London is the world capital of the 21st century... says New York
By Tom Teodorczuk, Evening Standard, in New York 20.03.07
An influential American magazine has named London the global capital of the 21st century.
The new issue of New York magazine is a homage to London, claiming the financial, cultural and culinary benefits now tower over those of its home city.
In the most glowing American media coverage of Britain since Vanity Fair's 1996 Cool Britannia issue, the article declares: "If Paris was the capital of the 19th century and New York of the 20th, London is shaping up to be the capital of the 21st century.
"It is not Britain and the US that have a special relationship, it is London and New York ... increasingly it seems as though London has the upper hand."
American writers Eugenia Bell and Matt Weiland add: "To Londoners now, there's a sense that the future belongs to them. It can sometimes seem as if there's nobody over 30 in the streets and that a great experiment in mass immigration and assimilation is under way."
The architectural skyline, including Norman Foster's Gherkin and the Shard of Glass, and thriving arts scene, particularly West End theatre and the Frieze Art Fair, all receive special praise. A report commissioned by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned Wall Street that the Square Mile was ahead when it came to job creation. He visited Britain last month and concluded: "London is gaining on us in area after area."
The magazine says: "In short, New York is cardiganed Woody Allen and London is party-dressed Lily Allen."
Wikipedia states:
London is a major centre for international business and commerce and is one of three "command centres" for the global economy (along with New York City and Tokyo).[40]. London has recently overtaken New York City as the largest city economy in the World, this is due to the large amount of banks that have decided to locate here.
As Europe's largest city economy, year-by-year, London's economy generates approximately 20% of the UK's GDP[41] (or $446 billion in 2005); while the economy of the London metropolitan area (also the largest in Europe)[42] generates approximately 30% of UK's GDP (or an estimated $669 billion in 2005.)
London's largest industry remains finance, and its financial exports make it a large contributor to the UK's balance of payments. Over 300,000 people are employed in financial services in London. London has over 480 overseas banks, more than any other city in the world. More funds are invested in the City of London than in the next top ten European cities combined, and more international telephone calls are made to and from London than any other point on the planet. The City is the largest financial and business centre in Europe and, has recently begun to once more overtake New York City, partly due to strict accounting following the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and a tightening of market regulations in the United States. The Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg has said that New York risks losing its title of world financial capital to London because of Britain's more easy going regulatory, legal and immigration systems.
London is home to banks, brokers, insurers and legal and accounting firms. Multimillion pound bonuses are commonplace and serve further to drive up house prices in the capital. A second, smaller financial district is developing at Canary Wharf to the east of the City which includes the global headquarters of HSBC, Reuters, Barclays and many of the largest law firms in the world. London handled 31% of global currency transactions in 2005 — an average daily turnover of US$753 billion — with more US dollars traded in London than New York, and more Euros traded than in every other city in Europe combined.
More than half of the UK's top 100 listed companies (the FTSE 100) and over 100 of Europe's 500 largest companies are headquartered in central London. Over 70% of the FTSE 100 are located within London's metropolitan area, and 75% of Fortune 500 companies have offices in London.
London is a major international air transport hub. No fewer than eight airports use the words London Airport in their name, but most traffic passes through one of five major airports. London Heathrow Airport is the busiest airport in the world for international traffic and handles a mixture of full-service domestic, European and inter-continental scheduled passenger flights. Similar traffic, with the addition of some low-cost short-haul flights, is also handled at London Gatwick Airport. London Stansted Airport and London Luton Airport cater mostly for low-cost short-haul flights. London City Airport, the smallest and most central airport, is focused on business travellers, with a mixture of full service short-haul scheduled flights and considerable business jet traffic.
Interested to here what Forumers think, as I am aware that there are quite a few on the Forum who live in Britain and the US.
