Cebu City Skyline | Stock Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — A study from experts in Oxford in the United Kingdom ranked Cebu as the 436th Best City to Live in 2024.
The Oxford Economics, an independent global advisory firm, recently unveiled the results of its annual Oxford Economics Global Cities Index 2024.
The Oxford Economics Global Cities Index is a ranking system that evaluates the world’s 1,000 largest urban economies in terms of the following categories: economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance.
The index is also considered a valuable tool for business leaders, policymakers and academics not only to gauge a city’s performance but also in coming up with informed decisions.
“The Global Cities Index scores cities based on how they are performing today,” the report stated.
For 2024, they ranked Cebu City 436th in the list of 1,000 cities, next to Changwon in South Korea, the capital and largest city in Gyeongsangnam-do province.
A total of eight cities in the Philippines were included in the list, including the country’s capital Manila which ranked 256th.
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The Queen City of the South ranked fairly when it comes to economics, landing at 379th. However, it belonged in the bottom half of the list in the Quality of Life, at the 683rd spot.
In the study, Quality of Life covers life expectancy, housing expenditure, income per person, recreation and cultural sites, income equality, and internet speed.
“Evaluating quality of life metrics in the index underscores the importance of urban policies that not only prioritize economic prosperity but also health, equality, and cultural vibrancy, enhancing residents’ overall wellbeing,” it added.
Surprisingly, the city ranked high in the Environment Category, which evaluates a city’s commitment to environmental sustainability and its predisposition to climate change risks, earning the 24th spot.
This despite continued deforestation and unregulated development in its upland portions that prompted city planners to sound the alarm.
In the same category, Bacolod City, the capital of Negros Occidental, belonged in the list of top 20 cities, at the 12th spot. Manila landed on the 238th spot.
In terms of Human Capital, the category that measures the city’s population knowledge and skills, Cebu City ranked 502nd out of 1,000 cities worldwide.
Meanwhile, for the Governance category, experts at Oxford Economics disclosed that the method in assessing a city’s governance also factored in the performance of the national government.
This means all cities in a certain country in the list have the same score. For Philippine cities, each ranked 614th in the Governance category.
Top 10 cities
Experts from Oxford Economics ranked New York City in the United States in the top spot. It was followed by London of the United Kingdom, ranking second.
San Jose, another city in the United States, rounded up the top three.
Tokyo, Japan’s capital, is the only Asian city that made it to the top 10 list, landing on the 4th spot. The others were Paris, France (5th), Seattle, U.S. (6th), Los Angeles, U.S. (7th), San Francisco, U.S. (8th), Melbourne, Australia (9th) and Zurich, Switzerland (10th).
Singapore, one of Asia’s tiger economies, ranked 42nd in the list, next to Seoul, South Korea’s capital.