Manila Ranks Near the Bottom in Top 100 List of Best City Brands in the World
In a ranking of the world’s top 100 cities based on public perception, Manila is close to the bottom. The inaugural Brand Finance City Index, which surveyed 15,000 people from 20 countries, put Manila at 82nd, with a score of 58.3 out of 100 (same score as Macau). The Philippine capital is second-to-last for cities in Southeast Asia; only Hanoi placed lower, at 94th.
The Brand City Index, presented by brand evaluation consultancy firm Brand Finance, asked respondents to grade the world’s top 100 cities based on familiarity, general reputation, and personal consideration of each city as a place to live, work locally, work remotely, study, retire, visit, or invest in. The evaluation of preferences across these seven dimensions was complemented by perceptions of 45 underlying city brand attributes, grouped under seven pillars: Business & Investment, Liveability, Culture & Heritage, People & Values, Sustainability & Transport, Governance, and Education & Science. The index excludes domestic perceptions about city brands, taking into account those of foreign respondents only.
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Although Manila ranked low in the main list, it did rank high—19th—in the list of affordability, behind Kuala Lumpur (second) and Bangkok (third). The list acknowledged the cities for having lower costs of living, affordable transport and attractions, and cheaper accommodation, making them attractive spots for young people and tourists from Western nations.
Overall, London emerged as the best city brand in the world, followed by New York and Paris. Completing the top 10 are Los Angeles, Sydney, Singapore, Tokyo, San Francisco, and Dubai.
That makes Singapore the top ASEAN city in the ranking, followed by Bangkok in 47th spot, Kuala Lumpur at 53rd, and Jakarta at 70th. Singapore also ranked highly in other areas: 5th for local work, 6th for remote work, and 5th in investments.
Singapore also ranked 11th in the category of most familiar city globally, followed by Bangkok in 16th place. The Thai capital also performed well in the People and Values pillar—ranked 9th for being fun and 10th for being friendly. Kuala Lumpur, meanwhile, ranks 46th for business and trade.
London, the top city in the rankings, scored 84.6 out of 100. The capital of England recorded stronger brand perceptions than any other city in the study.
Brand Finance, a leading brand evaluation consultancy firm that released the study, has offices in 20 countries but is headquartered in London. The survey of respondents was conducted in April 2023.
