America’s Cities Have Always Led…But Will They Continue To Push Limits Into the Future?

Through World’s Fairs and technology booms, American cities have been bastions of change and modernism for the past couple centuries. It’s clear that some of the most progressive minds, organizations and activists call top American cities, like New York, San Francisco, and Chicago home. However, as the world moves into a new era of digital connections, clean energy and transformed ideas of public health, the question of American cities’ future-leading status hangs in the air.

Considering this question, a new study from advisory firm Teneo recently published a list of the most future-focused cities in the world, scoring the cities based on a series of factors including environmental initiatives, power and ethics of businesses, and public health considerations. Interestingly, the list showed that, despite American states’ continued leadership in some areas, other global cities may rise to become world leaders in the future.

Of the top 50 cities listed by the Teneo rankings, only eight were American, including San Francisco, CA, Seattle, WA and Chicago, IL. Top worldwide cities included Zurch, Toronto and Paris. So what do some of these global cities have that American cities lack in terms of progressive factors? Let’s look at some of the top-scorers to find out.