Top 100 world cities for an innovation economy in 2011.
The world’s largest city classification and ranking with 331 benchmark cities classified, and top 125 cities ranked in 2011, of which the top 100 are listed below. Based on 2thinknow analysis of cities in what our analysts term the ‘global innovation economy’. Annual since 2007.
2011-INDEXES > TOP 100 | AMERICAS | EUROPE | ASIA | EMERGING | GLOBAL | ALL YEARS
View current Media Release + Read the 2011 FAQ
| GLOBAL RANK | CITY | STATE | COUNTRY | CLASSIFICATION | BAND SCORE |
| 1 | Boston | Massachusetts | United States | 1 NEXUS | 29 |
| 2 | San Francisco Bay Area | California | United States | 1 NEXUS | 29 |
| 3 | Paris | France | 1 NEXUS | 29 | |
| 4 | New York | New York | United States | 1 NEXUS | 29 |
| 5 | Vienna | Austria | 1 NEXUS | 28 | |
| 6 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | 1 NEXUS | 28 | |
| 7 | Munich | Germany | 1 NEXUS | 28 | |
| 8 | Lyon | France | 1 NEXUS | 27 | |
| 9 | Copenhagen | Denmark | 1 NEXUS | 27 | |
| 10 | Toronto | Canada | 1 NEXUS | 27 | |
| 11 | London | United Kingdom | 1 NEXUS | 27 | |
| 12 | Frankfurt | Germany | 1 NEXUS | 27 | |
| 13 | Hamburg | Germany | 1 NEXUS | 27 | |
| 14 | Berlin | Germany | 1 NEXUS | 26 | |
| 15 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong | Hong Kong | 1 NEXUS | 26 |
| 16 | Milan | Italy | 1 NEXUS | 26 | |
| 17 | Melbourne | VIC | Australia | 1 NEXUS | 26 |
| 18 | Stuttgart | Germany | 1 NEXUS | 26 | |
| 19 | Barcelona | Spain | 1 NEXUS | 25 | |
| 20 | Sydney | NSW | Australia | 1 NEXUS | 25 |
| 21 | Stockholm | Sweden | 1 NEXUS | 25 | |
| 22 | Tokyo | Tokyo | Japan | 1 NEXUS | 25 |
| 23 | Rome | Italy | 1 NEXUS | 25 | |
| 24 | Shanghai | Shanghai | China | 1 NEXUS | 25 |
| 25 | Seattle | Washington | United States | 1 NEXUS | 25 |
| 26 | Singapore | Singapore | 1 NEXUS | 25 | |
| 27 | Strasbourg | France | 1 NEXUS | 25 | |
| 28 | Seoul | Korea, South | 1 NEXUS | 25 | |
| 29 | Los Angeles | California | United States | 1 NEXUS | 25 |
| 30 | Kyoto | Kyoto | Japan | 1 NEXUS | 25 |
| 31 | Montréal | Canada | 1 NEXUS | 25 | |
| 32 | Manchester | United Kingdom | 1 NEXUS | 25 | |
| 33 | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | United States | 1 NEXUS | 25 |
| 34 | Chicago | Illinois | United States | 2 HUB | 25 |
| 35 | Washington DC | District of Columbia | United States | 2 HUB | 25 |
| 36 | Düsseldorf | Germany | 2 HUB | 25 | |
| 37 | Nantes | France | 2 HUB | 24 | |
| 38 | Brussels | Belgium | 2 HUB | 24 | |
| 39 | Marseille | France | 2 HUB | 24 | |
| 40 | Oslo | Norway | 2 HUB | 24 | |
| 41 | Bordeaux | France | 2 HUB | 24 | |
| 42 | Helsinki | Finland | 2 HUB | 24 | |
| 43 | Prague | Czech Republic | 2 HUB | 24 | |
| 44 | Toulouse | France | 2 HUB | 24 | |
| 45 | Cologne | Germany | 2 HUB | 24 | |
| 46 | Tel Aviv | Israel | 2 HUB | 24 | |
| 47 | Budapest | Hungary | 2 HUB | 24 | |
| 48 | Osaka | Osaka | Japan | 2 HUB | 24 |
| 49 | Vancouver | Canada | 2 HUB | 24 | |
| 50 | Leipzig | Germany | 2 HUB | 24 | |
| 51 | Austin | Texas | United States | 2 HUB | 24 |
| 52 | Madrid | Spain | 2 HUB | 24 | |
| 53 | Beijing | Beijing | China | 2 HUB | 24 |
| 54 | Denver | Colorado | United States | 2 HUB | 24 |
| 55 | Minneapolis-St Paul | Minnesota | United States | 2 HUB | 24 |
| 56 | Orlando | Florida | United States | 2 HUB | 24 |
| 57 | Hannover | Germany | 2 HUB | 24 | |
| 58 | Dresden | Germany | 2 HUB | 24 | |
| 59 | Abu Dhabi | United Arab Emirates | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 60 | Portland | Oregon | United States | 2 HUB | 23 |
| 61 | Wellington | New Zealand | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 62 | The Hague | Netherlands | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 63 | Montpellier | France | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 64 | Karlsruhe | Germany | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 65 | Edinburgh | United Kingdom | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 66 | Fukuoka | Fukoaka | Japan | 2 HUB | 23 |
| 67 | Kuala Lumpur | Malaysia | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 68 | Aachen | Germany | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 69 | Geneva | Switzerland | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 70 | Auckland | New Zealand | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 71 | Zürich | Switzerland | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 72 | Ann Arbor | Michigan | United States | 2 HUB | 23 |
| 73 | Raleigh-Durham | North Carolina | United States | 2 HUB | 23 |
| 74 | Glasgow | United Kingdom | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 75 | Nuremberg | Germany | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 76 | Dallas-Fort Worth | Texas | United States | 2 HUB | 23 |
| 77 | Essen | Germany | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 78 | Rotterdam | Netherlands | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 79 | Québec | Canada | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 80 | Torino | Italy | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 81 | Calgary | Alberta | Canada | 2 HUB | 23 |
| 82 | Bilbao | Spain | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 83 | Dortmund | Germany | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 84 | Antwerp | Belgium | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 85 | Kobe | Hyogo | Japan | 2 HUB | 23 |
