Assessing the Urban Competitiveness of European Cities Using LOPCOW-RAWEC Methodologies

Urban competitiveness is an essential determinant of the long-term sustainability and economic development of cities, influencing not only local prosperity but also national growth.The accurate measurement of urban competitiveness is critical for policymakers, as it provides insights into the strengths and weaknesses of cities, informing strategic development.This study evaluates the competitiveness of 17 European cities through an integrated Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) framework, combining the Logarithmic Percentage Change-driven Objective Weighting (LOPCOW) method for criteria weighting with the Ranking of Alternatives with Weights of Criterion (RAWEC) method for city ranking.The dataset utilised in this analysis was derived from the 2024 Global Power City Index (GPCI), a comprehensive report assessing various urban performance dimensions.The LOPCOW methodology revealed that the livability (L) criterion holds the highest weight in determining urban competitiveness, whereas research and development (R&D) emerged as the least influential factor.Using the RAWEC method, cities were ranked based on their overall competitiveness, with London identified as the most competitive urban centre, while Istanbul was ranked lowest.The findings highlight the importance of livability in enhancing urban competitiveness and suggest that cities should prioritise improvements in R&D to foster more balanced and sustainable competitiveness.This research contributes to the growing body of literature on urban performance measurement, offering a novel methodological approach that integrates both objective weighting and ranking techniques, which can be applied to further studies on global urban competitiveness.