Beijing has become the top science city globally once again, according to the Nature Index global science city 2020 rankings, which was released at the 2020 Zhongguancun Forum on Sept 19.

The top science cities are those whose institutions collectively publish the most output in the 82 high-quality journals tracked by the Nature Index.

The Nature Index top five science cities are based on five different independent indices - sustainability, competitive, innovation, smart cities, and research and development.

Let us take a look at Nature Index's top five global science cities in 2020.

No 5 Shanghai

Population: 27 million

GDP per capita: $22,800

No 4 San Francisco-San Jose

Population: 8.7 million

GDP per capita: $131,000

No 3 Boston

Population: 4.9 million

GDP per capita: $78,500

No 2 New York

Population: 20.3 million

GDP per capita: $71,000

No 1 Beijing

Population: 20.5 million

GDP per capita: $23,800