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akarta came out at number one among emerging market cities and was judged to be on the rise with respect to human capital, business activity and innovation, according to global management consultancy AT Kearney'€™s previous 2014 Global Cities Index (CGI) report.

AT Kearney president director John Kurtz said that the findings in the study were instructive. '€œJakarta'€™s position represented the sense of potential most residents '€” whether native Betawis, more recent residents, or foreigners '€” felt about this city, especially during 2014 with the rise of the political prospects of then-governor Joko Widodo.'€

However, he also noted, '€œWe all feel on a visceral level the daily battles with traffic and infrastructure. There'€™s so much talent, so many innovative people and such breadth to the self-expression of this city.'€

'€œYet there'€™s always a sense that fixing what'€™s wrong will take many years of consistent leadership. And many residents are chronically cynical about the likelihood of that happening,'€ said Kurz, who has been a Jakarta resident for 20 years.

AT Kearney'€™s 2014 GCI report included a special companion study that looked at what it called '€œEmerging Cities'€ and calculated an '€œoutlook'€ that sought to predict how quickly the world'€™s cities in developing countries might advance in the rankings.

With the New Cities Summit being held this week in Jakarta, AT Kearney looked at the 2015 release of the GCI, which measures both the performance and potential of the world'€™s top 125 cities with respect to their ability to attract and retain global talent.

Started in 2008, the GCI measures the extent to which cities are globally engaged across 27 metrics in five dimensions: business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience and political engagement.

The consultancy said that its 2015 study broadened its definition and adjusted the methodology of the future-looking outlook, renaming it the Global Cities Outlook (GCO).

Meanwhile, Mike Hales, coauthor of AT Kearney'€™s study explained, '€œThe GCO measures a city'€™s potential to become even more global in the future. The GCO assesses potential of all 125 cities by measuring rate of change across 13 leading indicators in four dimensions: personal well-being, economy, innovation and governance.'€

The consultancy said that with the 2015 study including the full power of global cities in the mix and with the emphasis on personal well-being and governance, Jakarta fared substantially less well in the rankings than it had before.

'€œThe world'€™s most attractive cities continue to differentiate themselves on the basis of being true magnets for the world'€™s leading talent,'€ it said.

'€œTaken together, the GCI and GCO paint a revealing portrait of the global cities of today and tomorrow,'€ it said.

The study'€™s finding makes clear that with the increased mobility of today'€™s workforce, cities must continue to advance in key categories to stay ahead. '€œOnly 16 cities scored in the top 25 on both the GCI and GCO, while only New York and London scored in the top 10 of both indices.'€

Innovation stands out as a major differentiator between this year'€™s global elite and other cities, according to Hales. '€œPerhaps more tellingly, the gap in score between emerging economy cities versus those in advanced economies '€” significant in the index '€” dropped considerably across all dimensions in the outlook except innovation,'€ he said.

'€œAs the world transitions to a knowledge-focused economy, a city'€™s capacity to innovate will become crucial to its ability to globalize.'€

Global Cities Index

Notably, three Indian cities increased their scores the most. Kolkata, Mumbai and Bangalore have seen score increases of 12 percent, 9 percent and 8 percent, respectively.

Erik Peterson, AT Kearney partner and the other coauthor, noted that, '€œAll made particularly strong jumps in information exchange, thanks to substantial gains in the number of broadband subscribers.'€

Broadband investments by the public and private sector can be one of the most significant boosts to a city'€™s future, according to the consultancy.

Meanwhile, Jakarta ranked 54th overall on the GCI this year, comparable to its ranking at number 51 on last year'€™s index.

Shirley Santoso, AT Kearney'€™s co-head of its Jakarta office, said, '€œIn real terms this is an increase in standing considering that 41 cities were added to the index in 2015, including 23 cities in Asia Pacific.'€

Jakarta saw its rank remain steady in business activity (50) while it improved with respect to the number of Fortune 500 companies represented in the city. Jakarta'€™s rank in political engagement (27) also stayed high and saw increases in the number of political conferences hosted by the city, embassies and consulates, think tanks and local institutions with global reach.

Santoso noted, '€œThe city'€™s strong performance on the index since 2008 '€” it has seen its score improve by 16 percent '€” bodes well for the city'€™s potential to continue its position in the top half of cities on the index.'€

Global Cities Outlook

In the GCO, Jakarta scored particularly well with respect to foreign direct investment prospects, coming out as the eighth ranked among all cities, an important measure of how multinational corporations view the stability and viability of Jakarta and its crucial role as the capital city of a rising G20 power, according to AT Kearney.

Jakarta also scored well on private investments, which is a proxy for venture capital, the consultancy said.

AT Kearney also pointed to several of Jakarta'€™s weaknesses that have weighed it down in the rankings.

'€œJakarta'€™s high score on inequality continues to hurt its standing '€” as well as its relatively poor performance with respect to quality of health care and little improvement in the ease of doing business,'€ it said.

Commenting on the New Cities Summit being held in Jakarta,Kurtz said, '€œThe summit will be an important source of learning for all attendees about how many key elements must come together to make cities great.

'€œIn Jakarta, we continue to see remarkable stories of innovation and the power of a young and vibrant community of entrepreneurs. Jakarta'€™s residents are its greatest asset. Meanwhile the city and national government work more effectively together on the crucial issues that will determine our collective future: increases in both physical and information infrastructure and health and human services that will together deliver improvements in quality of life.'€