Seoul was placed seventh in the Global Power City Index (GPCI) among 35 world cities.
The GPCI, the representative index that measures international power of major cities, has been conducted by the Mori Memorial Foundation since 2008.
According to the Foundation, 35 of the world’s major cities are selected and evaluated based on six functions, including Economy, Research & Development (R&D), Cultural Interaction, Livability, Ecology and Natural Environment, and Accessibility and four global actors who are leading the urban activities in their cities, which are managers, researchers, artists, and visitors, and one local actor (residents).
Seoul proved itself as a draw for researchers, maintaining its fifth position in the R&D function for the second year in a row. Notably, Seoul’s ranking in the cultural interaction function to 14th from 17th greatly contributed to the city’s rise in comprehensive ranking. Seoul also moved up in position in other functions including livability to 24th from 26th, environment to 16th from 17th, and accessibility to eight from 10th.