According to a study commissioned by The Independent London is the “capital of the world.”

London has topped the most exhaustive comparison ever compiled of the worlds great cities in a finding that sees Britain’s capital outstrip global rivals as a centre of economic performance and cultural significance.

Of course there is some implication that the survey methodology could be flawed because it is a newspaper based in London making the claim. Furthermore, the question of how they quantify “cultural significance” is somewhat unanswered.

What I find most interesting about the report is the way that it treats London’s exceptional cultural diversity as a strength. That suggests to me that in the twenty first century “British superiority” is being measured in a completely different way than it was during the twentieth or nineteenth centuries. Cultural heterogeneity is the new vehicle by which Britain claims its status as a top world power.