Beijing beats Shanghai as top global city

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http://news.europawire.eu/beijing-b...x-76543214657890/eu-press-release/2016/12/14/

Beijing beats Shanghai as the top global city in the second publication of the Schroders Global Cities 30 index

Posted on 14, December 2016 by EuropaWire PR Editors | This entry was posted in Business, Investment, Management, Real Estate, United Kingdom and tagged Beijing, Hugo Machin, Schroder Real Estate, Schroders Global Cities 30 index, Schroders plc, Shanghai, top global city. Bookmark the permalink.


LONDON, 14-Dec-2016 — /EuropaWire/ — Beijing has been named as the top global city in the second publication of the Schroders Global Cities 30 index, putting it ahead of Shanghai which took the top spot in August.

China’s mega-cities dominated the latest index taking four of the top five places. China’s capital city Beijing jumped from fourth place to first, whilst Shanghai, China’s most populous city with 22 million residents, fell from first place to second. Shenzhen, which links Hong Kong to China’s mainland jumped from sixth place to third, whilst Tianjin, China’s third largest city fell from third to fourth place.

North America also featured heavily in the index taking 17 of the 30 places. New York, which was ranked second in August’s publication, took fifth place in the latest index just ahead of Los Angeles (6), Dallas (7), Houston (9), Chicago (10) and Washington (11).

The Schroders Global Cities 30 index assesses and ranks the growth and future prospects of 161 global cities and was first published in August 2016.

London was the top ranked European city climbing two places to 8 in the latest index, Paris (12) and Madrid (28) are the only two other European cities in the index.

The Schroders Global Cities 30 index is compiled on a range of factors, including the projected growth of the economy and disposable incomes over the next decade and the size of the working population.

The top ranked cities share common factors such as top universities, excellent infrastructure and pools of high-skilled workers. They also tend to be economically diverse and are highly attractive places to live due to diverse cultural and leisure activities.

The data informing the index constantly changes as it is updated with fresh information, new forecasts and new data sets.

Hugo Machin, co-Head of Global Real Estate Securities, said:

“Chinese cities continue to grow at a rapid rate as the country industrialises. GDP and retail sales are growing quickly. The only one of the five factors that holds these cities back is disposable income but the rate of growth there is strong even if the absolute number is below peers. We expect these Chinese cities to become increasingly important and play a larger part in our investment universe in the coming years.

“New York saw a small fall from second place to fifth, this is not due to a downgrade of New York but more an upgrade in the growth of Chinese cities. Cities like Dallas continue to attract investment due to temperate climate, international airports, land to build and expand and tax incentives.

“London has seen a small increase in the index. It still remains one of our favourite cities due to its highly skilled workforce, large tourist demand and cultural appeal and we believe it will continue to thrive.”

Machin co-manages the Schroder Global Cities Real Estate fund with Tom Walker. Their aim is to invest in stocks that should benefit from strong demand for commercial property in the world’s most highly-ranked global cities. They seek to invest in cities with restrictions to sprawl, be it geographical limits or planning rules, such as London’s green-belt.

The global cities team has recently launched the Global Cities blog which acts as a resource on the longer term trends impacting global real estate. For further reading please visit the blog or follow us on Twitter: @GlobalCities

Top 30 Global Cities
Location Country Ranking
Beijing China 1
Shanghai China 2
Shenzhen China 3
Tianjin China 4
New York United States 5
Los Angeles United States 6
Dallas United States 7
London United Kingdom 8
Houston United States 9
Chicago United States 10
Washington United States 11
Paris France 12
Atlanta United States 13
Sydney Australia 14
Melbourne Australia 15
Tokyo Japan 16
Miami United States 17
Toronto Canada 18
Philadelphia United States 19
San Francisco United States 20
Singapore Singapore 21
Hong Kong Hong Kong 22
Phoenix United States 23
Boston United States 24
Seattle United States 25
Nagoya Japan 26
Minneapolis United States 27
Madrid Spain 28
San Diego United States 29
Denver United States 30

Source: Schroders and Oxford Economics, as at November 2016

Beijing definitely deserves that #1 spot. In Beijing, the public transport buses and subway trains have free Wi-Fi fast enough to stream HD videos to 50-150 ppl simultaneously. Makes most North American cities look backward by comparison.

Compared to a so-called high-tech city like Tokyo (but only by perception thru anime and such not in actual real life), public Wi-Fi is virtually unheard of in Japan. The few coffee shops that do have them are scattered and difficult to find.

Also can't remember if in Beijing or Shanghai that hosts the fastest maglev train in the world...

 

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https://www.afp.com/en/news/2265/japan-aborts-mini-rocket-mission-shortly-after-liftoff

Japan aborts mini-rocket mission shortly after liftoff

Jiji Press/AFP / Jiji Press The world's smallest rocket SS-520 carrying a mini satellite for observation of the Earth's surface is launched from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Uchinoura Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, on January 15, 2017

Japan's space agency Sunday aborted a mission to use a mini-rocket to send a satellite into orbit after the spacecraft stopped sending data to ground control shortly after liftoff.

The SS-520 rocket, which stands around the size of a power pole, lifted off at 8:33 am (2333 GMT) into a clear sky at the Uchinoura Space Centre in southern Kagoshima Prefecture.

The rocket, regarded as one of the smallest units in the world capable of sending satellites into the space, was carrying the three-kilogramme (6.6 pound) "TRICOM-1" observation satellite.

But officials aborted the mission within minutes of takeoff after the space agency stopped receiving data from the rocket after the launch.

Local media said data stopped arriving 20 seconds after liftoff.

"The first stage of the rocket's flight went as planned. However, we were unable to receive [data] from the unit as it continued the flight," the agency said in a statement.

The rocket later fell back to earth, landing within a designated safety area in waters off the coast of southeast Japan, according to officials.

The country's space agency is expected to provide a more detailed debrief about the nature of the mishap as more information becomes available.

Not the first time something went wrong in space adventurism for Japan. They lost contact with a 100 million plus USD satellite (or was it some kind of space telescope) just one week after putting it into space recently if memory serves me correctly.

Ppl often confuse anime & cheap consumer electronics for level of technological advancement of a certain country on the Ring of Fire. I myself had been under such delusions once upon a time myself...