cities in my home state of California on the list: Los Angeles (9), San Francisco (11), San Diego (20) and San Jose (25). San Francisco folks won’t like being behind Los Angeles, I can tell you that.

Here’s the full top 25 list from Resonance Consultancy for 2020:

1. London
2. New York City
3. Paris
4. Tokyo
5. Moscow
6. Dubai
7. Singapore
8. Barcelona
9. Los Angeles
10. Rome
11. San Francisco
12. Madrid
13. Chicago
14. Abu Dhabi
15. Amsterdam
16. Beijing
17. Toronto
18. Doha
19. Hong Kong
20. San Diego
21. Boston
22. Sydney
23. Las Vegas
24. Miami
25. San Jose