In the modern world cities can no longer be considered simply as inhabited localities – today the world’s largest cities have acquired globalization functions, becoming international financial and cultural centers. Just like any phenomenon developing under the influence of constantly evolving technologies, each city has a unique image, whether formed naturally or carefully planned.
The competition between cities on this new, developing scene is starting to develop new qualitative meaning. Currently the competition is shifting its focus from the cities themselves to their images. A city’s image is formed on the basis of many characteristics: its attractiveness to tourists, the quality and variety of choice it presents to the consumer, its investment opportunities, financial performance, output, business environment and much more.
The people living in these international centers are constantly active – exchanging information, communicating in social networks, blogs and micro blogs. Every day city dwellers produce and transmit huge amounts of information in the shape of messages, posts and pictures – turning cities into virtual information clouds.
Cities were already becoming brands over thirty years ago. The first city to intentionally develop a brand was New York City. This is still considered to be one of the most successful campaigns in the history of branding and the slogan I ♥ NY, created in 1977, is to this day recognized and admired worldwide. Today, however, the city has outgrown its brand. New York City earned its reputation thanks to all the investment, tourism, cultural and infrastructural aspects of its development.
Different ratings evaluate various city facets, but primarily they assess past events and the cities current standing. And similarly most expert evaluations are based on the present.
The Kremlin Multimedia communication group presents a new approach to creating city ratings. It includes, among other things, indicators useful for predicting cities’ future prospects. Our goal is to pinpoint future leaders, based on a maximally wide range of indicators. As well as an assessment of current achievements, FCIW takes into account shifting dynamics. The index reflects both factors included in other ratings and the cities’ prospects.
Methodology
Our approach lies in the combination of such aspects as positions in current ratings (Global Financial Index, Xinhua-Dow Jones International Financial Centers Developments, the PriceWaterhouseCoopers company rating, the Anholt-GfK Roper City Brands Index, the tourist attraction rating of the TRAVEL + LEISURE magazine, and the rating Cities to visit 2011), and adjustments made in consideration of such characteristics as adaptability and growth rate and the results of our expert surveys and focus groups.
