Take That, Rome!

Oxford Economics, an economic forecasting and analytic company created in partnership with England’s Oxford University, publishes an annual Global Cities Index. They recently published their 2024 index, in which they ranked 1000 cities around the world according to 27 indicators across five categories.

Little Providence ranked 95th in the entire world! (Rome, Italy was #134) The 5 categories for ranking were::

Economics: based on employment and GDP size, growth, and stability.

Human Capital: based on educational institutions and attainment, population growth, age profile, foreign born population, and corporate headquarters.

Quality of Life: based on life expectancy, income equality, access to cultural and recreational sites and the internet, and housing expenditure.

Environment: based on air quality, temperature and weather anomalies, natural disasters, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Governance: determined by the national state of institutions, civil liberties, the business environment, and political stability. Each country is assigned a score which applies to all cities within.

Here’s how Providence did across the five categories:

111th – Providence’s Economy ranking, due to the metro area’s GDP of $89.4 billion and a GDP per capita of $74,166.

97th – The Human Capital ranking, due, in part, to its many colleges – including Brown University – an Ivy League school ranked 64th globally.

205th – Providence’s Quality of Life score, which is roughly between NYC’s (278) and Boston’s (123).

275 – square feet of parkland per person, Providence has 1,200 acres within the city limits.

147 – square feet per person in New York

151 – square feet per person in Boston

$104,300 – the Boston metro’s median family income, which along with Boston’s many prestigious cultural institutions helped it to beat Providence in this category, whose median family income is only $81,700.

235th – Providence’s Environment score, largely because of significant flood-prone areas in downtown and along its rivers.

184th – The United States’ Governance ranking, which is the same for all cities in the country. The US was placed at 184 because of its strong business environment and democratic government on one hand, but looming political instability on the other.

Meanwhile, Bergen, Norway placed fourth for quality of life, fifteenth for environment, and

55th overall.

$118,566 – GDP per capita in Bergen

2 – Light rail lines

50,000-60,000 – daily light rail riders

291,189 – municipality population

42.7 – acreage of Bergen’s largest urban park

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s former capital and largest city, placed 21st in human capital, 391st in quality of life, and 135th overall.

2,163,000 – municipality population of Kuala Lumpur

$28,909 – GDP per capita

1017 – the number of companies listed on the Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange

16,912,534 – tourists to Kuala Lumpur in 2022

1857 – year Kuala Lumpur was established

 

Sources:

https://cwur.org/2024/brown-university.php https://static.poder360.com.br/2024/05/oxford-economics-cidades-mai2024.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20071027111128/http://www.providenceri.com/government/parks/ https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-largest-parks-in-new-york-city.html https://www.boston.gov/departments/parks-and-recreation https://censusreporter.org/profiles/31000US14460-boston-cambridge-newton-ma-nh-metro-area/ https://censusreporter.org/profiles/31000US39300-providence-warwick-ri-ma-metro-area/ https://risegis.ri.gov/portal/apps/Styler/index.html?appid=37dc9eac2c154547a4d7d1bc9f1934e7 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergen

https://www.studybergen.com/guide-to-bergen/outdoor-activities/parks-in-bergen/ https://topforeignstocks.com/listed-companies-lists/list-of-listed-companies-in-malaysia/ https://www.ceicdata.com/en/malaysia/domestic-tourism/domestic-tourism-number-of-visitors-k uala-lumpur

 

Dexter Vincent recently graduated from Classical High School, was Co-Director of the Providence Student Union Leadership Team, and is an Elmwood neighbor. He is passionate about local politics, climate resilient urban planning, and independent journalism. In his free time, he reads books about cities and art, listens to Rachmaninoff and Miles Davis, draws Providence architecture, and plays with his baby brother.