Three Indian cities — Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Chennai — have made it to U.S. magazine Forbes ’ list of the world’s fastest growing cities of the next decade.
The list of 19 urban centres that are “emerging powerhouses” and are expected to play a significant role in the next decade was dominated by the two fast-growing Asian economies, India and China.
The Forbes “Next Decade’s Fastest-Growing Cities” list excludes “established global centres”, urban centres which were in the limelight for the last two decades and “dysfunctional” megacities which are also among the planet’s most populous.
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Interestingly, three Indian and four Chinese cities have found a place in the list of the world’s 19 fastest growing cities of the next decade.
“India, although not by plan, also is experiencing a boom in once relatively obscure cities. Its rising urban centres include Bangalore (home of Infosys and Wipro), Ahmedabad (whose per capita income is twice that of the rest of India) and Chennai (which has created 100,000 jobs this year),” Forbes noted.
Many of India’s key industries — auto manufacturing, software and entertainment — are establishing themselves in these cities, it added.
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“The urban powerhouses of the next decade aren’t behemoths like New York or Mumbai, but smaller cities like Chongqing, China; Santiago, Chile; and Austin, Texas,” Forbes said.
Forbes further said, “The list of the cities of the future does not focus on established global centres like New York, London, Paris, Hong Kong or Tokyo, which have dominated urban rankings for a generation... Nor does our list include the massive, largely dysfunctional megacities — Mumbai, Mexico City, Dhaka, Bangladesh — that are among planet’s most populous today.”
Other cities that found a place on the list are Chengdu, Chongqing, Suzhou, Nanjing, Santiago, Tel Aviv, Kuala Lumpur, Austin, Campinas, Melbourne, Salt Lake City, Hanoi and Abu Dhabi.
The magazine has also dubbed Chicago, Berlin and Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto as “diminishing” cities.