01-05-2007

The top ten North American ‘major cities of the future’ are: 

The research was carried out by fDi (foreign Direct investment), a magazine owned by the London-based Financial Times. The judges looked at 108 cities, which they divided into four categories:

The research took the following criteria into account: 

Chicago ranked as the US ‘city of the future’ in 2005 and the city has developed a massive lead ahead of its nearest competitors in the past two years thanks to high levels of public and private investment and consistently strong economic indicators.

Meanwhile, Toronto’s good affordable housing, low crime levels, strong health and education sectors and falling unemployment helped push the city into the runner’s up position. Toronto has a strong and innovative environmental programme and the city topped the shortlist with the best quality of life of any major city.

Guadalajara in the Mexican state of Jalisco was the highest-ranking major Mexican city. Guadalajara had the second strongest economic potential of any major North American city and only Chicago scored more highly for sheer economic potential. Guadalajara’s youthful population, low unemployment and large number of recent foreign investment deals are good indicators that Mexico’s second largest city has a bright future.

Windsor, Ontario, ranks as North America’s leading 'small city of the future', scoring well for business-friendly policies and a strong development programme that includes several large-scale projects involving public and private investment.