Cities of Opportunity: The urban rhythm of entertainment and media

Urbanism and the entertainment and media industry share a natural connection. The cultural, technological and communications heart of the modern world is driven from cities and by cities. Of course, this makes perfect sense in a technological world where over half of us (53.4%) live in cities today and over two-thirds will do so by mid-century (67.2%), according to the United Nations.1 The extent and details of the connection come into clear view with analysis of the spending and working patterns in 30 of the world’s leading cities. Entertainment and media is a diverse and major economic force in developed and emerging cities. This study presents a detailed view of entertainment and media’s (E & M’s) biggest urban markets, mostly in the developed cities, and highest growth areas, typically among emerging cities. Different cities also show varying profiles as consumers or creators of E & M services and products, a trend that could intensify in future as cities with significant E & M creative strength continue to build their momentum. The significance of the industry is underscored by its size: In our 30 cities alone, we estimate spending in 2018 at $184 billion and employment at 6.3 million. In addition, the importance of E & M to the economies of cities is emphasized by examining the industry’s status as a major employer of young, highly-skilled urbanites and a generator of a significant share of urban wealth. This is particularly true for cities like London, Tokyo, Berlin, Stockholm and Istanbul with high percentages of urban E & M jobs and/or gross domestic product.