BENGALURU: The tech city Bengaluru, with its booming business environment, has emerged as the highest-ranked city in India, leaving behind metros like Delhi and Mumbai, in the first-ever Prosperity & Inclusion City Seal and Awards (PICSA) Index. The city has been ranked 83 in the index of the world’s 113 cities in terms of economic and social inclusivity. The findings were released in the Basque Country capital of Bilbao in Northern Spain.
The rankings showcase not only the quantity of economic growth of a city, but also its quality and distribution across the population. In India, after Bengaluru, Delhi is ranked 101 and Mumbai is a distant 107. The top 20 cities were awarded a PICSA seal as the world’s highest-ranked cities building inclusive prosperity.
The world’s major cities were ranked not just by the size and health of their economies, but also for their efforts to build inclusive and prosperous environments for all its citizens. Zurich, the capital of Switzerland, has topped the list.
Bengaluru topping the rankings in the country and figuring within 100 cities across the world has come as a welcome surprise to many. Urban planner V Ravichander said, “It is a sign that the economic engine of Bengaluru is good. The city has a large number of start-ups and is a tech city. This ranking is despite the many infrastructure and governmental constraints. The ranking can be improved if the productivity losses are ascertained. At present, a lot of productive time is lost, which the challenge to be addressed.”
Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said, “The fact the we have stood in the top 100 is a great achievement and shows our potential. We can easily improve upon this. Now what we need to improve is the infrastructure and mobility. Once we do that, we could even jump to under-25 rankings.”
While raising many concerns, theatre personality Prakash Belawadi said, “To say something for the city to celebrate is very difficult. But the truth is the problems of Bengaluru can be fixed. This ranking is welcome. Bengaluru to be recognised as a better city to live in, compared to Delhi where pollution is a major problem, and Mumbai where there are slums, is a driving factor. It is also for the people to be more
responsive now.”
Meanwhile, speaking at the launch of the PICSA Index, Asier Alea Castanos, Director of Strategic Programmes at the Regional Council of Biscay, said, “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. There is increasing recognition in governments and also the private sector that success needs to be judged in new ways: factors like health, housing affordability and quality of life need to be put alongside jobs, skills and incomes when measuring prosperity.”
How The Cities Fare
Bengaluru is India’s highest-ranked city at No. 83 in the Prosperity & Inclusion City Seal and Awards (PICSA) Index
Delhi at 101 and Mumbai at 107 are the other Indian cities on the index
Taipei, which is the only Asian city to make it to the top 20, is at sixth place