Most powerful cities in the world

World's top 100 metros generate roughly half of the globe's total economic output, according Martin Prosperity Institute estimates, says The Atlantic.

The top 20 produce nearly 30 per cent and the top 10 accounts for more than a fifth of global economic production. More than 80 per cent of US economic output comes from its cities and metros areas, compared to roughly two-thirds in Europe, it says.

Let's take a look at most powerful cities in the world.

NOTE: Courtesy, The Atlantic

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New York City

Global rank: 1

New York City's financial district, anchored by Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, functions as the financial capital of the world and is home to the New York Stock Exchange, the world's largest stock exchange by total market capitalisation of its listed companies.

Manhattan's real estate market is among the most expensive in the world.

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London

Global rank: 2

London is a leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transport all contributing to its prominence.

It is the world's leading financial centre alongside New York City and has the fifth-largest city GDP in the world (and the largest in Europe).

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Tokyo

Global rank: 3

Tokyo has been described as one of the three "command centres" for the world economy, along with New York City and London.

The city is considered an alpha+ world city, listed by the GaWC's 2008 inventory and ranked fourth among global cities by AT Kearney's 2012 Global Cities Index.

In 2010, Tokyo was named the second most expensive city for expatriate employees, according to the Mercer and Economist Intelligence Unit cost-of-living surveys, and in 2009 named the third Most Liveable City and the World's Most Livable Megalopolis by the magazine Monocle.

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Paris

Global rank: 4

Paris is today one of the world's leading business and cultural centres, and its influences in politics, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities.

It hosts the headquarters of many international organisations such as Unesco, the OECD, the International Chamber of Commerce or the European Space Agency.

Paris is considered one of the greenest and most liveable cities in Europe. It is also one of the most expensive.

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Hong Kong

Global rank: 5

As one of the world's leading international financial centres, Hong Kong has a major capitalist service economy characterised by low taxation and free trade, and the currency, Hong Kong dollar, is the eighth most traded currency in the world.

The lack of space caused demand for denser constructions, which developed the city to a centre for modern architecture and the world's most vertical city. Hong Kong has one of the highest per capita income in the world.

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Chicago

Global rank: 6

Chicago is a major, alpha+ global city, ranking seventh in the world on the 2012 Global Cities Index, and retains its status as an international hub for finance, industry, telecommunications and infrastructure, with O'Hare International Airport being the second busiest airport in the world in terms of traffic movements.

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Singapore

Global rank: 7

The economy depends heavily on the industry and service sectors. Singapore is a world leader in several areas: It is the world's fourth-leading financial centre, the world's second-biggest casino gambling market, and the world's third-largest oil refining centre.

The port of Singapore is one of the five busiest ports in the world, most notable for being the busiest transshipment port in the world. The country is home to more US dollar millionaire households per capita than any other country.

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Shanghai

Global rank: 8

It is a global city, with influence in commerce, culture, finance, media, fashion, technology, and transport. It is a major financial centre and has one of the busiest container ports in the world.

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Los Angeles

Global rank: 9

Often known by its initials LA, the city is the focal point of the larger Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana metropolitan statistical area, which contains 12,828,837 people as of 2010, and is one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world and the second largest in the United States.

Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated and one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the United States, while the entire Los Angeles area itself has been recognized as the most diverse of the nation's largest cities.

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Zurich

Global rank: 10

Zurich is a leading global city and among the world's largest financial centres. The city is home to a large number of financial institutions and banking giants.

Also, most of the research and development centres are concentrated in Zurich and the low rate of tax attracts overseas companies to set up their headquarters there.

According to several surveys from 2006 to 2008, Zurich was named the city with the best quality of life in the world as well as the wealthiest city in Europe.

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Seoul

Global rank: 11

Today, Seoul is considered to be a leading global city, ranking among eighth in the Global Cities Index of 2012 and seventh in the Global Power City Index of 2011.

The metropolis is involved in many global affairs, exerting rising influence as the host of the fifth most international conferences worldwide in 2010. It is one of the world's top financial and commercial centres and is home to major multinational conglomerates.

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Boston

Global rank: 12

The city's economic base includes research, manufacturing, finance, and biotechnology. As a result, the city is a leading finance centre.

The city was also ranked number one for innovation, both globally and in North America, for a variety of reasons. Boston has one of the highest costs of living in the United States, though it remains high on world livability rankings.

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Beijing

Global rank: 13

Beijing is China's second largest city by urban population after Shanghai and is the country's political, cultural, and educational centre, and home to the headquarters for most of China's largest state-owned companies.

Beijing is a major transportation hub in the national highway, expressway, railway and high-speed rail network. Beijing's Capital International Airport is the second busiest in the world by passenger traffic.

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Washington, DC

Global rank: 14

The centres of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are located in the District, as are many of the nation's monuments and museums.

Washington, DC, hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organisation of American States, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Pan American Health Organisation.

The headquarters of many other institutions such as trade unions, non-profit organisations, lobbying groups, and professional associations are also located in the city.

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Osaka

Global rank: 15

Osaka functions as one of the command centres for the Japanese economy. The ratio between daytime and night time population is 141 per cent, the highest in Japan, highlighting its status as an economic centre.

Its nighttime population is 2.6 million, the third in the country, but in daytime the population surges to 3.7 million, second only after Tokyo.

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Brussels

Global rank: 16

Serving as the centre of administration for Europe, Brussels' economy is largely service-oriented. It is dominated by regional and world headquarters of multinationals, by European institutions, by various administrations, and by related services, though it does have a number of notable craft industries, such as the Cantillon Brewery, a lambic brewery founded in 1900.

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Rhine-Ruhr

Global rank: 17

The Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region is the largest metropolitan region in Germany with about 10,100,000 inhabitants.

It is of polycentric nature and the only megacity in Germany. the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region accounts for roughly 15 per cent of the GDP of the German economy, which would place it as the third-largest GRP of metropolitan area in the European Union and the 16th-largest GDP in the world.

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Toronto

Global rank: 18

As Canada's commercial capital and one of the top financial centres in the world, Toronto is considered an alpha world city by the Globalization and World Cities study group.

It is home to the Toronto Stock Exchange, the world's seventh-largest in terms of market value. Toronto contains more corporate headquarters than any other Canadian city, including those of Canada's five largest banks.

Toronto's leading economic sectors include finance, business services, telecommunications, aerospace, transportation, media, arts, film, music, television production, publishing, software production, medical research, education, tourism, engineering, and sports industries.

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Shenzhen

Global rank: 19

Shenzhen's modern cityscape is the result of the vibrant economy made possible by rapid foreign investment since the institution of the policy of "reform and opening" establishment of the SEZ in the late 1979, before which it was only a small village.

Both Chinese and foreign nationals have invested enormous amount of money in the Shenzhen SEZ. More than $30 billion in foreign investment has gone into both foreign-owned and joint ventures, at first mainly in manufacturing but more recently in the service industries as well.

Shenzhen is now reputedly considered as one of the fastest-growing cities in the world.