Shanghai the most global city in China? Think again

In their second annual Global Cities Index, Foreign Policy magazine (which puts together the ranking management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, and The Chicago Council on Global Affairs) takes aim at Shanghai pride, ranking the city 20th (tied with Frankfurt), below Beijing, which comes in at number 15.

The rankings were not done by city size alone. Many of the world's largest megalopolises, like Karachi (60), Lagos (59), and Kolkata (63), didn’t break the top 50. Instead the goal of the survey was to measure how much influence a city yields outside its own borders -- however bursting at the seams those borders might be. 

The list ranked 65 major cities around the world, looking at the sway cities have over global markets, culture, and innovation. (For more information on their methods, read on here) 

Although Beijing did outrank Shanghai (and we’re sure Shanghaining will soon be demanding a recount), more interesting are the trends in the ranking.

Foreign Policy points out that today “half the world's population is now urban -- and half the world's most global cities are Asian.”

It's notable that five of the world's 10 most global cities, according to this report, are APAC countries: Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, and Seoul (CNNGo has a presence in three on them), while only three American cities made the list (New York, Chicago and Los Angeles). Europe only squeaks in with a measly two.

More than merely giving Shanghaining something to gripe about, the study showing a major trend: “Just as more people will continue to migrate from farms to cities, more global clout will move from West to East.”