London topped the inaugural Brand Finance City Index based on a global survey of 15,000, with a score of 84.6 out of 100.
New York and Paris are close behind in number two and three slots among 100 cities in the ranking.
Dubai proved its reputation as the top city brand in the Middle East, claiming a place in the global top 10.
Zurich leads rankings as the best city in the world to work locally, work remotely, invest, and retire, but low familiarity undermines its potential.
The Index, released on Thursday, is based on a public survey conducted in April this year in 20 countries on all continents to measure perceptions of the world’s top 100 cities.
David Haigh, Chairman and CEO of Brand Finance, said London’s exceptional performance in the Index can be attributed to its global familiarity.
“Knowing a city allows the public to form positive perceptions about it – to recognise its reputation and to consider it as the preferred place to live, work, study, retire, visit, or invest,” he said.
Haigh said high familiarity also means a deeper understanding of a city’s qualities and a broader reach of its appeal, allowing the city to draw significant economic benefits from inbound migration, investment, and tourism.
Alongside measuring familiarity, the survey also asked the respondents about the general reputation and their personal consideration of each city as a place to live, work locally, work remotely, study, retire, visit or invest in.
Renowned as a hub for academic excellence and also for its iconic buildings, London is ranked as the best city globally to study and visit.
New York City, which secured the second spot with a score of 83 out of 100, also ranked third globally on the Index in the familiarity aspect.
The Big Apple also claimed second spot in three out of the seven key dimensions: invest, study, and visit.
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