The eighth edition of the Cities in Motion Index by Spain-based University of Navarra’s IESE Business School ranked Manila 176th out of 183 cities, putting it last among East and Southeast Asian cities included in the list.
The country’s capital city scored with a CIMI value of 20.87 out of a possible 100 in the index that ranks countries in terms of their positions in sustainability, fairness and livability – key factors for weathering climate-related and economic shocks.
IESE’s Cities in Motion Index ranks cities according to how they score on nine key dimensions: human capital, social cohesion, economy, governance, environment, mobility and transportation, urban planning, international profile and technology.
This year’s report also increased the number of indicators, including measures of LGBTQ+ friendly policies and racial tolerance under the human capital dimension, artificial intelligence projects and electric vehicle charging (urban planning), and climate vulnerability (environment). The new variables are intended to capture new advances and challenges as they emerge.
The top three in the list are London, New York and Paris, respectively. The Asian cities in the top ten are Tokyo (4th) and Singapore (7th). Unfortunately for the Philippines, Manila is among the laggards in the list, sitting squarely inside the bottom ten.
Philippine cities obviously have a long way to go before they can be considered by the rest of the world as competitively “smart”. For this to happen, our leaders will have to set iron clad long term goals, avoiding the short-termism that plagues our cities’ leadership and vision.
Efficiency and innovation, along with communication to engage both citizens and businesses in community projects will be critical for Filipino cities, not only limited to those in the National Capital Region, to go beyond the slogans that voice aspirations to become “smart”, so such dreams that could benefit everyone living in those cities can turn into reality.*
