A hybrid MCDM framework for assessing urban competitiveness: A case study of European cities

Achieving high performance in long-term sustainability is crucial for urban areas. Comparative analysis of cities based on specific indicators over time offers valuable insights for stakeholders involved in urban development and enhances the understanding of city performance. This study tackles the challenge of ranking major cities based on multidimensional performance using a multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach. We introduce a novel hybrid MCDM framework that integrates Logarithmic Percentage Change-driven Objective Weighting (LOPCOW), CRiteria Importance Through Inter-criteria Correlation (CRITIC), and Aczel-Alsina Weighted ASsessment (ALWAS). The results derived from the data-driven linear weighting strategy combining the outputs from LOPCOW and CRITIC indicate that the three most influential drivers influencing the competitive levels of the analyzed cities are livability, environment, and accessibility, respectively. The findings of ALWAS, responsible for the city rankings, show that London is the most successful city with respect to competitive performance among the leading European cities in the sample. Additionally, the effectiveness of the proposed framework is illustrated through a case study evaluating the global competitiveness of European cities. Sensitivity and comparison analyses confirm the stability and reliability of the results, validating the robustness of the proposed approach.