Karachi was ranked a lowly 918th, while Islamabad and Lahore came in 578th and 878th, respectively, in the Global Cities Index published by Oxford Economics on Tuesday. The list was topped by New York and London that were placed first and second place, among a survey of the world’s 1,000 largest urban economies.

The Global Cities Index assessed cities based on 27 indicators across five categories: Economics, Human Capital, Quality of Life, Environment and Governance.

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“Cities are the epicentres of human civilisation, where innovation, diversity and progress converge,” Mark Britton, Director of City Services at Oxford Economics was quoted as saying in the report.

“However, the complexity of urban dynamics often obscures our understanding of what makes a city truly successful.”

Islamabad – Pakistan’s highest ranked city – earnt 772 on the Quality of Life category and 775 in Environment.

Karachi earnt a low 612 in the human capital category which assesses the collective knowledge and skills of a city’s population, underpinning the economic potential of every city.

It earnt 851 in the quality of life category, 917 in environment and 874 in governance.

New York city topped the list of Global Cities, for holding the position of the largest economy of any city in the world and benefitting from stable economic growth, while London came in second place.

Both cities performed best in the Economics and Human Capital categories.

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The next three cities – San Jose, Tokyo, and Paris were followed by Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman all came in at 92, earning 12 in the human capital category.

Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh was at the bottom of the list of cities.