Downloads: Cities of Opportunity

Cities of Opportunity projects the future of economic growth, population, and employment in our 27 cities in a pragmatic spirit. Our look at the future also suggests "what ifs" that push the probable envelope toward the possible. Scenarios investigate changes in the size of our urban pie through faster or slower macroeconomic growth as well as the same-sized urban pie being sliced differently based on the relative importance of varying city qualities.

Shanghai and Beijing are pushing ahead, while Western cities continue to compete. Our 10 indicators have undergone substantial revision this year and are now composed of 60 variables. This year, we also added a new indicator, City gateway. It seeks to measure a city’s global attraction.

In the coming years, cities will constitute an ever-increasing percentage of human communities. Since the end of the Second World War, urbanization has been the overriding demographic trend in every continent but especially in the developing world.

Interview transcripts:

Bill Bratton, Chairman of Kroll Inc. Los Angeles Chief of Police, 2002-2009 New York Police Commissioner, 1994-1996, transformed law and order in American cities. Today, he says public safety is the most critical priority for any city — and explains how to achieve it.
Andrew Chan, Deputy Chairman of Arup Group explains how farsighted planning and “integrated infrastructure” can make cities more efficient and resilient.
David Miller, Mayor of Toronto, 2003-2010, discusses the civility of his city, economic development and the value of immigration.
Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys, discusses India’s urban challenges—and how to tackle them with the help of government reform, “huge foreign investment,” and entrepreneurial dynamism.

Edward O. Wilson, emeritus professor of entomology at Harvard, extends thoughts from a lifetime of work as a natural scientist to cities and the planet as a whole.
Peter Chamley, Head of infrastructure design and engineering, Arup Group, joined Richard Abadie, his counterpart in PwC’s infrastructure practice, for a conversation on the challenges of transportation and infrastructure in the world’s great cities.
Wim Elfrink, Chief globalization Officer at Cisco, discusses the challenges of urbanization and the power of technology to transform cities in ways we can barely imagine.