Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai feature in global 'inclusive prosperity' index

Three Indian cities - Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai - have been named in a list that ranked 113 cities across the globe in terms of inclusive prosperity, measuring not only the quantity of economic growth but also its distribution across their population.

The three cities appeared in the lower half of the index, with Bengaluru ranking 83rd, while Delhi and Mumbai stood at 101st and 107th positions, respectively on the list that ranked 113 cities across the globe in terms of their inclusive prosperity.

The Prosperity & Inclusion City Seal and Awards (PICSA) Index, commissioned by Basque institutions and compiled by D&L Partners, was topped by Zurich, followed by Vienna and Copenhagen in the second and third place, respectively.

Others in the top 10 include, Luxembourg (4th), Helsinki (5th), Taipei (6th), Oslo (7th), Ottawa (8th), Kiel (9th) and Geneva (10th).

The report further said that many of the world's wealthiest cities are failing to create inclusive economies for their citizens.

Signalling that conventional measures of prosperity have become poor barometers in judging economic success, the world's top 10 richest cities have not scored well for inclusive prosperity. London is the highest, at 33rd place, while New York City comes in at 38th, it noted.

Mumbai also features in the list of top 10 richest cities in the World 2019, according to Forbes.

The report further noted that "a large number of cities in Africa, Asia and South America are ranked towards the bottom of the index, underscoring the huge poverty and inequality challenges they face".

"As the first ever non-commercial ranking index, PICSA provides a new measure of economic productivity that goes beyond GDP to provide a holistic account of how well people are doing in the economy and which have the populations that are most empowered to contribute to its economy and share in its benefits," said Asier Alea Castaos, Director of Strategic Programmes, Regional Council of Biscay.

The top 10 cities in emerging markets are St Petersburg (50th), Bucharest (53th), Moscow (59th), Zagreb (69th), Sofia (72nd), Montevideo (76th), Buenos Aires (78th), Istanbul (79th), Belgrade (80th) and Bangkok (81st).

"Inclusive prosperity should be the backbone of cities' strategies for a sustainable future. Without equity and inclusion, economic growth is not sustainable. Without growth, equity is about redistributing poverty," said Bruno Lanvin, Founder and CEO at D&L Partners.