Paris ranks fourth in the most attractive cities in the world, up two places from the previous ranking established in 2014, according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) released on Wednesday.
Of the thirty cities in competition, the French capital takes the fourth place for “Cities of Opportunity 2016” by the consulting firm. In the previous study, it was sixth.
“The good ranking of Paris does not take a few elements but only to a very strong foundation on all the families of criteria is consistent performance and unmatched consistency” , commented to AFP Fabien Goffi associated sector public PwC France.
.The French metropolis is the only one to be ranked in the top 10 for nine families of ten criteria.
London, Singapore, Toronto
London leads the overall standings, ahead of Singapore, Toronto, Paris and Amsterdam. New York slips from second place down to sixth place. Hong Kong is ranked 9th while Beijing and Shanghai 19th and 21st respectively.
Paris is tied in first place with New York for its quality of life. It thus returns to the head of the podium after falling to seventh Position in 2014.
It also stands as a venue with facilities for both leisure tourists and business. It does however lose its leading place for its intellectual capital and innovation. It is only third.
But too expensive …
It remains primarily driven by its educational system and its universities, but is held back by its “entrepreneurial environment” .
“France in general and Paris in particular, has a capacity for innovation that is clear, but we must achieve our entrepreneurs and transform researchers” said Mr Goffi.
Paris is also hampered by the lack of attractiveness of its business environment. It continues to lose instead, from the 2nd position in 2012 to 4th in 2014, to finish at last in 2016.
It is in particular of the pack to the criteria of GDP growth (25th) and employment growth (28th).
No degradation
“There has been enormous damage, I would say that it is the other cities that have been most successful” , said the expert.
Another black spot, it appears in fourth place of the most expensive cities, both for businesses and households, although the high cost of Parisian life is offset by high salaries.
“The consistent performance of classification allows Paris to be calm for the rest” , says Goffi.
