By Elton Gomes
A total of 17 of the 20 fastest growing cities in the world between 2019 and 2035 will be Indian, an Oxford Economics report has said. The report said that Surat will top the list.
Surat, a diamond processing and trading center in the western state of Gujarat, will witness the fastest growth expansion through 2035, averaging more than 9 percent, Richard Holt, Oxfords head of global cities research, wrote in the report. All of the 10 fastest cities over that period will be in India.
While economic output in many of those Indian cities will remain rather small in comparison to the worlds biggest metropolises, the aggregated gross domestic product of all Asian cities will exceed that of all North American and European urban centers combined in 2027.
Releasing its annual Global Cities research report, Oxford Economics said that by 2035, Chinese cities alone will generate more output than all cities in either North America or Europe. The study added that New York will continue to be the largest urban economy in the world in 2035.
The top 10 cities to make up to the fastest growing cities globally include Surat with an average annual growth rate of 9.17%. Surat was followed by Agra (8.58%), Bengaluru (8.5%), Hyderabad (8.47%), Nagpur (8.41%), Tirupur (8.36%), Rajkot (8.33%), Tiruchirappalli (8.29%), Chennai (8.17%), and Vijayawada (8.16%).
In terms of GDP in 2035, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi figure in the top 10 positions with projected GDP growth at 8.5 percent, 6.6 percent, and 6.5 percent, respectively. According to the report, Bengaluru, which is known as Indias technology hub, will grow rapidly. Hence, it tops the list of worlds top 10 cities in 2035 in terms of GDP growth.
Big metropolitan cities such as New York, Tokyo, and London will defend their spots as major urban economies. The report noted that Shanghai and Beijing have surpassed Paris and Chicago. Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Southern China also managed to make it to the top 10, crowding out Hong Kong, the report said.
Mumbai 12th richest city in the world
In the past few years, Indias cities have witnessed tremendous growth. In February 2018, with a total wealth of $950 billion, Indias financial capital Mumbai overtook Toronto, Frankfurt, and Paris to occupy the 12th position in New World Wealths list of top 15 wealthiest cities globally.
Additionally, Mumbai is home to 28 billionaires and features among the top 10 cities in terms of billionaire population, the report mentioned. Among the 15 cities listed, San Francisco, Beijing, Shanghai, Mumbai, and Sydney were the fastest growing in terms of wealth growth over the past 10 years, the report said.
Bengaluru is worlds most dynamic city
Another major city that is recording significant growth is Bengaluru. In January 2017, Bengaluru was ranked the worlds most dynamic city on an index that captures a city’s economic changes and its ability to sustain it. Hyderabad also made it to the Top 10, ahead of London, while Chennai and Pune made it to the Top 20. Environmental factors caused Delhi and Mumbai to slip to 23rd and 25th spots, respectively.
The real estate services firm JLL’s annual City Momentum Index (CMI) ranks cities across the world by the speed of change of the city’s economic and real estate market and the city’s potential to sustain this dynamism.
The index aims to “identify change and highlight which cities or metropolitan areas may be best at positioning themselves to compete in today’s ever-changing economic landscape,” Jeremy Kelly, research director at JLL, wrote in a blog post for the World Economic Forum.
Elton Gomes is a staff writer at Qrius