Central is no match for Gangnam's style as Seoul tops Hong Kong in EY ranking of global business districts
- Central slipped two places to 13th despite its score increasing, as new entrants Gangnam and financial districts of Toronto and San Francisco overtook it
- However, in another index released on Wednesday, Hong Kong was deemed the most resilient place in Asia, ranking 19th globally in a list of 130
Hong Kong has slipped two notches to 13th in a list of the 21 most attractive global business districts compiled by auditing firm Ernst & Young (EY) and the Urban Land Institute, a think tank.
The city’s main financial district, Central, trailed Asian rivals including Singapore’s downtown area and Marunouchi in Tokyo in the second edition of the index, which bases its findings on factors like ability to attract talent, quality of urban environment and access to markets.
Central, which still boasts the most expensive office rates in the world, received a score of 40.4 in the EY-ULI index released on Wednesday, higher than the 36.6 points it received in the previous edition, in 2017.
The higher score, however, was not enough to match its previous 11th ranking as three new entrants – Gangnam in Seoul, and the financial districts of San Francisco and Toronto – overtook Hong Kong.
It was not all bad news for the city, whose reputation and economy took a battering from months of violent anti-government protests last year. In another index released on Wednesday, Hong Kong was deemed the most resilient place in Asia, placing 19th globally in a list of 130 countries and territories.
“Generally, GBDs [global business districts] have become increasingly competitive, with the gap narrowing, and Hong Kong has been overtaken by new entrants,” said Lisette van Doorn, CEO of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Europe.
The lower ranking in the EY-ULI index comes after the city’s political crisis that began last summer triggered a recession in the second half of the year.
In March, Hong Kong lost its crown to Singapore as the world’s freest economy, a position the city had held for 25 consecutive years, according to an index compiled by the Washington-based think tank, the Heritage Foundation.