JLL, a professional real estate services and investment management firm, has launched a new online site to help provide insight, intelligence and interpretation on future prospects for cities around the world.

The Cities Research Center at jll.com/cities-research allows users to compare and contrast the top 300 cities across a range of factors, from current global real estate activity volumes to speed of economic change.

Latest reports from our experts assess city potential across the globe, and output from current work includes findings such as:

•    The four “Super Cities” – London, New York, Paris and Tokyo, account for one-quarter of total commercial real estate investment of the Global 300 cities.  They also have the deepest corporate bases.

•    Several ‘transitional’ cities such as Shanghai, Seoul and Beijing are attracting increasing real estate capital flows and corporate activity.  Shanghai has strong potential to leapfrog to “Super City” status within the next few years.

•    European cities are punching well above their weight in terms of cross-border real estate investment – London alone accounts for 15% of global activity.  The U.S. has seen strong growth in investment in its second-tier cities.  Real estate investment activity in Asia Pacific is dominated by just 7 cities – Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, Shanghai, Beijing and Sydney – they account for 70% of regional activity.

•    San Francisco, London, Dubai, Shanghai and Wuhan are the world’s most dynamic cities according to JLL’s City Momentum Index.

•    Research on Sub-Saharan African cities highlights Accra, Addis Ababa and Lagos to be among the world’s fastest growing cities; Nairobi – Africa’s ‘Silicon Savannah’ – is emerging as a regional powerhouse in technology; while Luanda is the world’s most expensive city to rent office space.

Rosemary Feenan, head of Global Research at JLL said: “The JLL Cities Research Center unites our firm-wide research expertise on cities in an engaging and accessible format. Data visualisations allow users to compare and contrast different cities, articles, and blogs, to gain opinion and insights into these dynamic spaces.

“The extensive international urban advisory experience of our Cities Research Center Chair, Greg Clark, adds further value to what we are confident will be an important addition to the understanding of the science of cities.”

Craig Plumb, head of Research at JLL Mena said: “Dubai is the most international city within the MENA region and its global role has been a key element of its growth strategy.  A relatively small city (with a population of around two million) Dubai has the world’s second busiest international airport and the world’s fifth busiest sea port.”

“The city is planning to further increase its global footprint through hosting the World Expo in 2020, where one of the key themes will be about connectivity. A testament to Dubai’s renewed dynamism, the city ranks third in JLL’s City Momentum Index covering 111 cities,” Plumb concluded. – TradeArabia News Service