No Bangladeshi city in top 500 of Oxford Economics' global city rankings
Eight Bangladeshi cities were assessed in the index released on Tuesday (21 May). Dhaka, the highest-ranked Bangladeshi city, came in at 540th position, thanks to its economic vitality, and educational and business climates.
None of the Bangladeshi cities could make it to the top 500 in the Oxford Economics Global Cities Index 2024, which evaluated the world's 1,000 largest urban economies based on factors ranging from economic output to quality of life.
Eight Bangladeshi cities were assessed in the index released on Tuesday (21 May). Dhaka, the highest-ranked Bangladeshi city, came in at 540th position, thanks to its economic vitality, and educational and business climates.
The remaining cities ranked much lower, falling within the bottom 200 cities. Chattogram came second at 823rd, followed by Sylhet (834th), Mymensingh (868th), Khulna (872nd), Rajshahi (875th), Cumilla (939th) and Bogura (953rd).
Metropolitan areas of 163 countries were represented in the index's 1,000 global cities. The scores were calculated based on 27 indicators across five categories: Economics, Human Capital, Quality of Life, Environment, and Governance, which are aggregated to create an overall score for each city.
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In the "Economics" category, which contained indicators that measure the economic size, structure, and growth for each city, Dhaka led significantly among the Bangladeshi cities, ranking 309th. Chattogram and Mymensingh followed.
Economic vitality is a fundamental aspect of urban development, driving a city's wealth generation, employment opportunities, access to goods and services and much more, allowing the assessment of a city's potential for sustained growth and development.
In the "Human Capital" category, which contained indicators that measure the educational and business climates of each city in conjunction with demographic trends, Dhaka ranked first again at 170th among the Bangladeshi cities, followed by Khulna and Rajshahi.
Meanwhile, Rajshahi led the "Quality of Life" category at 770th, with Sylhet following closely at 788th. Dhaka, however, ranked 794th in this category. The category contained indicators that measure the benefits of living in each city and residents' wellbeing, covering financial and health outcomes, as well as access to amenities.
In the "Environment" category where indicators measured the natural environment of each city on climate change-related issues, Sylhet came on top among the Bangladeshi cities, ranking 704th globally, followed by Chattogram ranking 740th. Dhaka performed way worse, ranking 890th.
Scores in the "Governance" category were calculated at the national level rather than the city level, meaning that every city in a given country is given the same score for a given indicator. Therefore, all eight cities of Bangladesh featured in the list received a rank of 887th in the "Governance" category.
In 2023, the 1,000 largest cities in the world accounted for 60% of global GDP and over 30% of the world's population.
The top 5 cities in the index were New York (US), London (UK), San Jose (US), Tokyo (Japan) and Paris (France).
In South Asia, seven out of 10 cities were from India, with Delhi being the highest ranked city in the region, ranking 350th.
It is followed by Bengaluru (411th), Mumbai (427th), Colombo (449th), and Chennai (472nd). Dhaka came tenth in the region.
Meanwhile, the bottom five cities were Sultanpur (Uttar Pradesh, India), Sokoto (Nigeria), Hardoi (India), Zaria (Nigeria), and Port-Au-Prince (Haiti).
