Report: Houston 5th Among 'Cities of the Future' in North America

Published Jun 20, 2019 by A.J. Mistretta

Houston ranks fifth on the latest list of North American Cities of the Future published by the group fDi Intelligence.

The 2019-20 report ranked cities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico across five categories:

Economic potential
Business friendliness
Human capital and lifestyle
Cost effectiveness
Connectivity

Susan Davenport, senior vice president of economic development at the Greater Houston Partnership, told InnovationMap that Houston’s "ethnically and culturally diverse population" coupled with its "robust and globally connected economy" help form a solid foundation for the city's future.

Houston's vibrant startup scene, 21 Fortune 500 companies, and burgeoning innovation corridor, along with the presence of the world's largest medical complex, are helping position the city for economic growth.

"Positive rankings and recognition like this help us continue to attract the best and brightest minds both domestically and around the world," Davenport told the publication. "Houston has long been a place that solves the world's most complicated problems — from putting humans on the moon to pioneering open-heart surgery. But we make a conscious choice to measure ourselves not on past accomplishments but on what we do next."

Nearly one-fourth of residents in Houston are foreign-born and more than 145 languages are spoken—both illustrations of Houston’s identity as the most diverse city in the nation. In the last decade, more than 500 foreign-owned companies have invested in Houston and currently more than 5,000 local companies do business abroad, according to the latest figures available.

"In short, the Houston of today looks like the United States of tomorrow," Davenport said.

Houston came in at No. 5 on the fDi list behind New York, San Francisco, Toronto and Montreal, in that order. Rounding out the top 10 were Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Palo Alto and Seattle.

See other Houston rankings, read the InnovationMap story and see the report from fDi.