Hyderabad has grabbed back the crown of World’s Most Dynamic Cities in the City Momentum Index-2020 from Bengaluru in the ranking released by JLL, the American real estate services firm. In the 2018 index, Hyderabad was the top rank city, a position which it lost in 2019. The ranking ‘identifies the cities that have the strongest positive momentum in their economies and real estate markets over the short to medium term.’
In 2015, Hyderabad began at the bottom, ranked 20th, inching its way up among the 130 major and established markets. The ranking identifies dynamic cities from a real estate perspective and factors in office space off-take, real estate growth, transportation issues, pollution, business environment and policies.
Chennai (5), Delhi (6), Pune (12), Kolkata (16) and Mumbai (20) are the other cities showing strong Indian presence despite a slowing economy. Hyderabad and Bengaluru made it to the top of the list as they have embraced and adapted themselves to the innovation economy and have a favourable demography and business climate. A more active real estate market helped Hyderabad push ahead of Bengaluru. According to the researchers, Hyderabad recorded the highest office net absorption in 2019 of any city in the world.
Noting the environment challenges being face by the world with heat island effect, the report notes how Hyderabad has tackled it: “This (Cooling Action Plan) has been implemented on a large scale in Hyderabad, where the state government has introduced the Telangana Cool Roof programme.” It also noted the new metro line in the city that has added to the transit solutions for citizens and businesses, as well as enhanced micro-mobility and ‘last mile’ connectivity with the introduction of smart bikes and e-autos.
The report also logs the challenges faced by the city planners as the development has been concentrated in the western part, resulting in massive congestion and bottlenecks faced by commuters. “The Telangana state government is formulating a ‘Look East Policy’ (LEAP) as a way of alleviating congestion by encouraging development on the city’s east side,” notes the report.
