S'pore best-managed city in the world: Jones Lang Lasalle
S'pore best-managed city in the world: Jones Lang Lasalle
Singapore was declared the world's best-managed city on Wednesday in a survey of major capitals by a global property consultancy.
The city-state was trailed by Barcelona, Dubai and New York, with Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong also among the top 10 in the inaugural City Governance Survey by Jones Lang Lasalle, which operates in more than 100 markets worldwide.
In terms of marketing itself, New York City came out number one, followed by Shanghai, Barcelona and Singapore.
Thirty-three major cities were included in the rankings based on quantifiable data and "softer, qualitative information" gathered by the firm.
"City governance has a critical influence on a city's attractiveness," said Yu Lai Boon, managing director of Jones Lang Lasalle's Singapore office, adding that governance was essentially "the process for making and implementing decisions."
The top 10 cities in overall ranking were Singapore, Barcelona, Dubai, New York, Shanghai, Budapest, Brisbane, Beijing, Auckland and Hong Hong.
These were declared the "successful" cities in the survey.
The "balanced" cities' list included Dublin, Dalian in China, Paris, Sydney, London, Stockholm, Melbourne, Berlin and Cape Town.
"In Asia, Singapore and Hong Kong ranked particularly well in terms of city management," Yu said.
He noted that medium-sized, wealthier cities tended to perform best on this index as larger cities often experience congestion and high costs while smaller cities have to deal with lack of real estate products and not enough market scope to attract investors and corporates.
Yu also cited Shanghai and Beijing for their "strong marketing capabilities".
Shanghai recently held a Formula One race and will host the 2007 Special Olympics and 2010 World Expo, while Beijing will host the 2008 Olympics.
Singapore was noted for its "prominent regional position and cultural diversity" as well as its "physical integrity and city autonomy," a feature it shares with Barcelona and Dubai.
These three cities have a single administrative and political body whose area of responsibility broadly matches the geography of the city economy, the property firm said. -- AFP