To create a shortlist for fDi’s European Cities and Regions of the Future 2020/21, the fDi Intelligence division of the Financial Times collected data using the specialist online FDI tools fDi Benchmark and fDi Markets as well as other sources. Data was collected for 505 locations (319 cities, 148 regions and 38 LEPs), under five categories: Economic Potential, Human Capital and Lifestyle, Cost Effectiveness, Connectivity and Business Friendliness.
In addition, surveys were collected under a sixth category, FDI Strategy, for which there were 161 submissions. In this category, locations submitted details about their strategy for promoting FDI, which was then scored by fDi’s judging panel.
To categorise cities, fDi took into account both the population of the immediate city and that of the larger urban zone (LUZ). In addition, where locations were in the large or major categories, the location’s receipt of FDI as a percentage of the country’s overall total was taken into consideration.
