Competitiveness is a key factor in ensuring a city's sustainable development. The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has recently published a report, commissioned by Citi, forecasting the competitiveness of 120 of the world's major cities in 2025.

According to the report entitled "Hot Spots 2025: Benchmarking the Future Competitiveness of Cities," North American and European cities are now among the world's most competitive ones and are likely to retain their advantage until 2025; China and India are fast- growing countries and their combined GDP is expected to exceed that of the major seven (G7) economies by 2025.

The report reveals that New York will be the most competitive city in the world in 2025, with a score of 75.7, followed by London and Singapore. There are 13 Chinese cities on the list, including Hong Kong, Taipei, Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Qingdao, Dalian, Suzhou, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Chongqing, ranking in 4th, 11th, 38th, 49th, 69th, 81th, 82th, 83th, 83th (tied), 86th, 89th, 93th and 98th position respectively.

Competitiveness is decided by a number of factors, including a city's economic size and growth, the business and regulatory environment, institutions, the quality of human capital, cultural aspects and the quality of environmental governance.

The EIU used 32 indicators to define a city's competitiveness across eight categories, including economic strength, physical capital, financial maturity, institutional character, human capital, global appeal, social and cultural character, and environment and natural hazards.

The following are the top 10 most competitive cities of the future.

 Toronto, Canada

Toronto, Canada [File photo]

2025 competitiveness score (out of 100): 64.7

Change from 2012: +2.6

2012 GDP: US$201.3 billion (31st highest)

2025 GDP: US$271.3 billion (29th highest)

2025 metro population: 6.1 million