BASEL, Switzerland, June 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

London, followed by New York, Toronto, Paris and the Swiss cities Zurich and Basel have emerged as the world's most open cities for international populations. London tops the ranking as a result of a combination of its high degree of internationalisation (strong international presence of firms, embassies, foreigners and tourists) and its excellent accessibility and connectivity. London also provides attractive and high-quality education facilities for people from all over the world. New York is second in place, which is mainly due to its high barriers of entry.

Toronto scores well thanks to its low barriers of entry and an open migration policy. The city with the lowest degree of openness is the Chinese mega-city Chongqing.

OPENCities is unique as it has brought together European and global cities at special times: It has sought and managed to understand and measure openness, and points to important links with both competitive advantage and diversity. The project results also include the global OPENCities Monitor: a new city benchmark developed by BAK Basel Economics in cooperation with the British Council. Openness is defined as "the capacity of a city to attract international populations and to enable them to contribute to the future success of the city".

The OPENCities Monitor is of great use to cities seeking to monitor their own openness and compare themselves with other defined city types. It also includes a large number of case studies and best practice examples. Such targeted analysis gives politicians the necessary information to improve their policies and helps cities to become more economically successful.

Access the OPENCities Monitor Update 2012 via: http://www.opencities.eu

Further information about BAK Basel Economics: http://www.bakbasel.com

For further information and to join the Monitor, please contact:

Marc Bros de Puechredon
Executive Board, Chairman
T +41-61-279-97-00
marc.puechredon@bakbasel.com

Dr Andrea Wagner
Senior Economist, Project Director
T +41-61-279-97-00
andrea.wagner@bakbasel.com

SOURCE BAK Basel Economics