I am flying over the French sky. It’s 7pm and the sun quickly disappears behind the orange horizon. This is always a good thing when I fly back to London. Better to forget the sun, as soon as I can. Sunset. Dark. Now I can go back without really missing the sunshine of these days of early Milanese spring.
I get one of those pointless new lifestyle magazines in my hands. I am even not sure yet what lifestyle really means. The magazine is titled ‘The good life’. Then I find a couple of interesting pages. A short article about London. I am intrigued by the figures:
- Between 2007 and 2011 London economy has grown double than the rest of the country – 12.5% vs 6%
- 37% of London inhabitants are foreigners, vs 13% of the rest of the UK
- % of job creation in London is 10 times higher than Edinburgh, second town in UK
- 1000 startups were created in London between 2005 and 2015. 280 in Paris. 390 in Milan
- London generates 22% of national GDP
- Average salary in London is 28% higher than national average
- London’s GDP is similar to the Swiss and Swedish GDPs
- In 2 years East London (not the full town, just a few districts) has created same number of jobs of the sum of Manchester and Newcastle
- Fintech’s growth between 2008 and 2013 has doubled San Francisco and Bay Area
So it’s clear to me. And this confirms the perception I have every time I walk around my new town. London is not the UK. London is just London.