A Study Makes It Official: New York Is the Most Competitive City

Anyone who has tried to park a car on a Manhattan street may already have deemed New York the world’s most competitive city. A new study concluded that it is and will stay that way for at least another 12 years.

The study, conducted for Citigroup by the Economist Intelligence Unit, ranked 120 cities around the globe on their competitiveness, based on their ability to attract investments, workers and tourists, among other attributes.

New York ranked third among the cities in economic strength, the category given the most weight in the analysis. It ranked second in “institutional character,” a measure of order and political stability. The accumulation of the high rankings in various categories helped propel New York to the top of the list.

“New York is at the top of the list in terms of financial sophistication,” said Leo Abruzzese, global forecasting director for the Economist Intelligence Unit. New York “still remains in many ways the financial capital of the world.”

But Mr. Abruzzese added that the city’s economy is less reliant on one or two industries than many other big cities around the world. That economic diversity has given New York a big head start on many of the cities in emerging nations, but some of them are closing the gap, he said.

While New York and London are projected to stay ahead of Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo through 2025, some fast-growing cities will become more formidable challengers, the study concluded. Taipei, for example, is forecast to move up to 11th place from 25th. Doha is predicted to leap 14 spots to become one of the world’s 25 most competitive cities by 2025, the study said.

Chicago was projected to remain the second most-competitive city in America, ranking ninth in the world in 2025.

The costs of living and doing business in New York City are high, but not as high as in some others, including London and Tokyo, Mr. Abruzzese said. New York’s most glaring weakness has been in the management of the environment and preparation to cope with storms and other natural disasters, he said.

“New York doesn’t do well in environmental performance or natural hazards,” Mr. Abruzzese said. “Certainly that was reinforced last year with Sandy.”