Singapore is Asia's leading city again

Here are the countries Singapore beat.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers Cities of Opportunity, for the second year in a row, Singapore is Asia’s leading city as reported in the Fifth Edition of PwC’s Cities of Opportunity study.

Here's more from PwC:

Singapore climbed two places to 7th position out of 27 cities surveyed, ranking first in ease of doing business, and transportation and infrastructure.

Singapore also ranked highly in areas of economic clout and technology readiness, and is the only Asian city to break into the top 10 in health, safety and security.

The city is also in the top 10 in City Gateway, a new indicator category that measures a city’s global connectedness and attraction to the outside world.

Mr Gautam Banerjee, Executive Chairman of PwC Singapore, said, “Singapore continues to be a key financial hub in Asia, and its high ranking reflects the city’s attraction as an economically competitive and easy place to do business. Apart from its strong trade network, infrastructure and skilled workforce, Singapore is also able to stay nimble to seize opportunities, which is a characteristic that helps it cope with economic uncertainty.”

Mr Banerjee added, “The cities that are a magnet for people have global appeal, but at the same time they continue to act locally, meaning their residents have a collective experience that they share and enjoy.

If you look at the Singapore Memory Project, for example, and see the kind of responses that people have submitted about growing up in Singapore - old school days, memories of childhood foods and places - these are the experiences we’re talking about that make a city.

We’ve come a long way since then. Over the last 47 years, Singapore’s success as a livable city has been due to its forward thinking and innovation, as well as its people-focused environment. The next phase of Singapore’s growth will depend on whatever is the next ‘new normal’, and the quality of life will spur our city’s growth.”

Cities of Opportunity and the key indicators

The Cities of Opportunity key indicators and top three cities in each are:

• Intellectual capital and innovation: Stockholm, Toronto, Paris

• Technology readiness: Seoul, San Francisco, New York

• Transportation and Infrastructure: Singapore, Seoul/Toronto (tied for second), Tokyo\

• Health, safety and security: Stockholm, Toronto, Sydney

• Sustainability and the natural environment: Sydney, San Francisco/Toronto (tied for second), Berlin

• Economic clout: Beijing, Paris, London/New York (tied for third)

• Ease of doing business: Singapore, Hong Kong, New York

• Cost: Berlin, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur

• Demographics and livability: Paris, Hong Kong/Sydney (tied for second), San Francisco\

• City gateway: London, Paris, Beijing