Istanbul one of four anchor megacities of Europe: Research

ISTANBUL

AA photo

Istanbul has been named one of the four anchor megacities of Europe along with London, Paris and Moscow in terms of its economic and real estate capacity and power, according to research by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). 

The city has also been named one of the 20 top cities in the world and one of the top 10 growing cities, according to the “Global300: The New Commercial Geography of Cities” report, which was released Dec. 11. 
Cairo, Jakarta, Jeddah, Lagos, Madrid, Milan, Mumbai, Tehran and Riyadh were the other nine cities to be picked in the list for growth.

Boosting ‘air traffic and infrastructure capacity’

“With the fastest-growing economy and population of any major city in Europe, Istanbul is building its position and status as one of the continent’s four anchor megacities together with London, Paris and Moscow,” said the report. “This is reflected in its increasing importance as a transport hub, with the number of air passengers to the city almost doubling over the past five years to over 80 million. The city is investing in infrastructure with new metro lines, a third bridge over the Bosphorus and a third airport under construction. The city’s Grade A office stock is set to grow by 57 percent over the next three years.”

The research named Tokyo, New York, London and Paris as super cities that attract more than 50 percent of all foreign capital. Los Angeles, Seoul, Chicago, Shanghai, Beijing and Moscow were also in the top 10 list. 

JLL’s Global300 is based on an Index of Commercial Attraction (ICA) which measures a city’s economic and real estate power and status. Underpinned by a proprietary database of key performance indicators covering 660 cities worldwide, the index includes key real estate measures, namely investment volumes and commercial real estate stock as well as socioeconomic and business indicators such as economic output, population, air connectivity and corporate presence, according to the report. 

The cities which make up the Global300 are the world’s most powerful, productive and connected. Their 1.3 billion citizens account for nearly 40 percent of global economic activity, more than Europe and North America combined. They host 88 percent of the headquarters of the world’s 2,000 largest listed companies, generate 40 percent of the world’s finance and business employment, and more than 80 percent of the world’s air passengers pass through their airports, according to the report. 

The Global300 also represent the bulk of commercial real estate market activity, amounting to nearly three-quarters of global direct commercial real estate investment and over 90 percent of the world’s prime office stock.