Editor’s Take: Why City Power Matters

In a world that increasingly defies the logic of classical geopolitics, the real power of nations is no longer limited to the scale of their armies or the formality of their diplomatic corps. Cities—whether capitals or strategic urban centers—have emerged as decisive players in the global architecture of influence, innovation, connectivity, and resilience. Yet, international studies still tend to place them at the margins, treating them as mere administrative units within the state. The City Power Index (CPI) seeks to reverse that gaze.

Far from being just symbolic nodes, cities embody a concentration of functions that are essential to understand the real capabilities of states. Embassies, ports, energy infrastructure, technological hubs, international organizations, security command centers, and elite cultural institutions do not scatter evenly across territory—they cluster in cities. And it is there, within that clustering, that geopolitical weight acquires its operational dimension.

The City Power Index offers a functionalist approach to global order. It is not interested in prestige rankings nor in idealized visions of urbanity. It measures power in terms of infrastructure, energy, security, diplomacy, and influence, recognizing that cities operate as complex systems that either enable or constrain state action. Our perspective is structural, grounded, and non-normative. We do not reward aspirations—we assess capacities.

This index does not assume that power is distributed equally across all cities within a given country. Nor does it limit its analysis to traditional capitals. A city like New York may have more global leverage than dozens of national governments combined. The same can be said for Singapore, Dubai or São Paulo. Conversely, some capitals with historical or ceremonial status exert little to no functional influence at the global level. The CPI embraces this heterogeneity and dares to map it.

From a strategic standpoint, understanding which cities matter—and why—is essential to thinking the 21st century. Great strategies are not forged in abstraction: they are crafted through knowledge of concrete tools. Cities are those tools. They are platforms from which states can project influence, attract talent, access critical infrastructure, or coordinate regional leadership. To ignore them is to misread the board.

We believe that geopolitical analysis must move beyond the binary state-to-state logic. It must account for the fact that, in practice, many of the assets that shape international outcomes are managed, concentrated or contested within cities. Urban power is not a metaphor—it is a condition of possibility.

The City Power Index is thus not just a ranking: it is an invitation to think geopolitics differently. To ask not only which countries lead, but which cities enable that leadership. To identify silent nodes of strategic relevance. And to recognize that the future of international order will be as much about cities as it is about states.