Dubai:   Move over New York , Zurich or Tokyo. London is the most powerful city in the world, according to a new survey.

The Mori Memorial Foundation’s Institute for Urban Strategies released on Wednesday the results of its latest Global Power City Index (GPCI) 2015 report, which rates 40 global metropolises according to their desirability or power to attract human capital and businesses from around the world.

The cities representing Europe, Africa, Asia, North America and Latin America were assessed according to six key strengths : economy, research and development, cultural interaction, livability, environment and accessibility.

London, which has held the top spot every year since hosting the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, emerged as the overall winner for 2015, followed by New York, Paris, Tokyo and Singapore in the top five. Completing the top ten list are Seoul, Hong Kong, Berlin, Amsterdam and Vienna.

London took the top spot for cultural interaction and did consistently well in most of the other key indicators, ranking second in economy, third in research and development, and second in accessibility. The city, however, needs to improve its livability, taking only the 19th spot in the same category.

Dubai, however, was not included in the list because it failed to meet certain criteria.

Economy

In the economy category, which took into account gross domestic product, wage level, total employment, corporate tax rate and total market value of shares on stock exchanges, among others,  Tokyo topped the list, making it the most economically powerful city in the world.

Research and development

In terms of research and development, New York is a clear powerhouse to reckon with, followed by Tokyo, London, Los Angeles and Paris.

 Livability and environment

For livability, Paris emerged as the clear winner, followed by Berlin, Vancouver, Vienna and Barcelona, while Geneva emerged as the winner in terms of environment, followed by Frankfurt, Stockholm, Zurich and Vienna.

Accessibility and cultural interaction

In terms of accessibility, Paris earned the highest score, followed by London, Amsterdam, Singapore and Hong Kong.

For cultural interaction, cities like New York (ranked second), Paris (third), Singapore (fourth) and Tokyo (fifth) also earned higher scores compared to most global cities.

Explaining why some cities were not included in the survey, a spokesperson said the GPCI report mainly targets cities that match at least one of the following criteria:

It must be found in the top ten of existing, influential city rankings, such as the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI, Z/Yen Group), Global Cities Index (GCI, A.T. Kearney), and Cities of Opportunity (Pricewaterhouse Coopers).

It must be a major city of country that is in the top ten in terms of competition according to influential international competitiveness　rankings, such as the Global Competitiveness Report (World Economic Forum) and IMD Competitiveness Ranking (Institute for Management Development).

It must be deemed appropriate for inclusion by the GPCI Committee or its Working Group members

Some cities were able to meet one or more of the mentioned criteria but were not evaluated in the GPCI because the necessary data were not available.

Top 20 Global Power City Index winners:

1. London

2. New York

3. Paris

4. Tokyo

5. Singapore

6. Seoul

7. Hong Kong

8. Berlin

9. Amsterdam

10. Vienna

11. Frankfurt

12. Sydney

13. Zurich

14. Los Angeles

15. Stockholm

16. Toronto

17. Shanghai

18. Beijing

19. Copenhagen

20. Vancouver