This report aims to better understand whether and how cities might harness their economic influence for influencing policy and governance debates at the national and international levels.
Key Findings
When looking at cities, corporations, and nation-states, cities comprise 42 of the world’s 100 largest economic entities, demonstrating their large footprint in the global economy.
Much of this urban economic vitality is concentrated in Asia. China alone is home to 8 metropolitan areas that rank among the world’s largest 100 economies, the most of any country except the United States, which is home to 12.
Cities among the top 100 economies contribute an outsized proportion of their respective national gross domestic product (GDP), accounting for an average economic share that is 1.5 times greater than their share of the national population. (For example, Delhi contributes 4 percent of India’s GDP but is home to just under 2 percent of the country’s population.)
Of the 42 cities among the top 100 economies, one-third are national political capitals.
More than half of the cities among the top 100 economies are located along or in close proximity to a seacoast.