| 86 | Linz | Austria | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 87 | Houston | Texas | United States | 2 HUB | 23 |
| 88 | Bonn | Germany | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 89 | Istanbul | Turkey | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 90 | Venice | Italy | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 91 | Dubai | United Arab Emirates | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 92 | Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania | United States | 2 HUB | 23 |
| 93 | Shenzhen | Guangdong | China | 2 HUB | 23 |
| 94 | Jacksonville | Florida | United States | 2 HUB | 23 |
| 95 | Baltimore | Maryland | United States | 2 HUB | 23 |
| 96 | Reims | France | 2 HUB | 23 | |
| 97 | Atlanta | Georgia | United States | 2 HUB | 23 |
| 98 | Tallahassee | Florida | United States | 2 HUB | 23 |
| 99 | San Diego | California | United States | 2 HUB | 23 |
| 100 | Taipei | Taiwan, Province of China | 2 HUB | 23 |
Key to index.
All cities are graded into award categories based on their index score. In descending order of importance to the innovation economy:
NEXUS: Critical nexus for multiple economic and social innovation segments
HUB: Dominance or influence on key economic and social innovation segments , based on global trends
NODE: Broad performance across many innovation segments, with key imbalances
INFLUENCER: Competitive in some segments, potential or imbalanced
UPSTART: Potential steps towards relative future performance in a few innovation segments
Regions are defined as follows:
AMERICAS: North and South America
EUROPE: The U.N. defined Europe with European union, Western Russia, Israel and major Turkish cities
ASIA: Asia and Oceania (Australia/NZ)
EMERGING: Mid-East, Africa, Turkey and Caucasus states
Full details
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Methodology in brief:
The Index is the most comprehensive city ranking and scoring. Each city was selected from 1,540 cities based on basic factors of health, wealth, population, geography. The selected 331 cities had data extracted the city benchmarking data program on 162 indicators. Each of the benchmarking data were scored by analysts using best available qualitative analysis and quantitative statistics (see City Benchmarking Data to purchase city data). Where data was unavailable, national or state estimates were used.
Data was then trend balanced against 21 global trends, by analysts.For the final index had a zeitgeist (analyst confidence) factor added, and score reduced to a 3 factor score for Cultural Assets, Human Infrastructure and Networked Markets. For city Classification, these scores were competitively graded into 5 bands (Nexus, Hub, Node, Influencer, Upstart)
The top 33% of Nexus and Hub ( and selected Node cities of future interest) final graded scores were ranked by analysts based on trends over 2-5 years. From this global Index, 4 regional indexes for Americas, Europe, Asia and Emerging are also produced.
Please note the full list above is classified (Node, Influencer, Upstart) not ranked except wher a rank is noted. Rankings are just for general information. A node ranking is considered globally competitive. More discussion and questions answered in this FAQ.
For more details on methodology, please see the FAQ or order the Innovation Cities Analysis Report.
Reproduction of this list:
The indexes and supporting materials are copyright and used under license by 2thinknow. You may reproduce the statistics and indexes in any reasonable form, graphics, or data mash-up as long as you attribute it to 2thinknow and do not modify the numbers or otherwise mislead. The easy correct way to do this is as follows:
Source: 2thinknow Innovation Cities™ Program: www.innovation-cities.com [or the link of the page you are referencing]
2thinknow do reserve all rights, including the right to ask content to be removed.
About 2thinknow Innovation Cities™ Program:
Based in Melbourne Australia, 2thinknow are the world’s first innovation agency. Established 2006 we have designed original models to measure and deliver innovation to cities, business seeking new markets and growth, and NGO/government clients.
2thinknow Innovation Cities Program to provide powerful tools for creating an innovation economy. This includes the city benchmarking data details on cities by segment globally, recently launched local innovation forum events, analyst reports such as the flagship Innovation Cities™ Analysis Report
In 2011, in the Innovation Course, we are teaching our clients new innovation methods and practices. 2thinknow work with other clients through innovation consulting, analyst reports, projects and innovation services, as well as a number of online resources and groups.
Since 2009, 2thinknow as world’s first innovation agency have classified cities for broad-based innovation. 2thinknow have published the Innovation Cities Indexes city rankings free online since 2007, when they started with a very small 22 cities.
This is now 331 cities in the 2011 year, and is the world’s largest and most diverse city ranking.
Contact 2thinknow here: http://www.innovation-cities.com/wp-content/uploads/Form-Innovation-Cities-2012-02.html/ or via twitter @2thinknow
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