In PricewaterhouseCoopers' new
Cities of Opportunity 2012 report, Toronto ranked third overall.
Though it was bested on the main list by New York and London, who took the top two spots respectively, Toronto's twin sibling in many of the report's focus areas was, as often as not, Stockholm, Sweden. There must be something about living in the north that builds certain strengths.
First, Toronto and Stockholm made a joint appearance in the health, safety and security section.
"Most of the leaders we spoke to emphasize the need for a safe and secure city as the keystone of a healthy community. After that, good education is most widely cited as a springboard for future success," states the report. "In fact, our own Cities of Opportunity analyses have shown that good housing correlates in a highly positive way with the attributes of an economically strong city. They may be cold, dark, or far from the madding crowd, but Stockholm, Toronto, and Sydney again demonstrate balanced success in education and health, safety and security."
The two cities also did well in the intellectual capital and innovation section.
"There is little difference in this year's overall rankings, as Stockholm and Toronto once again finish first and second, respectively. Although there seems to be a marginal degree of slippage for Stockholm from last year—when it ranked first in three variables (including the now superseded R&D category), as opposed to finishing first this year in only two—what is more worrisome for the Swedish capital is, again, its result in math/science skills attainment. Last year, it just missed ranking in the top 10 by only one place; this year, however, it ranks number 13, tied with the four American cities in this country-level measure. Toronto, however, is even more impressive this year at number two than it was in 2011, finishing in the top 10 in all nine variables in this indicator."
As for transportation and infrastructure, Toronto shared the list's top spots with Asian cities. A change in criteria to better reflect better reflect a city's transportation and infrastructure experience for residents and visitors eliminated most of the European and American competition.
"None of the top five this year was in the top five last year. For instance, Singapore, which ranks first this year, ranked 17th last year. Seoul and Toronto, tied for second place this year, ranked ninth and 15th, respectively, last year. Tokyo has also moved up, albeit only two places, to number four, while number-five Hong Kong has also moved up two places. In the end, Toronto is the only non-Asian city in the top five—as opposed to last year, when the top five cities were exclusively European or American."
Read the whole report
here
Original source: pwc