Singapore retains its lead in the transportation and infrastructure indicator in the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) study on global cities, which helped it edge into third position overall behind London and New York.
“The city-state climbs four spots to third place and also finishes first in the two areas it is well-known for – transportation and infrastructure and ease of doing business,” Bob Moritz, US chairman and senior Partner at PwC, said in the Cities of Opportunity report that was released this week.
The study was initiated in 2007 to help the world’s great cities understand what policies and approaches work best for people and economies in a rapidly urbanising world.
Singapore ranked seventh in the previous edition of the report released in 2012.
Transportation and infrastructure, in particular, was highlighted in the report. PwC found strong performances in the housing and public transport systems variables helped the city-state widen its lead on second-placed Toronto.
“Singapore clearly understands the fundamental role of infrastructure in a city’s development and in its contribution to the well-being of its citizens,” the report stated.
The latest edition of the report has expanded from 27 cities to 30, and based its findings on data collection with real-life responses to a series of questions relating to urban life. It also included publicly available information from institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and commercial data providers, which was mostly culled from data collected during the latter half of 2013.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 23 May 2014