New York in top place of innovative global cities

NEW York took first place in a list of the world’s most innovative cities yesterday, with the United States performing strongly for its embrace of smart technology and startups.

Tokyo — last year’s winner — and London took second and third places in the Innovation Cities Index, with the US cities of Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston also making the top 10.

“What really surprised us this year was a United States bounce-back at the top of the league,” said Christopher Hire, director of commercial data provider 2thinknow, which publishes the annual ranking of 500 cities.

Chicago entered the top five for the first time since the poll began in 2007, due to a burgeoning number of startups and top-ranked universities, the index found.

One of the big losers was the San Francisco Bay — home of the Silicon Valley headquarters of tech giants like Apple, Facebook and Google — which fell six places to ninth spot due to “tech controversies, homelessness and privacy issues.”

All three firms have pledged billions to ease California’s housing crisis, as fast-growing tech companies have drawn protests from Northern California residents who blame them for rising housing costs.

In the run-up to the 2020 US presidential election, Big Tech companies are being challenged across the political spectrum, from privacy concerns to their policies on political ads and ensuring election security.

The index looked at more than 100 indicators including transport, infrastructure, privacy, green architecture, property prices, startup office spaces and Internet users. Several Chinese cities made gains, including Beijing (26) and Shanghai (33).

(Reuters)