Chapter 11
Sustainability and Urban Functions from
the Perspective of the Global Power City
Index (GPCI)
Hiroo Ichikawa and Koji Sasaki
11.1 Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to examine the possible implications that an index of
global cities may have for the analysis of the urban environment.
The Global Power City Index (GPCI) is an index of global cities published
annually since 2008 by the Institute for Urban Strategies, the Mori Memorial
Foundation (IUS-MMF) in Tokyo. The GPCI evaluates and ranks 40 selected cities
of the world based on its 70 indicators. The six categories of the GPCI indicators—
Economy, Research and Development, Cultural Interaction, Livability, and Accessibility—collectively account for the “comprehensive power” of a city. The GPCI
assumes that such power works like a magnetic force that attracts people and capital
from around the world and determines the city’s standing in the worldwide intercity
competition. We claim that such comprehensive power provides a basis for megacities to grow sustainably; in large cities, well-balanced urban development is
essential to the well-being of the residents.
“Environment” constitutes one of the six GPCI urban categories. Although the
nine indicators under this category only account for 13% of the total number of the
GPCI indicators (70), a comparison between Environment and the other indicators
may help us understand how the cities evaluated by the GPCI are shaped in terms of
environment.
H. Ichikawa (*)
Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan
Institute for Urban Strategies, The Mori Memorial Foundation, Tokyo, Japan
e-mail: ichurban@meiji.ac.jp
K. Sasaki
Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan
© Springer Japan KK, part of Springer Nature 2021
S. Muramatsu et al. (eds.), Living in the Megacity: Towards Sustainable Urban
Environments, Global Environmental Studies,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56901-5_11
205
Sustainability and Urban Functions from
the Perspective of the Global Power City
Index (GPCI)
Hiroo Ichikawa and Koji Sasaki
11.1 Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to examine the possible implications that an index of
global cities may have for the analysis of the urban environment.
The Global Power City Index (GPCI) is an index of global cities published
annually since 2008 by the Institute for Urban Strategies, the Mori Memorial
Foundation (IUS-MMF) in Tokyo. The GPCI evaluates and ranks 40 selected cities
of the world based on its 70 indicators. The six categories of the GPCI indicators—
Economy, Research and Development, Cultural Interaction, Livability, and Accessibility—collectively account for the “comprehensive power” of a city. The GPCI
assumes that such power works like a magnetic force that attracts people and capital
from around the world and determines the city’s standing in the worldwide intercity
competition. We claim that such comprehensive power provides a basis for megacities to grow sustainably; in large cities, well-balanced urban development is
essential to the well-being of the residents.
“Environment” constitutes one of the six GPCI urban categories. Although the
nine indicators under this category only account for 13% of the total number of the
GPCI indicators (70), a comparison between Environment and the other indicators
may help us understand how the cities evaluated by the GPCI are shaped in terms of
environment.
H. Ichikawa (*)
Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan
Institute for Urban Strategies, The Mori Memorial Foundation, Tokyo, Japan
e-mail: ichurban@meiji.ac.jp
K. Sasaki
Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan
© Springer Japan KK, part of Springer Nature 2021
S. Muramatsu et al. (eds.), Living in the Megacity: Towards Sustainable Urban
Environments, Global Environmental Studies,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56901-5_11
205